NEW YORK — Jonathan Crutchley, founding partner and owner of the gay brands Manhunt and Jack’d, has joined the advisory board of the National Coalition of Rent Boys and Allies, an organization advocating for the legal rights of male escort workers.
The group formed in response to the Aug. 25 raid on RentBoy.com in New York City by the NYPD and Homeland Security.
“It is no business of the government at any level — be it federal, state or local — to enter the bedrooms of consenting adults and tell them what they may or may not do within that private setting,” said Crutchley on his decision to join NCORB.
Crutchley last week made a financial contribution to the legal defense team representing Jeffrey Hurant, founder of RentBoy.com.
“Such matters are certainly not the business of the Department of Homeland Security, which was created after Sept. 11, 2001, to protect citizens from foreign terrorists.”
Federal agents joined the NYPD in shutting down RentBoy, alleging that gay hook-up site was using interstate commerce to violate local New York laws.
“I founded my company in the name of individual privacy and sexual freedom,” Crutchley said. “In the name of individual liberty, the federal government needs to do the job it was given to do by the Constitution.”
The National Coalition of Rent Boys and Allies was created as a not-for-profit corporation by attorney Norm Kent, a well-known First Amendment advocate.
"The Department of Homeland Security has initiated a questionable legal action which has terrorized thousands of men who were lawfully trading their time and companionship for legitimate compensation,” Kent said. “There is a need for these men to have a collective voice and open forum to speak out against the raid and for their rights."
Crutchley joins Howard Andrew of Fab Scout Entertainment, an agency that represents many of the world’s leading gay adult talent, on the advisory board of NCORB.
