I am on vacation. Please enjoy this golden oldie from April 1, 2010.

I don't know what to do. My boyfriend of almost two years broke up with me yesterday over the fact that I used to be an escort. He went through my e-mails and saw that I was answering ads, putting ads up, sending photos. We had been planning a future together, talking about moving in, getting married, having kids, etc., and then this happened.

I know I either should've told him about my past or shouldn't have succumbed to temptation. I started doing this again a year ago because I got fired from my job and couldn't find anything. I was so in love with this guy that I didn't mind staying at home waiting for him all day, doing everything and anything to make him happy. It took a toll on me, and I couldn't support myself. Then a friend recommended that I start escorting again. And then this guy e-mailed me saying he would give me $3,000 to sleep with him, and I couldn't say no.

What do I do, Dan? I can't eat, sleep, or even do anything. All I want is to hold my boyfriend and to be held. How do I make things better? I am disgusted with the person I am and feel so dirty.

No One Real To Hold

My response after the jump...

I don't want to salt your wounds, NORTH, but your boyfriend didn't find out that you "used to be an escort." He found out that you are an escort. Even those of us who believe that sex work should be legal, and that sex workers shouldn't be stigmatized, also believe that a sex worker's romantic partners have a right to know about the sex work—and consent to it—because it places them at heightened risk of sexually transmitted infections.

There's probably no salvaging this relationship. The scale of the betrayal is just too great, NORTH, and your efforts to shift blame—it's your friend's fault for suggesting you get back into sex work, it was that guy's fault for offering you $3,000, it was your boyfriend's fault (!) for occupying all your time (?)—demonstrate that you have yet to take full responsibility for your actions. You would need to do that, NORTH, at least that, before your ex could begin to think about taking you back.

Finally, NORTH, if doing sex work makes you feel this way—ashamed and dirty—please stop doing sex work.