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and another
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book review -Mike Jones "I had to say something"
I just wrote this book review for spread magazine, if you dont know who they are they are a magazine written by and for sex workers. they are based in nyc and very cool!
this is my first article for them. and its a test run for me, hope they like it! what do you think?
-Ben
Review of “I Had to Say Something” by Mike Jones
“I Had to Say Something” by Mike Jones is the story of a Denver based male Escort who over the course of 3 years had a client-provider relationship with “Art”, a man who turned out to be Ted Haggard, an influential evangelical preacher who railed against homosexuality while at the same time exploring his own private homosexual inclinations. Ted Haggard also used Methamphetamine while in session with Mike to enhance his sexual experience. Mike Jones exposed Ted Haggard as a hypocrite and as a result Ted Haggard lost his position and influence and Mike Jones was no longer able to work as an escort.
As a male escort myself, I could not help but ask myself what I would do if I were in Mike’s position. When Mike went public with his story, he broke an unspoken code of silence that is traditionally expected in a client-provider relationship. In most cases neither party wishes to identify as an escort or a client of escorts but Mike Jones was faced with a crisis of conscience and its clear from reading the book that he acted with his heart, and chose to break his silence because he believed it to be right thing to do from a moral position. In his own words “ he was compelled to come forward because he believes Haggard, an opponent of same-sex marriage, is being hypocritical”. It could be said that he enjoyed the celebrity that came after his story broke, and profited from it with a major book deal but he was not an opportunist. One cannot help but feel for him as he recounts his story of coming forward and having to deal with the overwhelming backlash. Mike defends his controversial decision to tell his story “This was unique ... someone who is spewing hatred; who’s spewing discrimination; who’s touching millions of people's lives by his verbal content…It couldn’t continue… I had to do it.”
While it’s clear Mike acted with his heart, after reading the book its still difficult to say whether his actions were ethical. I feel that Ted Haggard and any client of an escort are entitled the same client-provider confidentiality that a doctor, psychologist or even a pastor would offer. In traditional client-provider relationships unless subpoenaed, the provider is not obligated to go public with anything that is said or done in private session unless that person is a danger to society. One might argue that Ted Haggard was a danger to society, and in a way that could be true, however he was not plotting a dangerous act that could cause bodily harm or death to anyone.
So now Ted’s big secret is out and the damage is done. Many now view Mike Jones as a hero for exposing this hypocrite, but perhaps the next escort who writes a tell-all will consider outing themselves and not their clients. From the way Ted is described in the book he actually sounds like a good albeit unremarkable client. Ted is gone now but its unlikely that the hypocrisy and propaganda that runs the Church has changed for the better. Ted was quickly dismissed by his once loyal supporters but it would not be surprising to find out there are more deviant pastors running amok. Wouldn’t you rather have them experimenting in private with a male escort than chasing after hot young altar boys? Someone give the new leader of Ted’s church my number, his secret is safe with me!
Allow me to introduce myself
hello my name is Benjamin, I'm a student at NYU and also a male escort. I see men, women and couples. In my private life I am straight with a girlfriend. In my work life I am pretty open to almost anything. I love challenging myself and testing my limits. I love that I get to play and work at the same time. It allows me to live out all the fantasies I could never even imagine during my straight life.
Being an escort was always the subject of my masturbatory fantasies though it wasn't until I was fired from my job and was in desperate need of money did I turn my fantasy into reality. The reality of that fantasy is sometimes far less hot, though sometimes very hot and always interesting. I love what I do, its a challenge every day and improvising sexuality is always fun!
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