Some older men feel unable to go to the gay clubs that attract the youngest crowd because there's this perception that older gay men are going after young boys and the minute an older man goes near a young man, they're branded as pedophiles.
It's not because they are branded as pedophiles that they can't go to the gay bars .. it's because they are branded as gay that they don't go to those bars ..
David is a kept boy. This year, he’ll collect $50,000 from two much older male sponsors who pay him for sex and companionship. It's a thriving underground industry, David says. And he's far from alone in taking care of business. Rich, closeted gay men—in La Jolla and moneyed communities all over the world—pay big bucks to maintain discreet liaisons with younger (though legal age), pay-for-play boys. The practice, many would say, differs only in degree from the straight-world version of older wealthy males collecting younger "trophy" wives or girlfriends. The difference: The mainstream has—fundamentally, if not wholeheartedly—embraced the latter as a socially acceptable inclination.
David (not his real name) lives in Hillcrest. The money he quietly receives via bank drafts goes in large part toward college tuition, he says. In addition to the money, David's sugar daddies lavish him with gifts—like the Cartier watch draped on his wrist, the latest in computer hardware, and the furniture that adorns his home. And they wine and dine him at tony spots like the Hotel del Coronado and Le Meridien, or downtown's La Strada and Fio's. Not bad for someone with no full-time job, per se. Especially since before becoming a trophy boy, David was a hooker. There's a difference, he says. He met both sponsors through classified ads. "At the time, I was hooking. I'd been hooking for two years. Just four days after putting an ad in national classifieds I was in New York. Days later I was in Phoenix. I was flown out to places sight unseen—except for a small picture that ran with my ad. A $56 ad made me so much money. Both of my sponsors first called me strictly on a sexual basis, but then took a liking to me."
Though he won't name names, David says his benefactors are prominent and wealthy businessmen. "There are so many wealthy gay men who will pay for companionship from younger guys," he says. "It's a whole circuit. The people that do this are the most powerful in America. It's unbelievable. It can be married men in high-level positions. Very, very wealthy men. To this day it still surprises me when my friends tell me who they're sleeping with. Or when these men appear as guests on Larry King Live." In agreeing to meet face to face with a reporter, David asked that his physical description be kept to a minimum. Suffice to say he could easily be cast as a pool cleaner on Melrose Place. His shoulders stretch the elasticity limit of a white Gap T-shirt. Though his visage is nearly fawn-like, David's close-cropped hair lends an appearance slightly reminiscent of Kept-Boy-of-the-Year Andrew Cunanan.
"It's fun when I deposit $30,000 in my account in one month. But as far as it being fun and exciting to be with an older man—it’s not. They’re not fun to hang out with. When one of my sponsors wants me to go with him to the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel for a weekend -- and I'm not due to get any money from him for two months -- I wonder if it's really worth it. After I've already received a chunk of money, I really don't feel like being bothered."
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