We’re going to start this post off with one giant collective sigh. It can be a sigh of disappointment, of incredulity or of embarrassment in our federal justice — your choice.
The former CEO of Rentboy.com, Jeffrey Hurant, 51, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn on Wednesday on a charge of promoting prostitution, as well as two other money laundering charges.
Back in August of last year, Hurant and six of his employees were arrested during a sting operation in Manhattan conducted by Homeland Security with help from the NYPD.
Way to keep that homeland safe, guys.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Related: Six Questions About Homeland Security’s Attack On Rentboy
Wednesday’s indictment did not name the six employees, though Reuters reports a spokeswoman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said the criminal complaint against them remains pending.
The case has sparked outrage from gay rights advocates due to the oddly targeted nature of the crackdown. The legal complaint is bizarrely prurient, with prosecutors listing various fetishes from profile pages, including “diapers, sneakers, spanking, watersports, leather,” for no apparent reason other than shock value.
Hurant’s attorney, Michael Tremonte, plans to contest the charges and hopes for “full vindication at trial.”
“The government’s charges against Mr. Hurant are unwarranted. He ran his business openly for nearly 20 years, and it makes no sense to single him out for criminal prosecution,” Tremonte said.
Related: Rentboy CEO Breaks Silence, Begs For Help On Facebook
Even the New York Times noted in an op-ed that the site, founded in 1996, “provided sex workers with a safer alternative to street walking or relying on pimps,” adding, “Federal authorities should consider whether continuing to spend time and money turning the website’s operators into felons is worthwhile, while far more serious crimes, including human trafficking and sexual exploitation, go unpunished.”
We hope there’s a rational ending to this developing sideshow, but things aren’t looking great.
Robbie Cohen
Bullshit
David Andrew Roubideaux
You guys are so right! They should have not done this to these guys! And i think they shouldn’t get charged for anything and that they should get their business back!
o.codone
The attorney is clever to fame this as malicious prosecution. With everything else that’s going on out there, they single out Rentboy? With the right jury he will walk. If it;s not dismissed on summary judgment before then. Good luck to him. In the meantime he’s gonna spend all his $ on legal fees. He’s gonna have to sell a lot of ass when this is all over.
Sean Bauer
Real surprise! LoL
Nico Vasquez
Ha! WHORES.
Aline Louise
Homeland Security??
Augusto Kortright
With terrorist all over the world they are worrying about an Internet site??? Really???? Why don’t they get craigslist? Back page???? Etc????
Maleko
@Robbie Cohen: That says it all quite nicely. What does Homeland Security have to do with law enforcement in NYC? That is the Metro Police’s turf, so to speak. If some jerk off in Homeland thinks that a genuine threat to the security of the nation by virtue of running ‘rentboy’ they found some real wacky weed and smoked it all by themselves. Seriously, why would a federal department of homeland security knock on ‘rentboy?’ That stuff is the purview of the NYC police and DEA and maybe the FBI. Very strange; I hope they’re very aggressive attorneys get answers as to the reason homeland was out of it’s turf (the claim rentboy was a threat to the nation is absurd). They will hopefully find that some evangelical stretched his badge a bit too far and get this dismissed. If not and homeland was doing what they do, then DEA is no longer needed if Homeland will waste more money on this crap. I really hope the guy operating Rentboy has lots of fantastic, experienced lawyers come out of the woodwork to take his cae pro bono. There are lots of us out there, a great legal mind is needed to beat back these guys. ‘Handcuff the homeland enforcers that must be out of their area.’
DCguy
I’m guessing that after Ashley Madison got hacked you probably had some high level government officials terrified that their accounts on Rentboy would become public if it got hacked so they sent in the Federal government to shut it down and grab it’s servers.
Why else only go after it and not a site like the one where men make bids for a “Date” with one of the women members?
martinbakman
@DCguy: Homeland Security, making our sluts in DC just that much safer!
Markajv
The LGBT Community, as I have come to know them over 25 years or so, are idiots!. Did anyone commenting read the 17 page document with all the info?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/296874116/2016-01-27-Rentboy-Indictment-Signed-002
This was not an attack on the Gay Community. None of the Whores lost any jobs. Unless this company was transparent you are all speculating what went on behind closed doors. Read the
charges. Whether you like it or not what happened was against the law. RentBoy stritly said it did not sell for sexual favors, however, their are “Review Sites” like DaddysReviews.com that linked the prostitutes, from all over the world to Rentboy. Then their is the Money Laundering So stop the fucking Martyrdom and grow up and be adults. You wanted to be treated equally, well guess what. (BTW there are still MANY, MANY gay and straight escort services still running in this country that have not been raided. Why is that?
Louie Mars
…now I will never get laid again….
Nick Jackson
Is that Elder Maxon?
Amaurys Arias
He is what he is…
Mykaels
Here is a thought: lobby for prostitution and money laundering to be legal, instead of crying and whining when money launderers and pimps are prosecuted.
Kangol
Why is sex work involving consenting, paying adults criminalized?
And why did the US government decide to go after this company when there are countless other things they could be focusing on?
Tobi
@DCguy: It’s not the same as Ashley Madison, no registration is required, as you can contact the “sellers” direct.
@Markajv: Jeffrey Hurant of Rentboy was an idiot. If he’d followed RentMen and RentMasseur’s lead and domiciled his company in a country where prostitution is legal, such as the Netherlands, he wouldn’t have had a problem, even if he was actually running the site from NY.
Stache
@Markajv: Funny that it’s only a gay site that gets attacked. Why not go after the many other straight sites. They didn’t sell “sexual favors”. That would be pimping. Just like any other sites they sold ad space only.
Calling them Whores reeks of holier then thou judgement. How do you feel when bigots take your rights away. Oh that’s right you don’t have to worry about it today. Wan’t that long ago when they said the same thing (FAGS) as they were busting you for seeking out the company of men.
As far as money laundering goes we don’t know the facts. It wouldn’t be that unusual for the Feds to make it up though. They do that all the time.
Stached1
They got charged because a lot of gay and bisexual men who were forced into prostitution and trafficked from other countries were on the site.
Masc Pride
@Stached1: I was wondering when someone reasonable would mention this. We don’t know all the details here. Homeland Security DOES have a responsibility to investigate human trafficking and arrest traffickers. Maybe it’s possible there could be some involved in this case.
orjeffy
How DARE they arrest a white man for prostitution?!??
Markajv
@Stache: Re-Read what I wrote and read the 17 page document with the charges that I linked to, then read my last sentences….you basically just repeated what I said but tried to turn it around. (If you were smart you would ALSO know they were involved with three men in Miami who ran a sex-slave ring. You are Typical.
Stache
@Markajv: Big effing deal. Should we charge the restaurants where the traffickers ate too? Yes. They advertised on their site. Where is their involvement beyond that? Were they partners or just renting out an ad space like any other site would happily do?
The money laundering charge is a catch 22. Any interstate commerce that they do would be considered money laundering because of it’s illegal nature ie prostitution.
This is witch hunt. All the charges are laughable.
Markajv
@Stache: I love a good Conspiracy Theorist. I bet you also think Matthew Shepard was Horrendously Murdered because he was GAY and not because he was a drug dealer? who was having sex with the guy who killed him who was on a 5 day meth bender.? Where is Snowden when you need him? I think this world has more important things to worry about than this.
Good luck continuing to play the martyr. This is why I left the “Gay” community and live by Non-conformity. Because if you are Gay and you do not conform to what they say you should act and believe you are shunned. I was and still am tired of the Whaaa I want to be treated equal but whaaaaa Zoolander 2 should be boycotted. UGHHH!
Markajv
@Stache: P.S. I have seen many a Twitter rant where the “Gay Escort” calls themselves “Whores” they know what they are and the ones who are comfortable with it really do not care what anyone thinks.
jeffreydillon
The New York Times weighs in with a repeat of the circumstantial evidence. The New York Times has not reached out, in defense, and has only added insult to injury, by acting as the moderate voice. As with many sites, this one is a membership only site. it is not a house of I’ll repute, standing on your neighborhood corner, with all the social ills, accompanied. We have always been our own best moderators, when it comes to issues of morality. We are the ones, historically, who have chosen to break parts of the social contract, bound in Puritanism and guilt, in favor of healthy minds, healthy bodies, and healthy sexuality.
The implications of this arrest will have a chill on other sites, such as shared viewing sites, or even ordinary “vanilla” dating sites. must I swear that my date, in real time, will not tempt me with an orange grove, on FarmVille. If I buy a potential life partner an airline ticket, have I committed a crime of pandering? CEO’s make money on content, they don’t walk people to the bank, to the gun shows, or to a brothel. Im fairly certain, that Rentboy, like others, works hard to flag and remove unwanted, or otherwise harmful content. This does not protect them from unwanted government intrusion, and, it would seem, the government should press, to show, exactly what harm has been done, with specific injury.
Shouldn’t community standards be ours to uphold? Where did the original complaint stem from? This is the online equivalent of holding a raid, at The Elephant Walk, some forty years ago. The owner is harassed over moral issues of vice. I can’t say The New York Times shares my opinion.
With best regards,
Jeff Dillon
DCguy
@Markajv:
It is irrelevant if what they were doing was illegal, the issue is that you cannot arbitrarily enforce a law against certain people and not others. I.E. there are multiple prostitution sites online that were not subjected to this.
Stache
@Markajv: Good. I’ll call you a holier then thou asshole since you seem so comfortable sitting in judgement of others.
MarionPaige
if not mistaken, xbiz had an article about another escort site on the west coast being taken down recently on charges similar to those against Rentboy and it has gotten very little press.
Without Going Into Detail, there are “gay” companies operating openly in NYC right now that can today “legally / technically” be raided and shutdown on prostitution charges. THESE COMPANIES, like rentboy, could easily have formed in “forums” where their business is de-criminalized.
Not only is this support for Rentboy.com misplaced but, a lot of people / businesses are probably not thinking about RICO / Racketeering Charges that can come against businesses that associated with / profited from THE EASY RENT SYSTEMS ENTERPRISE. For example, it is alleged that Easy Rent System was somehow the sponsor (profited from) a recent escort event in Las Vegas. I mean,
How stupid do you have to be to attend and participate in an event sponsored by a company with federal criminal charges against it?
Markajv
@MarionPaige: The event you are speaking of, I believe, was the “Hustlaball” (A three day alcohol and drug infused sex event that the public pays for to attend and watch all kinds of Gay Porn and Hookers have sex) – There are pics and vids all over the place) Also in regards to another company being taken down recently. I know Redbook was – Story her – http://www.wired.com/2015/02/redbook/
Stache
@Masc Pride: I would think that would be the local law enforcement and FBI’s turf. I’m not sure how human trafficking effects our national security.
Markajv
@Stache: I could give a shit what you think of me. Have fun wasting energy doing it though.
Markajv
@DCguy: THEY DID NOT GET RAIDED JUST FOR PROSTITUTION!!!! Geez You asshats that defend them are only using that as the excuse. There is MORE to it than that! Did Heidi Fleiss takedown get this much craziness?
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
So, what’s the difference between Rentboy and Ashley Madison? Ashley Madison is still up and running, correct?
Juanjo
@Markajv:
Our friend has just jumped the shark. His allegations concerning Matt Shepard in line with his other allegations here without any actual supporting evidence demonstrate an exercise in logical fallacy. First off I have read the indictment and unlike you I know an indictment is a series of allegations which the government seeks to prove. They might and they might not. The fact it comes form a grand jury means nothing since a DOJ attorney present evidence to the grand jury and the possible defendants do not have any opportunity to present evidence or comment on the allegations of the government. There is a saying among lawyers that a government attorney could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich with little effort.
For example the claims about the Miami exploitation issue does not indicate any facts to show that RentBoy knew in advance that the men involved were being held against their will and forced to engage in sexual activity.
Then we have your claims about Matt Shepard which come from ONE writer who cites one source. None of the data can be substantiated and the coroner has already said repeatedly that there was no evidence that Matt Shepard was abusing any drugs based upon an examination and screening of his body and his blood by the coroner.
Let us now when you have actual facts to support your opinions. Until then they remain opinions which of course you are entitled to make and we of course are entitled to dispute. The issues involving the Rent Boy indictment will be hashed out in court and until that happens I will wait before making a pronouncement.
Not to mention the fact is that numerous sites off a similar service for heterosexual users and no similar prosecutions. This is of course what many posters here are pointing out and it is a valid issue.
Chris-MI
@Stached1: This may be true, but it seems unlikely that Rentboy was doing any of that. They just provided a website which the pimps used to advertise. They may have done a poor job of vetting their customers, but so do airlines, phone companies, business card printers, bars and strip clubs, etc.
Justin Weeks
That’s fucked up if you want to sell you body for sex you should be able to
DCguy
@Markajv:
What I see is somebody getting unreasonably angry over this which leads me to believe you have a dog in this fight.
You claim that they didn’t get taken down just for prostitution, well if you have bothered to read ANY of the issues surrounding it, you would know that the fact that they were charged with multiple ridiculous over the top indictments was part of what looks odd about the case. Especially when multiple female centered sites which perform the same functions were not.
Now that you have had that explained to you AGAIN, why don’t you explain what your motivation is in coming on here and freaking out about this whole thing. What do you gain by them being indicted that makes you so angry that some people are questioning the timing of the arrest??
Markajv
@Juanjo: The claims about Matthew Shepard do not come JUST from Mr. Jimenez. It comes from the people of that area and Denver. LGBT Community shut down Mr.Jimenez because they had already won the hate crime battle. Many Many people wanted to speak to the police and layers but where not allowed. They kept it neat and tidy. Even knowing that the people who worked at that bar had seen Matthew and AAron together on several occasions.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/26/the-truth-behind-americas-most-famous-gay-hate-murder-matthew-shepard
Matthew’s drug abuse, and the fact that he knew one of his killers prior to the attack, was never explored in court. Neither was the rumour that the killers knew that he had access to a shipment of crystal meth with a street value of $10,000 which they wanted to steal.
He grew up in an Affluent family…You can’t mess with the rich!..What was that that happened to that kid who claimed “Affluenza” for killing those people on the side of the road? Oh yeah, NO arrest or prison time.
Anyway….whatever. If your gonna pimp out whores, don’t get them from overseas and don’t let review sites like DaddysReviews.com lead the law right to your door. OH and don’t sponsor an event called the “Hookies” were whores win awards for the best reviews by clients on how great their sexal prowess is. I mean Right there is a dead in your face giveaway!
SteveDenver
Still not a word about what this has to do with HOMELAND SECURITY.
Markajv
@DCguy: Well you believe what you want to believe about me . Doesn’t do anything to change my life personally. Good luck.
TheBigOne
@Markajv:
Bravo!
Every time I read an article about something like this and see how many vapid queens to absolutely apeshit reminds me of why I want nothing to do with ‘gay’ society.
Prostitution is still ILLEGAL.
So is money laundering!
Some of these queens on here do nothing more than read a sensationalized headline and get their panties all wadded up.
Good to know that some of US have the mental capacity to read a story and form an opinion based on reading more than just the headline.
The gay media…smdh.
Guy068
@Markajv: What they did to the boy still makes my skin crawl but I’d read about the suppressed details about Shepard long ago. Didn’t make one thing that happened to him deserved so why don’t more people know or acknowledge it? It adds a layer of cautionary tale that could help out people hearing it…
And yeah, defending Rent Boy by saying ‘other people do it too’? That should be a cry for the others to be indicted as well, not a reason to let criminals get away with it…
Stache
@Guy068:No one acknowledges it because it’s not relevant and all hearsay. Mostly from one nutcase writer shilling for publicity.
Criminal? Yeah, while were at it why don’t we criminalize porn again too. No difference at all except one is filmed while the other isn’t. Crazy.
I guess you and all the crazy Fundi Christians all have something in common now.
hwc2016
Not sure how he is going to get out of this one, as we all know what this site was all about. Sadly the only person that will be hurt by all of this is Jeffrey, as i’am sure most of the boys have moved on to other websites & it’s business as usual.
batesmotel
Amusing that prostitution continues to get everyone’s panties in a wad. It’s been going on for centuries regardless it they’re straight, gay, male, female. People pay for sex because they’re likely unable to get someone to sleep with them for free. Who cares. Leave them alone.
DCguy
@Markajv:
Well NOW your rabid defense of all things gay being bad makes sense, you are also a Matthew Sheppard denier.
We get it, you’re an anti-gay troll, you should have been more careful, it was too easy to expose you.
Chris Duffy
Closing in on 300 shootings in Chicago in one month. But yeah, jail the naked gays. ‘Murican Justissss.
Chris
Since I think that prostitution and all forms of sex work between (among?) consenting ADULTS should be legal, I find this sort of thing to be a ridiculous waste of the tax payer’s money. ….. Since prostitution is illegal, people who engage in prostitution find themselves having to launder their earnings. Decriminalize prostitution and THEN let’s talk about money laundering.
DCFarmboy
Before anyone gets too quick to defend RB, focus on the money laundering part of it and the involvement of Homeland Security. There could be some really bad shit here.
Stache
@DCFarmboy: I thought that too till I read the actual indictment charges. You’ll see that it’s all trumped up from the prostitution charge. Not exactly Al Capone stuff.
Steve Tabárez
He’s a pimp. Pay the price.
joeyty
@Chris Duffy: You have a problem with this President ?
joeyty
@TheBigOne: Most gay men are probably smarter than the vapid Queerty queens, though, who can’t read beyond the headline.
Markajv
@Baba Booey Fafa Fooey: Ashley Madison, as disgusting as it is, is a “Match.com” type of site. You buy a membership and you answer questions to get matched up. You contact each other to meet etc. It’s a “Dating” site. They are not sellig sexual favors. They are still gross. Cheating is for pussy’s!!
Markajv
@DCguy: Ummm Kinda hard to be Anti-Gay when I lived a lot of my life identifying as gay. You can call me Anti-LGBT everything all you like. So that was nice of you to be a real dick! You proved one of my points. Don’t conform, you must be anti…we will have nothing to do with you, Well one day your bubble you live in will burst and you will see there are more things that can be bettered. Like maybe your condescending, better than though, Faggy attitude.
joeyty
@Markajv: LOL ! If you don’t go along with the gaybot thnking., then you must secretly be an “anti-gay troll”. As in “we get it, you’re an anti-gay troll.” The “we get it” says it all. Some guys need Queerty to have an illusion they’re bonding together with one group against another. Those that use “we” for themselves and “troll” for someone who doesn’t think like a gaybot are the ones.
Markajv
@joeyty: Thank you!
Daniel-Reader
“Dating” apps and sites make money off getting people together for sex, so it is interesting how things get defined sometimes.
Steve Russell
Rentboy was no different than any other dating site. The feds just didn’t like the name Rentboy and it was for gay men.
galatians328
PANDERING is a crime and should be prosecuted. TAX EVASION, tax fraud, and failure to pay taxes are crimes and should be prosecuted. NON-COMPLIANCE with local and state nondiscrimination and other human rights laws should be prosecuted.
Why are queer folks eager to defend illegal/unethical manipulation, use and coercion of people for personal gain (pandering)? Why are queer folks so eager to defend tax cheats? Why are queer folks so eager to defend discrimination (rent boys, rent girls, and rent gender diverse people taking money for services should comply with local and state nondiscrimination laws but how often do we see queer folks with their ‘no blacks’, ‘I don’t do asians’, ‘no old people’, etc).
dean089
Hopefully he has a hidden back-up copy of the RentBoy membership, so that all the politicians and other public officials who were members can be exposed.
Stache
Ha. I find it interesting that the same one’s who are negative towards RB are the ones that also complain the loudest about PreP as a preventative. The common denominator is wanting punishment for sex they either don’t approve of or probably just not getting themselves.
RB is an easy target that represents all of that so it’s an easy target for them to openly hate.
BGinBigD
A whore by any other name is still a whore!
Stache
@BGinBigD: Any gay guy that needs to point the finger at someone else’s sex life and accuse them of being a “whore” says way more about you then them.
stanhope
Let me grab my homeland……i need it secured by a rentboy. LOL
LongIslandGayPhotos
@Markajv: Am I a whore? For over 40 years I sold my body and mind to corporations so that they could make a profit on my labor. Had this persecution been about forced sexual slavery, I would be screaming for the highest penalties. But this is about consensual sex… albeit consensual sex with an exchange of money. Humm… how is that different than marriage?
Bill Perdue
So much for having friends in the WH. This is gay-bashing, pure and simple.
Dirtybird_Mary
Big whoop! So fucking what… ?!
Brian
Prostitution is an incredibly sordid profession. It trades on misery. As for gay rights organizations being outraged by the arrest, really? Which gay rights organizations? Male prostitution has nothing to do with gay rights.
Frankly, I find it insulting that anybody would equate the selling of one’s body with the genuine love of two men.
DCguy
@Markajv:
So you claim you aren’t anti-gay but the biggest insult you can come up with to attack me is to call me “faggy”?
Thanks for proving my point. Also thanks for showing that you had no real argument against my comments so had to cry and yell insults like an anti-gay Middle school child.
joeyty
@DCguy: You’re the one who called him “troll”, which is REALLY Middle School.
Stache
@Brian: Funny I can’t imagine any human being outside of a prostitute having sex with you. Talk about misery. I”m sure everyone here agrees with me on that.
Stache
@DCguy: He’s not interested in hearing any facts. His ignorance and anger is funny for awhile but is now tired.
Markajv
So much inner hostility being deflected at people who do not share your views that you have to so on an attack? That’s very “I gotcha back brother” of you. (Post comments that are relevant to the article, written in clear language and that avoid personal attacks on editors and your fellow commenters.) People like Stache, and @DCguy, Take a good hard look in the mirror and ask yourself. “Am I a nice person?, Am I a Kind person?” You’ll probably say “Yes I am ” (But not in the internet where I can hide behind a computer and attack other gay men who don;t share the same views. Sad, Sad, Sad. (If a Black person has the right to say the “N” word than I have the right to say “Faggy” or “Fag” or “Faggot”) Why SO SERIOUS?
Masc Pride
@Stache: Think again:
“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for investigating human trafficking, arresting traffickers and protecting victims.”
http://www.dhs.gov/topic/human-trafficking
Stache
@Masc Pride:Hmm.. You have a point of them using this to investigate and bust RB. However, the link is very weak at best.
Law enforcement does this all the time to go after people. The trafficking just got the ball rolling.
Stache
@Markajv: Pot meet your kettle.
Masc Pride
@Stache: If trafficking is a part of this story, then it’s definitely DHS territory. A lot of you guys are speculating on what bigoted motivations may be involved knowing all the facts. If trafficking is involved, thosee ideas about this investigation being rooted in homophobia don’t matter at all. DHS has a responsibility to shut down any operation that involves human trafficking. Gay or straight. The operator of myRedBook (a hetero RentBoy), who was just as sloppy as Hurant, was also federally prosecuted.
Masc Pride
@Masc Pride: *may be involved without knowing all the facts
Stache
@Masc Pride: If you look in the indictment you’ll see their only involvement was renting out the ad space to them. Hurant or anyone at RB couldn’t of known who they were renting to. That’s like going after grindr because the guy lied to you.
acrobaticninja
Its so annoying how slanted this article is! How can anyone say this isn’t prostitution? He gets what he deserves. Sorry whores.
Stached1
@Markajv: Is it true Matthew Shepherd was HIV+ and into meth, and owed drug dealers money? Granted I don’t think he or anyone deserves to be murdered for any of that.
@Stache: It’s hilarious, and sad how some people, usually white gay men are claiming that the rentboy bust is akin to Stonewall or other watershed moments in LGBT history.
Stache
@Stached1: I get it that you’re just looking to be a shithead for attention but I’ll bite. What does him having Hiv have to do with it?
Stached1
@Stache: Nope. But keep trolling on. Did you forget your HIV meds or meds for your mental illnesses today?
Stache
@Stached1: Ha. Nope but I see you have strong hate for me. Means I’m doing something right.
Masc Pride
@Stache: If you look at the justice.gov release of this case, it’s filed under human trafficking. RB crossed state and international borders blatantly advertising sex for money; that’s what was really sloppy about it. Like I said, a very similar straight site was shutdown, fined and the operator was prosecuted.
Stache
@Masc Pride: The fact that they operated across state/international borders could fit many other’s too who aren’t being charged.
The trafficking charge is flimsy at best IMO. Best you can say is that they should’ve been more responsible to check.
Yes. You make a good point about the other site. Takes the singling them out point away.
Still this is only about Prostitution. Ridiculous to charge them. This is gay men seeking other men for company. There are no victims.
Markajv
@Stached1: Matthews blood test showed he was HIV pos. when the autopsy was done. He was not MURDERED by Aaron because of any money being owed. It was known that Matt had $2,600 worth of meth on him that night. Aaron was already on a 5 day and night bender of meth and heard Matt was carrying. They set up to meet t the “Fireside” They knew one another and had had sex together several times They were hustlers. Aaron went crazy with the blunt end of a gun on Matthew in a METH fit of lunacy. They were known to hang together at were seen many times at the clubs in Denver. Your not gonna see any of that because his family had $$$ and that can buy off the truth any day.
People have been talking about this for 20 yrs. It just happened to happen at the time Bill Clinton was working on a hates crime project. As far as Mr. Jimenez book goes. Why would an openly gay man, who has a great career spend 20 years of his life, sometimes in hazardous situations to investigate something he saw as wrong? Why would he risk the Gay Cartel bashing him for years? Because they did not want the truth to come out. You think this is the first time this has happened?? Pffft. That is my belief from Day 1. If you don’t agree that’s fine. I couldn’t care less. I own what I believe. You are not taking that away from me,
Markajv
@Stached1: P.S. I think his MURDER was horrendous, I NEVER EVER said he did not deserved to be murdered. Your disgusting trying to put words in my mouth.
Markajv
@Stached1: P.S. I think his MURDER was horrendous, I NEVER EVER said he deserved to be murdered. Your disgusting trying to put words in my mouth
Markajv
@Stached1: From Marie Cartier: “Matthew Shepard was HIV positive; he was gang raped on a college trip in Morocco; he did use drugs—whether they were stronger than pot is not “officially” known—but that he was a pretty heavy pot smoker is well-known; he didn’t talk about his rape easily and it may have been the thing that led him into harder drugs and the thing that led him to date dangerous folks—one of whom may have forced him into unprotected sex which led to the HIV.”
DCguy
@Markajv:
Your obsession with this is really unhinged and creepy. Let me guess, you hired a hooker through them and got burned?
Stached1
@Stache: No I don’t “hate” you but your post are silly and you’re FOS but you’re some random internet troll that’s HIV+ and used way too much meth.
Stached1
@Markajv: I’m not surprised he was into meth. It’s a shame what happened to him.
Stached1
@Stache: Yeah there are victims, they had men on there who were trafficked from other countries and forced into prostitution and advertised on that site. But legalization/decriminalization of prostitution is basically legalized sex trafficking.
Markajv
@DCguy: Your a pig grasping at straws. Echhh. Fuck you and your trash talk about me….you are the creepy one who won’t stop!
Markajv
@Stached1: A Major shame. That area at that time was a big meth haven with Denver so close. It’s horrendous. Never did that drug but has seen what it does to people…..and I do not get it at all.
youarekiddingme
@Markajv: Just to get your facts straight…It was McKinney who was on the bender. It was McKinney who was planning on the robbery of the $10,000 of meth from a dealer, when they saw Shepherd (who was NOT the DEALER). Here’s the story from ABC News…http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1
It’s a little more up to date. Not saying Shepherd didn’t have his problems but…This guy (McKinnney) has actually admitted this series of events since going to prison.
youarekiddingme
@galatians328: “Queer” Folks are also tired of Organized Churches EVADING TAXES as well! Especially those churches who violate the law.
I guess according to your “screen name”, GALATIANS328, There should be no “QUEER FOLKS” either huh?
Practice what thou preach?
Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Masc Pride
@Stache: But others have been charged in the same way for the same thing; that’s what I keep telling you. There are lots of people out prostituting right now, but they won’t all be caught tonight. Just don’t arrest anyone if you can’t catch them all? Doesn’t seem very logical. When human trafficking is involved, there are victims (likely underage too). Like I said, look this case up on justice.gov. It mentions trafficking. If trafficking happens through your business, you’re getting more than a warning.
DCguy
@Markajv: You stated: @DCguy: Your a pig grasping at straws. Echhh. Fuck you and your trash talk about me….you are the creepy one who won’t stop!
So in other words, once again, you had no valid defense of what you were saying so again you just name called, freaked out and acted weirdly unhinged about this topic.
Go back and read your posts, pretend that you aren’t you, and then you can see that your posts sound like somebody off their meds.
You’ve already made multiple anti-comments, you are obviously a Matthew Sheppard conspiracy theorist spouting disproved claims, and you have attacked anybody personally that brought up any fact you couldn’t answer.
You are obviously a typical right wing anti-gay troll on here. Or somebody that was a customer of rentboy who got burned by them, the only other explanation for your behavior is that you are an escaped patient and the white van will be pulling up to your location soon to put the straight jacket back on you.
Stached1
@Markajv: I have never used meth either and never will. It destroys the brain of everyone who uses it, even people who use it once or twice as it is horrible for your CNS and depletes dopamine.
bambamboom777
There are also plenty of alternative weekly newspapers that carry ads for escorts and “masseurs”. So does craigslist and the yellow pages. This is more of free speech issue than a glbt issue, but gay rights advocates are correct in criticizing this action.
People should have the right to discuss things in open forums without fear of the state using the legal system attack them. It’s not like they were plotting acts of violence. Of course sex slavery is an important issue, but instead of attacking a website, they should instead be using their resources to go after the people actually doing the human trafficking.
Prostitution may be illegal in most places in the U.S., but so is marijuana, so should they arrest the owners of High Times? It wasn’t that many years ago that sodomy laws were on the books in many states. By the logic the apologists for this action are taking, the state would be within their bounds to close down glbt newspapers and websites for promoting a criminal activity.
Law enforcement generally focuses on street-level prostitution or organized crime involvement because those tend to cause the most problems. Individual consenting adults working for themselves as escorts through a web presence are not a major cause societal ills. For many involved in this type of work it is out financial necessity. Adding criminal charges against people like this only makes it even more difficult for them and solves nothing. In fact, being forced into the legal system could very well push them into more serious crimes and ruin them financially.
Despite 17 pages of allegations, going after a web site such as this, when there are so many other things that need to be addressed is such an absurdity that it makes one wonder if there are other motivations behind this. It smells of selective harassment and it would be naive to deny that some members of law enforcement use their power and authority as a bullying platform against those who they morally or politically disapprove of. There are countless tales of lives destroyed by that kind of abuse of position in the U.S. And it has a ripple effect throughout society.
It may seem like non-issue or even a just punishment for “the bad people” to some, but these types of events are actually very important because they set precedence and give legitimacy to future actions that could very well hit a little or a lot closer to home for most. Better to err on the side of being too vigilant than being apathetic, or even worse, a lackey for those who would trample on our civil and constitutional rights.
Prostitutes don’t scare me, but moral crusaders do. There’s a reason that knowing history is so important. Humans have short memories though.