Sixteen minutes before the midnight, Kiyo (stage name) dances on the counter at N’Touch. He has a slim but masculine body with six-pack abs, a peach-shaped butt, and wears a small red thong with several dollar bills around his waist. An old man approaches him and gives him a dollar tip. He opens his thong a bit to show the man where to put the money. He gives Kiyo a goblin-like smirk and sits down in a chair.

After each 30-minute session of dancing, he smiles to the crowd as he goes back to the locker room to change his costume. Kiyo likes all the attention that people give him. But relationships don’t come as easy for him as the dollar tips and horny smiles he receives from his customers.

Kiyo came to the United States four and a half years ago. In the winter of 2003, his best friend Shawn Perry, who was the DJ at N’Touch, offered him the opportunity to dance as a go-go boy. He auditioned, and soon started work.

“[Kiyo] became very popular and he’s one of the best go-go boys in N’Touch now.” Perry says. “I offered him the opportunity because he has one nice looking body, he has extremely nice rhythm, he knows how to dance, and he has sex appeal too.”

Gary De Busk, the owner of N’Touch, also appreciates him working as a go-go dancer.

“Kiyo actually creates a lot of business for the bar,” De Busk says. “People actually come see him dance.”

According to Perry, a go-go boy is a dancer in a club who sets the tone and adds energy to the dance floor. He usually dances on a stage or at a counter in a bar. What is a go-go boy? Kiyo says go-go boys are in between dancers and strippers. Go-gos wear underwear, bathing suits, or costumes, but they don’t take their clothes off like strippers do. Although Perry believes that customers can arrange private shows from some go-go dancers, he says that never happens in the club. While some go-go dancers get paid, most of their earnings can come from tips. Kiyo once earned $294 in tips one night.

As part of his job, Kiyo takes very good care of his body. He rubs olive oil on his body every day. When he goes tanning, he wears briefs so that he has a tanned body with a whitish butt, which Kiyo says people like. He also puts a face pack on his butt to make sure his “baby butt” is always nice and smooth.

“When God created [Kiyo], he put everything in the right place, right order,” says David, a regular customer at N’Touch who declined to reveal his last name. David admits that he sometimes spends as much as $100 a night for tipping. “When he’s dancing, I gotta go to the ATM. I tip him $5. I don’t insult him by tipping $1 bill.”

Even though he likes this kind of attention from his loved customers, it sometimes makes dating difficult. Kiyo, who hasn’t had a boyfriend in over three years, says many people cannot accept a go-go boy as their boyfriend. Although he wants to hide his job when he goes on dates, guys eventually find out that Kiyo is a go-go dancer one way or another. Perry, who knows a number of go-go dancers, says people’s perception of go-go dancers is very sexual. It’s difficult for go-go dancers’ boyfriends to understand because dancers might allow customers to touch them for tips.

Kiyo sometimes goes to the chat room on Gay.com. After cruising around for a few minutes, people begin to chat with him.

“Seventy to 80 percent of them ask me: ‘Are you dancing tonight, Kiyo?’” he says. He knows most people aren’t going to ask him “Hi, how are you?” or “What are you looking for here?”

Even if he finds a guy he is attracted to, most of the time they already know Kiyo as a go-go so the relationship won’t go further. Although some go-go dancers might find casual sex by using their profession, Kiyo is humble, which prevents him from being a playboy or one night stand.

“If I go out with someone, I don’t know if he can tolerate [me as a go-go boy],” Kiyo says. “I don’t think they feel good about me having that kind of job.”

He knows he cannot change. But if he could, he would tell his dates he’s just a student and doesn’t have a job.

His professional side prevents him from quitting his job because he knows he has fans that support him. Even though he feels exhausted after each night, and has little chance of making a boyfriend, he wants to keep going and have fun with people. Yet, he might not be able to find a boyfriend unless he quits his job. But he has to do what he has to do. He might not be the happiest person on earth because he hasn’t had a boyfriend for years and has a back problem. But he knows, at least, the fact he dances at N’Touch makes others happy.

“I’d be happy,” Kiyo says, “if people go home and jack off thinking about my butt.”