David B. Moye
LOS ANGELES (TNA)—When Judy Collins sang “Both Sides Now,” she probably wasn’t thinking about bisexual dating services.
Luckily, for L.A.’s AC/DCs, Charles Diorio was.
He’s the man behind Bisexual Encounters Dating Service, a Los Angeles-based company that, true to its name, introduces people who want to play for both teams to other potential teammates.
Diorio figures he has the naughtiest dating service in Los Angeles and estimates about 300 Angelenos are members, with about 60 percent of those being couples or men and the remaining 40 percent are women.
He adds: “About 75 percent of my clients are married adults who want to fill a void they aren’t getting elsewhere.”
The 45-year-old Diorio started the business in New York back in 1998, but the seeds for it started back when he was 23 and arrested for raping a woman, a crime which he served five years.
“I was a 23-year-old drinking in a bar with a friend when a 34-year-old woman came up to us,” Diorio said. “We went back to her place, she started rolling a joint and after I got stoned, I asked her to give me a blowjob.
“When she refused, I held a knife to her throat – I was stoned out of my mind. Pot makes me crazy – and I accidentally cut her thumb.”
Diorio claims the rape charge stemmed, in part, from when he took her to the hospital and “freaked out” and left.
Although Diorio was convicted and remains a registered sex offender, he insists he never raped the woman and adds, “I was never even hard.”
That experience not only affected his life and his record, it also forced him to think entrepreneurially because, he points out, “When you can’t get a job, you create one.”
“I found a niche for people who want to explore their sexuality privately with like-minded adults,” Diorio said.
{page}He says the light bulb went on in his head after a Halloween night spent with a Queens couple he met through an ad in The Village Voice.
Diorio says the man, “Ron,” was dressed in a pirate costume, but looked “more like a short order cook with a tattoo on his arm, while the woman, “Pat,” looked like a “bikers moll, sniffing coke and smoking pot”
“Ron" and “Pat” not only had their way with Diorio, but so did another couple, who he says were very attractive.
He says his first orgy lasted all night, and while it was hot at the time, he went home in the early morning hours feeling empty, anxious, scared for his health with painful black and blue bruises and red marks all over his private parts.
Diorio says he decided that the risks of anonymous encounters arranged through newspapers far outweighed the kicks he got during the actual sex.
That’s when he started an introduction service for bisexual men and women in New York and moved to Los Angeles a year later.
He says it was a good move, as L.A. is a better city for bisexuals.
“There’s more accessibility. In New York, it’s difficult to get around. You often have to travel through a bridge or tunnel to get anywhere,” Diorio said. “I will travel anywhere for a potential member. If they’re in Beverly Hills, we’ll meet at the Hilton. If it’s Burbank, it’s P.F. Chang’s.”
Diorio charges $200 for a 3-month membership and $400 for a 6-month membership, but says Bis can’t just buy their way into his club.
“You have to be genuine and I don’t accept anyone under 25 because maturity is important,” Diorio said. “Sure, you can have sex at 18, but you can’t drink. I don’t want some 18-year-old girl coming to a party, being served alcohol and then getting pulled over and telling the police she was at a sex party.”
However, Diorio doesn’t put great importance on looks, feeling that “every shoe has a fit.”
“These people want intimacy. It’s not a beauty contest. There’s one member who is a heavy man with a small penis, but he’s a good guy and has a beautiful home in Marina Del Rey and people see that.
“In addition, we have a lot of mature women in their ‘50s and there are some people who might not find them attractive, but I’ve had parties where they are the belles of the ball.
“It really is about friendships. These are nice normal people and I tell them, ‘Take it to whatever level you want.’ People have the fantasy. I provide the reality.”
Now, Diorio has a personal fantasy he wants to make into reality: becoming a published author. He is currently looking to publish a book called “Bisexual Encounter Dating Service: The Life Of A Registered Sex Offender,” but has yet to get a bite from book companies.
Still, he won’t stop trying, figuring that his life philosophy is very similar to how he approaches sex.
“Life is very short,” Diorio said. “You only have a short time to explore it so don’t allow it to be dictated by anonymous authority. You don’t want to be in a nursing home saying, `I wish I had done this.’”
For more information on Diorio and his dating service, check out www.bisexualencounters.com.