Some readers will remember that I had a weird experience at the GayVN’s last weekend; I decided to go in-depth into the whole concept of gay-for-pay, and I think the piece turned out really interesting. I’m getting lots of mail; one “proposal”, at least one very angry email from the brother of a gay-for-pay performer who thinks I’m dead wrong, and a number of supportive — even heartfelt — emails from gay men about coming out. Here’s a snip from Gay for Pay: Are there really any straight men in gay porn?:
“Jack Shamama, from locally run Gay Porn Blog (gaypornblog.com), tells me: “All gay for pay is, is a resurgence of ‘bisexual.’ Bisexuality has gone in and out of fashion throughout history — the last time it was fashionable was in the 1970s. Now it’s not. Porn marketers think gay for pay is sexier and more sellable than calling it bisexual.”
Understanding what’s going on when a man is “gay for the money” is a matter of separating packaging from reality, and self-identification from studio identification. Gay-for-pay “poster boy” Jason Adonis is on every gay-for-pay listing, but look for statements of sexual orientation and you’ll get no more than the label “gay” on his Wikipedia page. Others see gay-for-pay performers like the one who approached me with (I think) something to prove in the intensely gay atmosphere of the GayVNs as confused — as actually bisexual in a genre that can’t see bi men or as just sexually out of control, irresponsible or worse: After my escape, I told a friend outside the Castro about my fending off the porn star, and my pal cruelly remarked, “Oh, you didn’t want the AIDS?”
But worse is worse: Some gay-for-pay men might be just marketing fluff and others worthy of study, while still others cultivate a murderous homophobia that evolves into an unchecked monster — and they kill. I’m referring to the gay-porn star who allegedly murdered a wealthy Denver “benefactor” in cold blood: “Playgirl killer” and well-known Falcon gay-for-pay porn star Marcus Allen (real name: Timothy Boham). I knew, like many, that the Playgirl model, alleged former gay escort and star of many gay-porn films, “Marcus Allen” was gay for pay. But in this case, it seems that homophobia and gay for pay are inextricably intertwined, even though Shamama tells me that, anecdotally, on porn sets Allen (Boham) was “gay for free, too.” Clearly, this gay-for-pay porn star was conflicted, and being bisexual was explicitly not OK.” Link.
