Richard Holcomb

Richard Holcomb (born September 21, 1976) is a commercial sex worker specialist, street outreach worker and HIV prevention counselor in Providence, Rhode Island. Holcomb is best known for his groundbreaking work in HIV Prevention when he founded 'Project Weber', a program for male sex-workers in Rhode Island, The program is named after Roy Weber, a 22-year-old male sex worker who was murdered on Christmas Day, 2003. Holcomb has done extensive research on male prostitution in the United States, Canada and Europe, and has been featured in several films on this subject.

Holcomb is a recovering addict who began his career in HIV prevention in November 2007. The Project Weber outreach team he leads provides condom distribution, needle exchange, substance abuse referrals and HIV testing. He cited the lack of data available on male commercial sex workers in the region as his reason for helping develop a 2010 survey to assess the needs of this population. Project Weber recruited and surveyed 50 male sex workers living on the streets of Providence. Holcomb also cited that the fact that he and members of his team are former sex workers themselves as one of the primary reasons why they were able to gain access to the men in order to conduct this survey.

The project says they have gleaned valuable data on male sex workers who work and live on the streets of Providence. Holcomb and his team were the first to gather data on this population in Rhode Island history. Prostitution in Rhode Island was legal until 2009. His work has generated interest from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has received national attention.

Holcomb has provided the general public with educational trainings regarding male sex workers in the U.S. and abroad. He presented Project Weber for the first time on a national level at the 2010 HIV Prevention Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C..

One of his most notable presentations was on January 29, 2011 in Providence, Rhode Island. Holcomb brought experts from different countries together to raise awareness and advocate for services and support. Following the testimonies of the sex workers in recovery, the highlight of the event was a presentation by actor Mirek Caslavka from the Czech Republic. Caslavka introduced the award winning film he starred in titled Mandragora, a drama about male prostitution in Prague.

Holcomb received a "hero's recognition" in the September 2012 issue of POZ magazine and is featured in the documentary film Invisible: The Unseen World of Male Prostitution.

On October 1, 2013, Holcomb became Project Director of the first peer support drop-in center for male sex workers in the United States. The center's staff meet their clients in a safe and non-judgmental environment, using a harm reduction approach.