HOOK: E-zine By, For, and About Men in the Sex Industry

Stefan is one of the last street hustlers in America. A few cities are still able to support them, and I tracked down Stefan in SF. He mostly identifies as a straight kid but his clients (which he secures and keeps only a couple regulars) are men. These men provide him not only cash but food and often a place to sleep.

HOOK: What's the thing you fear most about hustling?

Stefan: having to go out and work and not make money.

HOOK: What about other forms of work? Why hustle?

Stefan: Cuz I have to right now.

HOOK: Are there any other options?

Stefan: Yes, there are other options. There's a world full of fucking options, man. I'm having trouble putting things together at this particular time. [I could be] Leaving this city and going to a city where there is more work available that I do, which is mason work/concrete. Would be easier getting a job, doing that type of work. As far as changing my options for other types of work, I'd prefer not to.

HOOK: Tell me how you got introduced to escorting.

Stefan: Just meeting people on the streets and having them ask me. I would do better hustling if I had a way for people to contact me. I don't have a phone or beeper or nothing.

HOOK: You are homeless?

HOOK: How much you make in a week?

Stefan: That depends on so many different things. It's so unpredictable. If I work steady, like all week...I can range anywhere from 250 to 500 dollars. If I get lucky, I can make a thousand dollars in a weekend.

HOOK: Do you like having sex with other men?

Stefan: Mike: sometimes, I'm bisexual. More str8 than gay, tho.

HOOK: How do you approach clients?

Stefan: The way I approach someone is [to do it] in public. It’s best not to tell them that your str8. I usually let them come to me. I have regular customers that I stay in contact with. It's not like I have a lot of customers tho.

HOOK: Do you set a protocol with your clients...like what they can and can't do?

Stefan: You're goddamned right there's things I won't do. People take advantage of me. Mostly things I won't do, I sometimes will consider for certain amounts of money.

HOOK: So what are your limits?

Stefan: For the right amount of money, there are no limits. I'm not gonna get fucked in my ass for no $10 bill. And I ain't sucking no dick for no crack. It's a job for me that, at times, I can't always get what I want. Lotta perverts, a lotta weirdos that you have to deal with when you’re street hustling and that's no joke.

HOOK: What do you want?

Stefan: I want money, I want to get paid for what I do, just like any other job.

HOOK: Do you want to be a professional sex worker?

Stefan: Like in porno or escort type thing? Yeah. It seems like that's where the money's at these days. In gay porn not always str8. I understand that I can't do this type of work for so long because once you reach a certain age no one wants to have anything to do with you no more.

HOOK: Do you know what you want to do with your life?

Stefan: Been a bricklayer and worked with masons all my life, so I can make good money doing that, too. But it's a lot different work and a lot more work making money at that kind of lifestyle. I plan on going back to doing my regular work, y'know, one day...as a brick mason.