Sentence:  I was compelled to check in on him after I'd come across a photography book in the East Village about gay male go-go dancers in New York. The book showed gritty backrooms, suggestions of illicit sex, parties, and drugs. Flipping through its pages, I saw dancers caught in risqué, frozen poses. The photographer suggested the subjects were “<WSD>rough trade</WSD>,” men with criminal pasts, busted for prostitution, drugs, or assault. Others were “gay for pay,” husbands with wives and kids, trying to scrape by. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Rough or tough men, either gay or straight, who are available as casual sexual partners for other men (for example in exchange for money).