Becoming “Marc of Frankfurt”: queer sexual encounters, “entering” sex work and career management in Germany around 2000

This article examines how Stefan Hülsmann, known as Marc of Frankfurt, began selling sex in Frankfurt around the year 2000 and how he conceptualized sex work as a long-term occupational project. Drawing on diaries, notes and a business plan from his estate, the article argues that ‘entering’ sex work should be understood as a process rather than a single event. This process included sexual experimentation, concerns about sexual performance, efforts to construct a credible professional identity, and broader reflections on the gay sex market and the long-term viability of sex work as a career. Using rare self-produced sources and foregrounding queer male sex work in the context of a changing legal framework in Germany around 2000, the article contributes to the history of sex work by centering sexual practices.