ST. LOUIS, MO — Once again, a law-abiding, hard-working citizen with a porn past has learned that mainstream society talks out of both sides of its mouth – even when it’s putting something healthy in all of society’s stomach. This time, it was the Subway sandwich chain that proved unpalatable. Kurt Wild is a 22-year-old man who modeled briefly for both Freshmen and Buckshot. Like most that enter the adult entertainment field, Wild’s time in the spotlight was brief and he hoped to return without undue incident to the world of everyday work. While in pursuit of that goal, he became employed as a sandwich artist for the Subway chain. Although details are sparse, no information has surfaced to suggest that his work was in any way substandard or unacceptable.
Then one day, a customer with a moral agenda, and possibly a secret, visited Wild’s sandwich shop – and everything changed.
While performers are generally delighted to be recognized by fans, there are times and places where the attention is not merely inconvenient, but toxic.
Wild’s customer in question was outraged that the former performer would be allowed to handle food. So injured was the customer’s sense of sandwich propriety that they contacted management and threatened to boycott the store for even potentially allowing Wild’s plastic-glove covered hands to touch their bread, veggie, and possibly even meat selections.
Instead of standing behind its employee, the company fired him.
“A customer said they wouldn’t even eat there at Subway anymore because of my past work, and said that if I wasn’t fired then they would boycott the store,” Wild explained in an email to www.BGay.com. “What I say is, if one person can try to ruin me everywhere I work… Maybe I should take a stand and boycott their store, too, if they can’t let people’s privacy be treated right.”
Wild contends that the issue isn’t merely the fact he worked in porn, but that he worked specifically in gay porn.
“If a girl did what we do, it would probably be OK,” he opined,” and if a guy does straight porn, he is bragged about. When I do gay porn, I feel a bit lynched for the rest of my life.”
Alerted to the situation, gay blogger Brian Juergens of AfterElton.com asks a question likely on the minds of many when he wonders, “How on Earth did this customer, who apparently isn’t a fan of gay porn, given his or her response, know that Wild was in gay porn in the first place?”
Alas for Wild, Subway, the fastest growing franchise in the world, has a brief but impressive history of discrimination related to gay employees, with a 2006 out-of-court settlement in favor of an HIV+ employee whom a restaurant owner admitted was fired due to his viral status.
A call and email sent by YNOT to Subway’s corporate office requesting comment was not returned by deadline.
