The state of Nevada has made a change to health regulations that used to prevent men from working in Nevada’s legal brothels. The Nevada State Board of Health once required regular cervical exams for all licensed prostitutes and since men don’t have cervixes (cervices?), gee, men couldn’t be prostitutes. At the request of a brothel owner, Bobbi Davis of the five-bed Shady Lady Ranch, Nevada’s board of health has added urethral exams as alternative to cervical exams and since men do have urethras (urethrae?), gee, now men can work at Nevada’s brothels. Surprisingly the brothel industry’s lead lobbyist, a former Assemblies of God minister, isn’t happy about the change:
Flint told regulators today that he was going on the record with concerns about the board’s agreement, so when he goes before legislators in 2011 they will know that the industry opposed male prostitution. The brother industry has previously tried to avoid any controversy. “There should be some fallout and backlash from this decision,” Flint said. “Some may feel it’s a repugnant thing to do or something that does not have the appetite of the state as a whole.”
“We’ve worked hard for years to make the traditional brothel business in this state socially acceptable an something we can be proud of that most Nevadans accept,” Flint added.
Mr. Flint has two concerns: first, there’s gay sex—or gay male sex. Women could not only work in Nevada’s brothels but patronize them as well. So there has long been same-sex activity in Nevada’s brothels. Allowing gay male sex in Nevada’s brothels—or entirely gay brothels—may not serve the “appetite of the state as a whole,” but it will serve the appetites of the state’s gay wholes. And if Mr. Flint has a problem with that—”it’s a repugnant thing to do”—Mr. Flint can go fuck himself. As for Mr. Flint’s secondary concern:
Flint went on to say that he’s proud of the industry’s track record in preventing the passage of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, between prostitutes and clients. “Now we’re going to get into an areas that doesn’t enjoy the same track record that our industry has enjoyed,” he said. Flint said he could not oppose the regulation change that allows male prostitution because it can’t be legal for women but not for men. But he said today’s decision was like Pearl Harbor for the brothel industry.
I’m sorry to say that Mr. Flint has a legitimate point when he raises the safety issue. Unprotected anal sex is the most efficient mode of transmission for HIV; female-to-male transmission of HIV is more difficult—and therefore rarer—than male-to-female or male-to-male transmission. If brothels hire gay or bi men, or gay brothels open in Nevada (which seems likely), the brothel industry will have to aggressively enforce the use of condoms and be even more vigilant about testing or it could face its “Pearl Harbor,” i.e. HIV infections traced back to Nevada’s brothels. But a legal, regulated market—brothels with male sex workers who are tested and who can force condoms onto reluctant/whiny/selfish clients by blaming house rules—is preferable to the boys-for-rent system Nevada currently has. There are plenty of male sex workers working in Nevada, sex workers who aren’t regularly tested and may have a financial incentive to forgo condoms for certain clients, an unsafe, unregulated market. Guys working in brothels, guys who could lose their jobs if they give in to a client’s demand for bareback sex, are less likely to acquire or spread HIV than freelancers.
@42 – Why are you so obsessed with gay sex?
I bet Larry Craig is happy that this is going up so close to home. Not to mention all my fellow closeted Saints.
Wow. Now trans i am can legally take on sex work in Nevada.
Miracles never cease.
Interesting. I always thought prostitution by both men and women was legal in those specific counties in Nevada.
I wonder if legalized (or at least decriminalized) prostitution will ever get the traction that same-sex marriage seems to be finally getting. It should, but I doubt it ever will. A big reason why, I think, is that while it’s mainly religious (and other) conservatives who are opposed to same-sex marriage, they’re joined in opposed to legalized prostitution by a sizeable number of centrists and liberals, who don’t feel that a woman should have the right to do what she wants with her body when it comes to having sex with it for money.
#5: “Most gay men don’t need to go to a brothel to get sex.” & #12: “Most gay men don’t, perhaps, but some might. Very shy guys, older non-sugar daddies, the unhandsome, the socially awkward.”
Ah, I wish women had the sexuality of gay men.
the main thing that i am getting from the quoted statements is that its perfectly fine and acceptible to society for women to be whores- sex objects- but the idea of men doing the same thing is degrading- which sort of pisses me off as a woman. as for the whole aids worry- as others have pointed out- the best way to prevent that is through condom use and health screening- something that is required when prostitution is decriminalized and regulated. the best way to encourage the continued spread of HIV among gays would be to encourage furtive back alley interactions by not allowing a safer alternative. additionally, i believe it was pointed out that a lot of the gay men paying for sex are the closeted ones- you know, the ones that go home and occasionally still fuck their wives. so, in response to LC’s concern about protecting the Het ladies from all that gay AIDS- again, bring on the legal, REGULATED male prostitution. in fact, if prostitution by both sexes were decriminalized, STD rates would probably drop. having sex with a legal prostitute is safer than screwing the average college student- or so iv heard.
56 – ftw
If Loveschild’s G Spot was a few inches up her butt, she’d be whistling a different tune.
8/Vince: “Can women hire men? Why not?”
27/Confluence: “We don’t need to. We can handpick our dick, fo’ free. It’s one of the benefits of the XX chromosome combo.”
30/Men-O-Pause: “Wait till the bloom is off the rose.”
____________________________________________________
Women should able to legally hire men (and, of course, vice-versa) but, as Confluence pointed out, why would they? Men want to have sex, especially casual sex, with women much more than women want to have sex with men (sex is simply more important to men, in general, than it is to women) so that gives women greater sexual power. If male prostitutes have any female customers, I’m sure they’re extremely rare.
To 30: the bloom does eventually fade but if a woman works at staying in good shape and she’s genetically blessed with a pretty face, it can last a long time and, while it lasts, she has a lot of sexual choices. An ex-girlfriend of mine is 51 and sexier and more attractive than most women half her age. Her last boyfriend was 40 and she can get laid (and wined and dined) whenever she wants.
As a regular Slog reader who tends to lurk, I just have to say, as a straight woman devoted to her boyfriend: Kim in Portland, I have a little girl crush on you. You totally rock.
That is all.
Welcome to the club, Carol.
Of course, as a presently single straight boy, my thoughts of Kim don’t necessarily preclude sex, but even if they did I’d still have a [girl] crush on her.
@45 – So, LC, you and/or your husband sleep around a bunch, then? Because, you know, if you two are both monogamous, you can’t get any STI’s from each other that you don’t already have. If you’re both HIV-negative, all the sodomy (of all kinds) in the world with each other won’t change that.
Thank you, Carol and Uriel. Such an nice pre-birthday present. *blush*
I feel sorry for LC and her children’s father that they never have oral sex. Oral sex between opposite sex partners is sodomy, of course, so LC can’t do it or allow it to happen in her bedroom. Nope, none of that type of foreplay is allowed. It would be so sinful… Never mind that the male licking the female’s vulva prior to mating is a pretty universal behavior amongst the mammals (which makes it one of the most natural things in the world). Of course, LC probably doesn’t see herself as biologically the same as any mammal.
@42 Why don’t you drop the act Loveschild and stop pretending concerns for health have anything to do with your bigotry.
If gay sex were completely safe, would you then support it? Do you oppose people having sex with Africans or other groups with higher-than-normal rates of HIV?
By the way, do you maintain that it is possible to contract an STD from gay sex in which neither partner has an STD? And if not, does gay sex in such instances have your approval?
is anyone else thinking this also may have to do with keeping women out of the brothels as costumers? After all, women are supposed to be the oogled, not the ooglers.
@ 32
>>”Let’s leave God and the Bible out of this for the moment”
For once. Are you willing to leave it out of the argument for good, or only when it gets in the way (i.e. if HIV is a judgement from God, why does is spare lesbians more than anyone else)?
>>”lesbian sexual acts also carry their own particular high incidences of sexually transmitted diseases, less than gay sex but they do nonetheless.”
This epitomizes my earlier criticism. Rather than acknowledge that the lesbian STD rate is even lower than it is for heterosexuals, you say that they have ‘less than gay sex.’ The implication, of course, being that heterosexual sex is the safest of all. Not true, and while you haven’t denied it you will never admit it – maybe because it flies in the face of a punishment scenario you cherish. Also: “particular high incidences of sexually transmitted diseases”? Care to name any? Of course anyone can get any std, but lesbians are lower for all of them than heteros.
@ 56
My impression was that this Flint guy opposed gay male sex at brothels because it was intrinsically revolting, not because it ‘degrades’ the male prostitute or client. I doubt he gives a damn about them. Double standards abound, of course, but I think this is a homophobia thing rather than a misogyny thing.
If you don’t stop feeding the troll, it won’t die.
Point taken.
@34 – we can too pee standing up! It just takes practice, and willingness to use your hands. Just like a little boy learning to do it, it can be messy at first, but it is very possible.
Sodomy is such a sad, sad word, given it grossly misrepresents to the less studied the sins of Sodom, which, most likely, had little if anything to do with anal or oral sex. A notable, albeit conspiratorial explanation of the confusion can be found here.
It’s the continuous insistence on erroneous interpretations (or awkward prioritization) of scripture that suggest strongly (to me) the bible is only a convenient justification for more intrinsic prejudices against gays.
I’m going to agree, Uriel.
It’s also an apparent lack of reading comprehension as well. Read the rest of the places that Sodom (and it’s unlucky sister is mentioned) and the reasons given for their destruction lists sins that we are all guilty of like greed, lack of justice, lack of hospitality, over consumption, etc. So, I’m inclined to believe it is indeed a convenient justification for more intrinsic prejudices against gays, but it also gives them a whipping boy to unite the troops and a second reason to raise funds. Every conservative Christian “news” and email list I’m on, concludes with an message asking me for money to fight the “homosexual agenda”. Attend service, where the sermon of the day is to condemn homosexuality and attacks on the sacrament of marriage, and there is a second passing of the plate. Those have been my experiences, I’d like to think that they are the exception. Unfortunately, the RC American Bishop letter that was sent to Maine is evidence to the contrary and I’ve lost hope on this issue. Bullying, in the name of religion, appears to be alive and well in the US.
Damn depressing.
@27: Maybe for you. Not every women in the world has appealing enough looks to pick from any guy. I am a straight woman and I have successfully dated and screwed some good-looking men- – but never one that was attractive enough/muscled enough to work as a model or male dancer. Especially since I date for personality first, and looks often fall in last place,forgotten. For casual sex …without me having to impress anybody with my less-than-supermodel looks…shit! Let’s just say if these men are hot enough, I am making a trip to Nevada.
Mr.Flint is probably one of those men who go looking for young boys on the street to give him a blow job in the dark. He’s just pissed because he does’nt have the guts to walk into a brothel and ask for male sex. That’s so often the kind of person who feels the need to distance themselves from it in public.
Everybody knows that “Sodomy” is ‘inhospitality’ and general rudeness to guests-
it’s right there in the Bible!
It was quite frowned upon in the old days and was; each and every time it occurred; punished by fire from heaven.
You can read it in the Bible!