The ThunderBlogs

The fedora on Dem Deane’s head nested a single white feather in its crown. Dripping from the rain still misting down, its brim overshadowed a face bracketed by two glass earring studs. Its plaid pattern matched that of the closed umbrella—an antique Burberry—he gripped as a cane in his hand.

Despite displaying the trappings of a TV pimp (minus the mink coat, but including a gold front tooth), Deane has a serious mien and the mind of a compassionate, inquiring citizen. And the job of a male prostitute.

It hasn’t always been this way. Born on a Cree reserve near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Deane, 38, studied international relations for four years at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. There he debated issues of global inequality and justice with students from India to Mexico, Bangladesh and Guatemala.

Disappointed with the lack of attention paid Canada’s own social disparities, Deane left without a degree. He made his way west over several years, residing in Montreal, Toronto and Edmonton before settling in Vancouver.

Now he stood in an alcove at the corner of Homer and Drake. His cigarette smoke mingled with the steam boiling off a streetlamp which cast his shadow into the road, intersecting a passing blue Chrysler sedan that braked gradually, then carried on.

“Business is slow tonight,” he said.

For several years dozens of Craigslist ads posted daily under “Erotic Services” have presented an alternative to those offered by Deane. Studies assessing how digital media impacts male streetwalkers are nonexistent. Studies in Canada assessing male streetwalkers, period, are rarely on government radar.

But a recent police crackdown on online sex-related ads has likely made some Johns wary of the digital route.

The Erotic Services category now requires anyone posting under it to provide a working phone number and to pay a $10 fee with a valid credit card. Supposedly this allows legitimate escort businesses to continue advertising, while eliminating illegal solicitors.

Craigslist removed the section entirely in the United States this month due to claims it aided in prostitution and human trafficking.

In Vancouver, condominium development and gentrification are more responsible for pushing male prostitutes out of Yaletown than anything else, Deane said. The solicitors who remain come out later at night to avoid confrontations with neighbourhood residents.

A long-haired young man with a moustache walked by Deane’s alcove. The two exchanged nods of recognition.

“He’s probably heading to the shelter,” Deane said. A Covenant House facility two blocks away hosts young people for extended stays and offers weekly HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C discussion groups for men.

“Never been, myself,” Deane said. The air surrounding him sponged out a smell of wet pavement. His eyes crawled around the corner and back.

“Hope I never have to.”