Commentary: The Political Act of Making Gay Porn

In 71 countries, gay relationships are considered as illegal. In 27 countries, porn consumption is illegal. What about gay porn in the ranking of evil and sinful mind control weapons?  It is quite obvious that our society is built on explicit heterosexual norms often fed by old religious paradigms. In many movies, the guy wants to seduce the girl; the young boy is being asked if he has a girlfriend, etc. Even if those Hollywood pictures are changing a bit—for example, the princess might not need a prince—the gay, bisexual, lesbian and trans representation is still very weak. “Representation is always important, not only for the gays but for everyone in general. Our world is made of a wide variety of individuals and each one counts, no matter their sex, skin color, how much they earn, their sexual orientation or practices, etc. … and this is the most beautiful thing about our planet. That's why, if you want to tell a story that takes place on our society, it’s important to represent its members,” said multi-award-winning gay porn star Diego Sans. Straight white people might not understand, at first, why such a representation is important since they can see their peers in movies, advertising, games, books and global news. But for young LGBT people and minorities who are trying to find their place in our wild society, it can be very challenging to finding some role models.  “Technically, making a gay, straight or trans porn movie should follow the same process; however, we know that the impact won’t be the same," said veteran producer and director Alter Sin. "The distribution channels and markets are so different that they need to be studied and engaged or operated according to each community code." What about sexuality?  For the lucky ones who have access to sex education at school or at home, the main themes are usually taking—again—straight sex relations as a base. The girl can get pregnant, the penetration is vaginal and on an emotional level, the feminine and masculine roles are stereotyped and heavily assumed by a cis-male and a cis-female.  Personally, when I had gay sex for the first time, I was surprised by the questions that came to my mind, the lack of obvious and reasonable thoughts, especially about the roles. What about an emotional relationship where both of the guys are tops or both are bottoms—so many basic reflections that could have been introduced by more sex education or mainstream themes in teen-TV shows or any other source of informational/educational entertainment.  "The interesting fact about gay porn is that, for many males, this is the only place that their sexuality is being explored in entertainment,” said producer/director Marc MacNamara. “Sure, there are gay characters in movies and on TV, but any graphic sex scenes between two males actors is few and far between. There is a reason for that: For most of society, gay relationships are a novelty—they laugh at us on Drag Race or make sure they have a gay friend to hit a quota, but if you throw anal penetration into the mix, we've gone too far. "Thus enter gay porn. It is our safe space for only us and the people who enjoy homosexual sex to be ourselves, explore our bodies and celebrate sexuality.” The porn industry is more open-minded than mainstream, by its very own controversial nature. However, we still see some very shy steps toward bisexual porn. Some companies and great performers are making the difference and work hard for their well-deserved success in this narrowed business. The point is that any LGBT porn productions carries a certain political value, beyond even the intent of the producers, because of the societal context. By challenging the norm and the established common sense, the content forces everyone to rethink the status quo. Gay porn represents the only way to express inner sexual fantasies by so many young adults whereas mainstream TV shows suggest numerous straight sex acts every day in prime-time shows. In their very own existence, gay porn productions are fighting an invisible and silent oppression, helping many homosexuals to feel normal and part of a community.  “I can’t really describe exactly the sensation when a fan tells me how much pleasure they felt watching the movies," explained gay porn star Austin Wolf. "You can tell that a part of this excitement is due to the fact that they share a secret with you—the very intimate fantasies they would like to experience through your characters. It’s something very deep and amazing. Sometimes you can feel how your performance helps people to live some instinctive impulses that they don’t even want to name. "Yes, it’s porn, but still, I think that we are making a positive impact for sexual freedom without stigma." Whether the opposition likes it or not, times are changing and a global effort has been made to move forward inclusivity and diversity. Which, I agree, is something to be thankful for. But it’s also important to acknowledge the fact that in this global fight for respect that the whole porn industry is facing, the gay porn genre is facing double amount of work.