The Ethics of a Gay Hustler

Kindness, Survival, and Moral Complexity in The Education of Joshua Chastain 

After being abandoned by his lover and evicted from their apartment, Joshua Chastain—the main character in my novel The Education of Joshua Chastain: A Gay Mormon Memoir—finds himself living on the streets of Los Angeles. Despite the upheaval, Josh wants to continue studying at Santa Monica College. He believes that education is his only real path toward building a stable and meaningful life. 

But survival comes first. Without money or housing, Josh faces a bleak choice: abandon his studies or remain homeless while trying to hold on to his academic future. 

Survival in Los Angeles: An Unexpected Proposal 

A classmate named Jean-Pierre offers a controversial solution. Already working as part of a small network of male hustlers managed by a shadowy figure named Arnie, Jean-Pierre suggests Josh could join them. Arnie arranges the clients; the young men provide companionship and sex. 

At first, Josh is shocked by the idea. Raised as a faithful Mormon with deeply ingrained moral teachings, he struggles with the implications. Yet practical realities soon intrude. Hustling would allow him to rent a room with Jean-Pierre and continue his studies at Santa Monica College. 

Reluctantly, Josh agrees. 

A First Client and an Unexpected Realization 

Josh’s first client, Myron, is a young but profoundly lonely man. Josh quickly realizes that Myron is searching for more than a sexual encounter—he longs for human connection. 

Josh’s upbringing as a “good Mormon boy” taught him the importance of kindness. Although parts of his past include cruelty—such as a scoutmaster who assaulted him and classmates who publicly shamed him—other people in his life have shown remarkable generosity. 

Looking at Myron, Josh makes a simple decision: he will treat him with kindness. 

Their encounter ends quickly, and Josh offers a short massage and asks Myron about his life. These small gestures leave Myron deeply grateful. In that moment Josh begins to understand something surprising: many of his future clients will need empathy as much as physical intimacy. 

What His Clients Were Really Seeking 

Over the next three months, Josh serves more than a hundred clients. Many return repeatedly. Luckily, Josh was never abused by a client. They represent a wide spectrum of lives: 

● Closeted married men 

● Older men who fear age has made them invisible 

● Deeply religious men tormented by conflicts between desire and belief ● Isolated individuals longing simply to be seen and heard 

Josh often surprises them by including a massage and showing genuine curiosity about their lives. In return, his clients frequently reveal deeply personal struggles. For many, speaking openly with a hustler feels safer than confiding in friends, family, or clergy. 

Josh gradually realizes that what most of these men seek is not simply sex. They want a moment of human warmth, attention, and acceptance. 

The Moral Question at the Heart of the Story 

This experience raises an unusual ethical question. Can someone practice values like compassion, kindness, and dignity within a profession that his religious upbringing defines as sinful? 

Josh finds the answer unexpectedly complex. Providing comfort—even through circumstances he never imagined—often leaves him with a sense of purpose. The work is morally complicated, yet the moments of connection feel genuine.

Josh’s hustling career ends abruptly when he is arrested in a police vice sting. Afterward, he leaves the profession behind and never considers returning to it. Yet the experience continues to shape his understanding of human relationships. 

Lessons About Humanity and Compassion 

Later in life, therapists attempt to convince Josh that his time as a hustler must have been harmful. He disagrees. 

For Josh, the experience revealed something essential about human nature: regardless of how relationships are defined—romantic, transactional, fleeting, or intimate—there is always space for respect and kindness. 

Learning that lesson through hustling may seem paradoxical. Yet for Josh, it became one of the most formative chapters in his journey toward self-understanding. 

And strangely enough, he remembers it with a certain gratitude.