Scratch the surface of any sizeable gathering of gay men and you will find a number of guys who have engaged in one form of sex work or another at some time in their lives: erotic massage, escorting, sacred intimacy, go-go dancing, stripping, camming for cash, appearing in adult videos (porn), OnlyFans/JustForFans, hosting sex parties, selling used underwear online, etc. And we all have stories to tell. What circumstances brought you into sex work, and what made you cycle out of it? What did you learn about yourself in the process? What were memorable triumphs or debacles for you?

Bring a story to tell, or let yourself be interviewed by Tomik Dash, founder and publisher of Fag Rag magazine, and Don Shewey, author of the just-published memoir Daddy Lover God: a sacred intimate journey (Joybody Books). Connoisseurs of sex workers also welcome to share.

Copies of Daddy Lover God will be available for purchase and signing. Copies of Fag Rag NYC will be available free of charge.

Reserve a copy of Daddy Lover God by writing to us at contact@bgsqd.com

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
 
This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.
 
Suggested donation $10 to benefit the Bureau’s work.
All are welcome to attend, with or without donation.
 
We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @bgsqd.

 
Biographies of participants:

Tomik Dash is a Black, gay, left-handed, near-sighted, outspoken entrepreneur, writer, activist, and sex worker. At least three of those attributes got him scholarships into college. He publishes a regional brand of fine art, LGBTQ magazines called Fag Rag that currently have editions in NYC, Fire Island, and Provincetown. He is also the President of a nonprofit called the Black and Brown Equity Coalition that advocates for Black and transgender equity on Fire Island.
www.tomik2point0.com

 
 
Don Shewey is a writer, therapist, and pleasure activist in New York City. As a journalist and critic, he has published three books about theater and hundreds of articles for the New York Times, the Village Voice, and other publications. He has chronicled his psycho-sexual-spiritual adventures in essays for numerous anthologies as well as the book-length The Paradox of Porn: Notes on Gay Male Sexual Culture. An archive of his writing is available online at donshewey.com.

Instagram: @donsheweynyc

Images:

Cover of Daddy Lover God

Don Shewey headshot: Liam Cunningham Photography

Cover of Fag Rag NYC, featuring art work by Gio Black Peter

Tomik Dash headshot: Erik Carter