“There won’t be any more cases, at least in the current political climate,” said Duane, who is openly gay. “This whole program by the NYPD has been stopped, but we have to make sure it stays stopped.”

Last year, at least 30 men were arrested in stings at Manhattan porn shops, reports Gay City News. “When Robert Pinter, who was one of the 30 men, went public about his arrest –– saying that an undercover cop 25 years younger falsely claimed Pinter attempted to sell sexual services –– the outcry resulted in the Manhattan district attorney letting the legal time limit it has to prosecute cases run out for some men; in a few cases, the prosecutor outright dismissed the charges,” the paper said.

The stings were used to try and close the porn shops down.

There have been no new porn shop arrests since October, although police continue to arrest gay men and transgendered women on prostitution charges in Manhattan’s streets and spas.

“I decided it was time to be found again. I’d gotten pretty lost. I got out because there were folks there willing to open doors for me when I had decided that I had enough,” says Taylor, who grew up in Ontario but moved to Vancouver in 1996.

Taylor, who is now 40, had been both a male escort and a cross-dressing transsexual worker, both on and off the street. Since then he has helped found HUSTLE: Men on the Move, which provides support for men involved in sex work in Vancouver.

His story is echoed in a new report entitled Under the Radar: The Sexual Exploitation of Young Men, which found that men in the sex trade often end up alone and without support.

The report’s author, Sue McIntyre, had previously conducted extensive research into the plight of female sex workers, but realized men had been largely forgotten.

“I’ve had a fair bit of guilt about it _ that it was ignored for so long,” she says. “People don’t even see them, they don’t notice them. Even when there are outreach programs in a lot of different cities that do work with this population, they’re usually geared more for working with young women in the trade.”

Taylor agrees that organizations and services see men as an afterthought. “I don’t think (people) can wrap their head around sex work and that men are vulnerable and can be exploited.”

McIntyre sought input from 157 male sex-trade workers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and concluded they have no exit strategy. Her report, which paints a bleak picture for men who work as sex-trade workers, suggests comprehensive changes.

For most of the sex-trade workers it is “survival sex” — having enough money for food, shelter, clothing and often to support addictions. Although many are gay, others are “gay for pay.” More than 99 per cent of their customers are men, and they work for an average of nine years — double the time of their female counterparts.

“Young women can birth a baby, have a desire to have a child and that brings back state and family support. Young men do not have that option… it’s not something people are celebrating,” says McIntyre.

Seventy-five per cent of respondents reported sexual abuse and 85 per cent were physically assaulted before they ran away from home. They reported feeling shame and self-loathing. Even social workers who work with sex-trade workers report being uncomfortable dealing with them.

“That was really alarming for me. There’s an underlying sort of homophobia that goes with it,” says McIntyre.

Taylor says another reason why men are alone is that society has conditioned them to be strong and silent.

“Men are supposed to … feel no pain, not show their weaknesses and have greater perceived physical strength,” says Taylor, who got into the sex trade at 31 because he wanted to belong. Addictions followed before he finally left three years ago.

In Alberta, efforts have been made to improve the plight of sexually exploited young men.

“If you look at the ratios of males-to-females that we provide support to, I think they’re equally as successful at exiting,” says Sarita Dighe-Bramwell, with Alberta Children and Youth Services.

“I think the difference is we don’t recognize enough of the males,” she says, adding that help is now being provided to more boys.

McIntyre’s report recommends specialized programs to help male prostitutes get out and says that should include detox and rehabilitation beds, housing and help finding other employment.

It also says there should be mentoring programs and adds that staff working with young men in the sexual exploitation trade should be provided with gender non-conformity training.

“People need to know that this population exists and stop ignoring it,” says McIntyre.

©365Gay.com 2009

The body of the 17-year-old was found Feb. 22, 2008, in a pool of blood in an area frequented by transsexual prostitutes.  Williams was declared dead in the hospital.

Police said that Williams was wearing female clothing and may have been working as a prostitute.  She also was known to go by the names Chris and Beyoncé.

Police said that people nearby heard Williams arguing with two men, but did see the argument. Then two shots rang out.

On Sunday, Williams’ family and friends gathered at the spot of her killing for a candlelight vigil. A number of local politicians and law enforcement officials also attended.

“I won’t have peace until his killer is caught,” Williams’ mother, Denise King, told the Sun-Sentinel before the vigil began.

Police say they have not given up.

“We have not forgotten about Simmie, and we will not forget about Simmie,” Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Brice Brittenum told the crowd.

But investigators say they still don’t have a motive, let alone a suspect. It remains unclear if the slaying was a hate crime or a robbery gone wrong.

The site of the killing is near that of another unsolved murder of a trans woman who was transitioning and still using her birth name, Timothy Broadus, in 2003.

San Francisco would become the first major U.S. city to decriminalize prostitution if voters next month approve Proposition K – a measure that forbids local authorities from investigating, arresting or prosecuting anyone for selling sex.

The ballot question technically would not legalize prostitution since state law still prohibits it, but the measure would eliminate the power of local law enforcement officials to go after prostitutes.

Proponents say the measure will free up $11 million the police spend each year arresting prostitutes and allow them to form collectives.

“It will allow workers to organize for our rights and for our safety,” said Patricia West, 22, who said she has been selling sex for about a year by placing ads on the Internet. She moved to San Francisco in May from Texas to work on Proposition K.

Even in tolerant San Francisco – where the sadomasochism fair draws more than 400,000 tourists and a pornographic video company is housed in a former armory – the measure faces an uphill battle, with much of the political establishment opposing it.

Some form of prostitution is already legal in two states. Brothels are allowed in rural counties in Nevada. And Rhode Island permits the sale of sex behind closed doors between consulting adults, but it prohibits street prostitution and brothels.

In 2004, almost two-thirds of voters in nearby Berkeley rejected decriminalization. But proponents of Proposition K say their proposal has a better shot in San Francisco, which they believe is more sexually liberal than the city across the bay.

After all, the world’s oldest profession has long been established here. During the Gold Rush, the neighborhood closest to the piers was a seedy pleasure center of sex, gambling and drinking known as the Barbary Coast.

These days, on certain corners, prostitutes sell their bodies day and night, ducking into doorways and alleys when police pass by. One recent afternoon in the Mission District, six prostitutes were plying their trade on a single block.

Police made 1,583 prostitution arrests in 2007 and expect to make a similar number this year. But the district attorney’s office says most defendants are fined, placed in diversion programs or both. Fewer than 5 percent get prosecuted for solicititation, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

Proposition K has been endorsed by the local Democratic Party. But the mayor, district attorney, police department and much of the business community oppose the idea, contending it would increase street prostitution, allow pimps the run of neighborhoods and hamper the fight against sex trafficking, which would remain illegal because it involves forcing people into the sex trade.

The San Francisco Chronicle editorialized against the measure, saying it could make the city a magnet for prostitution.

If the the proposal passes, “we wouldn’t be able to investigate prostitution, and it’s going to be pretty difficult for us to locate these folks who are victims of trafficking otherwise,” said Capt. Al Pardini, head of the police department’s vice unit. “It’s pretty rare that we get a call that says: ‘I’m a victim of human trafficking’ or ‘I suspect human trafficking in my neighborhood.’”

The proposition would also prohibit police from accepting federal or state funds for sex trafficking investigations that involve racial profiling. Such investigations often arise from raids on brothels that advertise as Asian massage parlors.

“We feel that repressive policies don’t help trafficking victims, and that human rights-based approaches, including decriminalization, are actually more effective,” said Carol Leigh, co-founder of the Bay Area Sex Workers Advocacy Network and a longtime advocate for prostitutes’ rights.

But San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris said the ballot question mistakenly assumes prostitution is a victimless crime.

“The crime of prostitution does not exist by itself,” Harris said. “Along with it come pimps, johns and other crimes that really impact the safety of neighborhoods.”

If the measure passes, supporters say, prostitutes would not feel the need for pimps as protection. But opponents insist it would embolden pimps who trap drug addicts into prostitution by plying them with drugs.

“The proponents usually paint a fairly rosy picture of two consenting adults and a monetary exchange at the end,” Pardini said. “They don’t factor in the people that are being exploited and people that are being controlled, the ones manipulated both physically and chemically.”