A lot of his clients are also closeted gay men who are married to women. There’s no peddler between us.” Ranjit believes that there is more anonymity this way, as often, the men they sleep with, would rather not talk about their sexual escapades to their friends because of the stigma of not just being homosexual but also paying for sex.

They also don’t tend to interrogate about your background. Finding other gay men is easier due to apps and social media. There’s definitely a geographical and cultural difference among us. “I find it extremely difficult to speak to any women here. “It is also way easier to approach men,” says Pune-based Ranjit (31). The LIRNEAsia report also stated that only 43% of women have access to mobile phones as compared to 80% of men in India which indirectly means fewer women are using the internet or social media apps for sexual autonomy. They were mostly boys from small towns who needed money and dreamt of a luxurious lifestyle.”īut if money seems to be the biggest motivation for these straight MSM, why would they just not hook up with women? Maybe because talking about sex or asserting their right over sexual pleasure is still fairly uncommon for women in India, especially in rural and semi-urban spaces. Then I came to know that there were college students who were willing to sleep with men. I assumed he was talking about weed but on talking to him further, he told me that he could also arrange for a room to ensure privacy. “I was waiting outside a famous college in south Mumbai for an examination when a shopkeeper called me over and whispered that he could arrange a ‘deal’ for me. And one of the biggest hunting grounds for them has turned out to be dating apps-Grindr topping that list.Ĭraig, a filmmaker and resident of Mumbai, found out about this in a strange way. While researching for this piece, I spoke with many people and was surprised to see how many knew of men having sex with other men (MSM) but insisting they were straight. But we are yet to establish whether dating apps count as a public or a private platform. While sex work is legal in India, activities like soliciting in public are still illegal. It makes you think of identity, sexuality, motivations, how you publicly and privately might identify yourself, and your perceived place in society. The subject of men who identify as straight but have sex with other men is a fascinating one. Over the years, by harnessing the power of social media and dating apps, he had built a steady client base of rich and usually older men, but had ‘settled down’ with Tarun as it came with the promise of economic stability. Rehaan confessed that he had begun to sleep with men when he was in college because it meant easy money to pay off bills. But two years into their live-in relationship, Tarun accidentally found out that not only was Rehaan a sex worker but that he identified as straight.

Straight grindr