Muscular versatile well-hung uncut. Sensual erotichands-on hard work. Hot masculine experienced roleplay. As civilization's oldest form of currency, it's nowonder that sex has proven to be a recession-proof industry and that sexworkers have been able to carve out a livelihood through the pages of the BayArea Reporter.

The very first issue of the gay newspaper in 1971 containedadvertisements that relied on business names alone to convey their sexual goodsfor sale. Bathhouses, sex clubs, and movie parlors soon began to showcase theirservices in the paper's pages, and within a few years individual escorts andmasseurs also began to occupy a large advertising presence.

"Warning: Police have stepped up activities in thecities [sic] parks and restrooms," a large box on the front page of theAugust 22, 1973 issue read after an apparent string of cruising-related busts."We urge all persons to stay out of the following areas: Lafayette Park,The Sea Wall, Boat House (and surrounding areas of Lake Merced), Buena VistaPark, 450 Sutter Garage. Information supplied to us show heavy arrests andconvictions for most of those arrested."

As the newspaper evolved into a necessary communityresource, so too, did its sexual marketplace, and the B.A.R.'s "back pages" are now famous worldwidefor offering the best selection of everything sexual the city has to offer. Themodels, escorts, and massage providers who advertise in the B.A.R are businessmen and practicioners, but their adsalso tell a story: of friendship, community, and organizing in the face ofadversity.

"The Bay Area is definitely a sexual culture,"said J.J., a longtime B.A.R. advertiserwho runs a sensual massage business. For privacy reasons the men interviewedfor this article are not identified by the names they use in their currentadvertisements.

Providing sensual massage, said J.J., is a way he can healpeople and begin to address the emotional and sensual voids in individual menand their communities.

"For some people it's one way of getting sexual touchsafely. For others it's a way of getting intimacy; they don't get enough touchfor whatever reason, even if they are in relationships," said J.J., whoemphasized that while emotions can be a part of his work, his role is to makethat energy therapeutic.

Emotional connections are not limited to massage work.Randy, a former escort who advertised in the B.A.R in the 1990s, remembers visiting one long-termclient in the hospital who was dying of AIDS, "and we actually cried. Iescorted him for 10 years so it was like ending a relationship. We had astanding date for Saturday night dinner and it just developed into this nicefriendship."

In many instances the AIDS epidemic had an undeniable effecton sexual services. The 1980s exploded with ads for the popular "976"numbers touting the safety of phone sex. In 1984 the city of San Franciscoclosed down its bathhouses, a move that remains controversial and regularlydebated in the pages of the B.A.R.today. In their place sprang up new sex clubs and glory holes with new rules,and a 1989 B.A.R. editorial tooka positive yet cautious approach to these new types of commercial venues.

"Vital to this entire scene must be prudence, caution,and cleanliness. Anyone frequenting these meetings must insist on safebehavior," said the B.A.R."Glory holes should also provide convenient facilies for washing. Theyshould disseminate safe-sex information. And they should make sure that nounprotected anal sex is allowed."

One might think that HIV/AIDS, antigay sentiment, andtechnological advancements would wipe out the sex trades and the print mediamarket. Yet despite - or maybe because of - a cautious sexualclimate, some B.A.R. model, escort, andmassage advertisers said their business often thrived when they least expectedit, and for reasons that weren't always apparent to the outside world.

"I remember I got here in 1987 and started sex work afew years later and at that time everybody was scared of AIDS," saidRandy. "AIDS affected me as a gay man more than it did as a sex worker. Itook precautions at work but it was no different from taking precautions withanyone else. It seems casual sex was hard to come by in those years, so in aweird kind of way before the effective AIDS treatments came out I was a lotbusier."

Indeed, safety concerns of all kinds probably are a factorin why people choose to hire professionals with pre-negotiated boundariesrather than take their chances on someone they just met, said T.T., whocurrently advertises with the B.A.R. asa leather top.

"Guys who are completely closeted or guys looking fortheir first time will be more uncomfortable going out to a gay bar and tryingto have an experience. There's just a lot more unknowns doing it that way andit's a lot more dangerous for them," said T.T., who estimates that half ofhis clients are newcomers to leather and that often men can be openly gay butcloseted about their leather interests. "When they come to me theyunderstand the boundaries are pre-set; we discuss what we are going to do andwhat we are not going to do. They know if they come to a pro-dom it's going tobe okay."

Whether it's physical or emotional safety, hiring aprofessional can make all the difference for those who want to explore theirvarious sexual sides.

"I do get the curiosity from bisexual and married menwho are finally, maybe admitting to themselves that they want to experiencesomething," said J.J. "A massage is a good excuse for that, becauseyou don't go for the sex, you go for the massage."

Still, 50 percent to 80 percent of the men's clients areregulars and most are members of local gay and bisexual communities, they said.And although the Internet changed the sexual landscape for everyone, sexworkers in the B.A.R.'s pages said thedot-com explosion did not really affect their business or advertisingpractices.

"I don't advertise online," said Randy, who becamea certified massage therapist after retiring from escort work and now runs amassage ad in the B.A.R. under adifferent name.

Whether it says something about those who are traditional orpatient enough to thumb through an actual publication for their desiredservices, Randy is unsure, but people who are cruising for sex online justdon't tend to be good clients, he said.

"What I hear from other massage therapists is theydon't get a lot of business from the Internet or the kind of clients that arerespectful. Take Craigslist for example. The personals boards are like meatmarkets, and some of that energy spills over into the erotic services section.I want good clients who respect me. I find the Internet kind of creepy."

"In this particular town the B.A.R. is unique in that it's practically the only placeeverybody advertises. The paper provides a place for the community to meet andinteract, and it has always been around," he said, noting that thescreening process he uses requires more engagement from people than the typicalInternet exchange allows. "The Internet doesn't have as many levels ofinteraction. You get a grainy picture with a cryptic profile and maybe amuffled phone conversation and you don't know what you're getting."

"There are guys I will screen out, because I want to beable to give them a good scene," he said. "If I think they arelooking for something different I'll try to point them in another directionwhere they can have their needs met."

It's probably no coincidence that caretaking and a mutualexchange of energy is a large part of sex work, values that are celebrated ascharacteristic of the community at large. Though mainstream culture oftenpaints sexual services as seedy or selfish, those in the business say theyoffer a service that allows them to be generous to themselves as well asothers.

While Randy's massage certification was through aninstitution that was very clear about not mixing sexual activity with otherbody work, his teacher was a gay man who taught him much about giving topeople, he said.

"He was dying, but he was still teaching and doing agreat job. I think a lot about him, how he would coach us to slow down and stayin the moment and breathe. It was kind of new-agey but it meantsomething," said Randy. "He was literally on death's door. He used totake naps. But he was dedicated to people learning and to giving to us in thatway."

"I had all this time to just go write or have coffee orride my motorcycle or even have romances," he said. "A lot of peoplethink sex workers can't also have relationships. I actually found that doingescort work I had more time to be involved with other people. I had lots oftime to fall in love."

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