TORONTO - "Hooking up" and "cruising" may be perfectly respectable pastimes within the gay community, but Western Union considers them "adult entertainment" and will not process money for websites and phone lines that facilitate that kind of "dating."
Pink Triangle Press found that out recently when Western Union cancelled the accounts of PTP's Cruiseline phone service and Squirt website. In addition to facilitating cruising, Squirt also offers access to gay porn. Both entities allowed surfers to pay for services by wiring money from anywhere in the world via Western Union.
"In general terms we do not do business with agencies that engage in adult services," Western Union spokesman Daniel Diaz told Xtra, a gay lifestyle publication based in Toronto and also owned by PTP. "We do not allow any explicit content of any kind: photography, subscription-based adult services or other products deemed to be adult services. It's been a policy that's across the board. Regardless of the audience being served, we automatically move forward with declining the services."
However, as a company Western Union is gay-friendly, Diaz added.
"As a corporation we do offer same-sex benefits to employees," he told Xtra. "We are very supportive of the gay community."
PTP's chief operating officer said he was surprised when Western Union cut off his company's accounts.
"It's disappointing that Western Union would terminate a relationship more than a decade old that's been problem-free without even contacting us," Andrew Chang said. "It's a bad way to conduct business."
Neither Diaz nor Chang could explain how the relationship lasted 10 years before the nature of the content being purchased was discovered. PTP established the Cruiseline account in 1998. Pressnet, the division of PTP that operates Squirt, began dealing with Western Union in 1999. According to Diaz, neither service was subscription-based when it launched.
Chang disputed that claim, saying both entities have operated in their present form since their inception.
He also said the withdrawal of the Western Union accounts will not affect either business significantly.
"It's not a huge amount of money," he told Xtra. "It's certainly not crippling, but it's sad. Cruiseline and Squirt provide important services to men who have sex with men. It's just another barrier for people to be able to express their sexuality.
"Definitely it's going to have an adverse effect on people in remote areas," he added. "Those are the people who are in the most insecure position."
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