The Fan Club that celebrates and values the contributions of gay men and promotes their successes. A blog that worships the beauty of gay men in the performing arts and all forms of modeling. Where we advocate against substitutes or fakes, thrive on honesty, and honor the history of gay men who have fought for their identity and live with homophobia everyday and don't need it in their entertainment.
When they say "real gay men", I take that to mean no straight men. But then one of the first scenes is with known gay4pay performer James Hamilton. To me, there is no pride in substituting straight guys for gay guys,
Am I expecting honesty and truth from an industry that doesn't know what that means? Or maybe I need someone to translate the language of porn for me, because they use several of the words differently than we do in the world outside of porn: sexual orientation, gay, straight, bisexual, and pride are just a few. Or, maybe I take things too literally, at face value.
Does anyone know where I can take a class in "pornspeak"?
I was thrilled when the hot and sexy performer and recording artist Sir
Ari Gold responded to me on Facebook.
I’ve been wanting to add interviews to this developing project of
mine. I’m not a music person, but I
knew who he was. I’ve collected pictures
of him for several years.
Sir Gold, who was knighted by the
Imperial Court of New York, is a dancer, a writer and a Billboard top 10 pop
artist. Sir Ari has headlined
concerts in Europe, Canada, and in over 40 states including his hometown NYC at
Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub and Summerstage. He has won many awards including the
OutMusic Visionary Award three times. He has more #1 videos on LOGO than any
other artist and has received critical acclaim from many notable voices such as
Clive Davis, Boy George, People Magazine, and Vibe Magazine. His music has been
featured in the films Shortbus and Boy Culture and on the hit TV shows Scrubs
and Cougar Town. Ari can be seen acting in RuPaul's cult film Starrbooty.
He has also written some articles himself about sex and relationships, so
he’s not shy at all talking about the topic of sexuality. He is also
unapologetic for having one. When he was included in Out Magazine’s Out100, it
was said that he “has long rejected
the idea that the only suitable pop star is a neutered one".
The
focus of my interview is sexuality and being gay.
Me: I’m glad you responded to me on Facebook. I’m just getting this blog off the ground and
you are a great personality to profile for it.
Thank you.
When did you know you were gay? How hard
did you try to conceal it?
Gold: On some level when I was five
and obsessed with The Wizard of Oz. I hid it throughout childhood and high
school until I came out when I left Jewish Parochial High School and my parents’
home. I was very tortured about being gay and though it would be the end of my
life if anyone found out. It wasn’t hard to keep it a secret because at that
time everything about my world conspired to keep me in the closet despite all
evidence to suggest I was not straight.
Did you experiment with women? Try to be straight?
I had two girlfriends in high school. I
never thought I was straight but I did think that I could somehow make it work
with these two particular women who I found very attractive. I found Madonna
very attractive too so...
Did you have any gay celebrity role models
or personal role models?
Madonna was really the first and only person
I knew of who was saying that it was OK to be gay. Oprah is my personal Jesus.
I’d love to work with Harvey Feinstein one day. I love George Michael. The list
goes on.
Have you always been out as a
performer? Has it cost you gigs?
Well I wasn’t out when I was seven years old
on the Joe Franklin show, but as soon as I put out records of my own songs I
was out and writing and singing about life as a gay man. I’ll never know what
kind of career I may have had if I had been in the closet or listened to the
powerful people in the industry who told me to go back in the closet. I would
not trade my journey of truth with any amount of fame or riches.
As a performer, were you always comfortable
with the sexuality aspect of it, showing skin, etc?
I grew up feeling like a skinny effeminate
nerdy Jew although I did always have some awareness that I was a cute kid at
the same time. When I started to grow into my body and started working out,
photographers wanted to take my picture and that was a big boost in my self-esteem.
But celebrating my body and my sexuality was also a political statement for me.
I became politicized at the same time that I came to accept my sexuality and I
thought as an artist is was important for me to portray a gay man that was comfortable
in his body, his gender and his sexuality. I wasn’t seeing that being
represented. What I didn’t necessarily know was what kind
of new box I would be put in for being a gay man who showed off his body.
What do think of being labeled as a “gay recording
artist”?
When I think of being “labeled,” I think of
being limited and boxed in and no one should do that to anyone. Now we say
“branded” and then we are supposed to define what the “brand” stands for. I
resist labeling and branding because I am an artist and a human being, who
transcends labels, and brands, which is a very capitalist way of thinking, and
I’m not convinced that capitalism is working anymore. I don’t resist language
or descriptions and I AM a gay recording artist and very proud of that-especially
since I’ve been proud of being a gay recording artist since the 90’s and since
my first album came out in 2000. There was a huge gap after superstars like
George Michael, Boy George and Elton John came out and I’m very humbled and
honored to have been one of the few and some even say first to be out from the
start during that time.
Of your songs and/or videos, which is the
most gay?
My gayness or queerness runs through every
image and every lyric I’ve ever written. You hear a lot of celebrities say my
sexuality doesn’t define me and its only one part of me. I say, there’s no
separating my sexuality from my humanity—it’s all connected and no one thing
can define me completely. “My Favorite Religion” is a gay love story between a
Jewish man and a priest and in the animated “Where The Music Takes You” an
interracial gay kiss saves the world.
What are the most explicit lyrics in your
songs?
“Show me your big stick shift, I’d like to
take a test drive” in Ride To Heaven? LOL…”I don’t need any hit of ecstasy or
bump of anything to get hard for you?” in Make My Body Rock? Those are the
cheekier ones if you will.
Love it! What is the sexiest/hottest thing
you’ve done while performing?
I’ve definitely been known to hump an
amplifier in frenzy.
Would you ever go full frontal uncensored?
I have. I just haven’t released those yet!
You are teasing me! What do you think is
sexiest about your body?
I get a lot of compliments on my skin. Apparently
it’s soft and smooth.
DNA magazine called you “one of the hottest
men in the world”. What is the best
thing about being one of the hottest?
The worst thing?
The best and worst thing is that I am one of
the three and half billion hottest men in the world!
What is your favorite style and brand of
underwear?
I’m really digging this red Calvin Kline
pair of briefs lately. I need some more of those.
You’ve had many hairstyles, including no
hair. Which of the hairstyles you have had is your favorite?
I used to have fun with crazy designs in my
head and now I’m going for a more streamlined fade.
Can you share with us your favorite photo
of your sexy self?
Here is the last one my friend Antonio took
of me on a red raft in a pool at Deno’s house on Fire Island in my black
speedo. Life is good when you’re on a raft in a pool on a hot summer day on
Fire Island. (See photo below)
Definitely hot. You’ve done some modeling. How straight/gay is the male modeling
industry?
Most of the modeling I’ve done, whether it
was for my coffee table book or for editorial has been about working with
specific photographers or about my work as a recording artist.
What is your take on porn, especially
gay4pay? Do you mingle with gay pornstars?
Some of my best friends are gay pornstars! I
don’t discriminate.
What do you think of Truvada? Is it the demise
of the condom?
I’m for anything that gives us more
opportunity to make responsible choices.
Are you still with your boyfriend? Do you want to be married?
I am single right now and have been for a
while. I would love an intimate romantic relationship. For me, marriage is a
celebration of a relationship that is solid and since I’m not in one, I’m not
thinking about marriage as much as thinking about how do I make sure I am a
whole enough individual to be ready to share my life with another person in that
way.
As a role model, what is your message to
the gay community?
My message has always been that “love will
take over” if we learn to love ourselves and “go where the music takes you”
which is another way of saying, “to thine own self be true.”
What makes you angry in the gay community
or gay movement? How do you deal with it?
When we treat each other worse than the
worst homophobes and do the same to each other that was done to
us—discriminate, judge, hierarchize. We often don’t know how to be attracted to
each other and respect each other. We can treat each other worse than the most
sexist men treat women sometimes. Also, when we think we need to look outside
ourselves to validate us as a community or a people. I love our straight allies
but we could stand to prop each other up more than we prop up those who support
us.
I agree. That’s what my blog is about.
Final question. What are your proudest achievements of your career?
The fans lives that I’ve touched who have written to me and told me that my music and my message has helped them to feel better about themselves.
Gold is
currently working on his 5th album Soundtrack To Freedom which is collaboration with Subgroover from
Holland, coming out under the name Gold Nation. He is also developing his
autobiographical musical “POP OUT”, directed by David Drake.
Outbuzz reviews the wonderful film Getting Go (follow the above link). When I saw it at Outfest LA, it was called the Go/Doc Project and I loved it. I own a copy now. I think one of the many reasons, the film is a standout, is because the leads are gay, not straights pretending to be gay. We need more of this.
I picked up this popular fashion magazine for Latinas the
other day. All the female models in it
were white, not Hispanic. I read in the
editor’s section that they couldn’t find enough pretty Latina models who were
stable (not on drugs). Many just wanted the free clothes. So they use white chicks to sell clothes and
accessories directly targeted to the Latino community. Their casting calls didn’t generate many
qualified applicants. Some of the white girls could pass as Latino anyway.
Would the Latino community accept this if it
were true? No way. It's outrageous. They would scream insult and boycott the
magazine. They would argue that the
magazine needed to a better job reaching out to the community and recruiting
models, making a solid effort to find real Latinas.
Sound familiar. This
is gay4pay exactly. It is troubling on several levels. As a business, it is presenting a false
product. As a part of the gay community,
it is disrespectful to our heritage. It
sends very poor messages to the world; especially, to young gay boys about what
being gay means. Lastly, it steals jobs away from gay men.
So, let’s look at the business side of it first. What is the
gay porn product? Who is it marketed to?
And at what price?
PORN COMPARISONS
The porn business is often compared to the movie business because
the tools and techniques in making feature films are mostly the same as those
in making the porn product. But, I argue
that the tools and techniques in making paste are similar to making soup. You find ingredients and boil them on the
stove in a pot. But soup and paste are
not the same at all. They serve
different purposes completely.
I don’t think movies are at all like porn. Movies don’t tell
the same exact story over and over in the same exact settings with the same
exact dialog. Lots of porn sites change
the players only, everything else is the same.
Look at SeanCody.com. They never
repeat a pair, but the sets, the scripts (it is scripted), the wardrobe (the board
shorts), and the action are almost always the same. Movies might re-pair the
same players, but go out of their way to change the settings and the scripts. Sometimes they use stunt doubles, but only
for safety, and they prefer us not knowing when. We love it when an actor brags
they did their own stunts.
Sean Cody wardrobe. Same shorts, different models.
To me, porn is more like sports. Just like there are many
types of sports, there are types of porn –twink, bareback, amateur, kink, etc. I have my favorite type, favorite players, and
favorite teams (studios). I collect
their images like old fashioned baseball cards.
I chat with other fans about their skills, what positions they play, and
what they bring to the game.
Even though you see the same thing over and over in the same
arenas, it is the action itself that thrills you. It is as much about the player as it is the
play. And like a ballgame, there is a
critical moment of interaction, where all the buildup comes home. The fans jump in ecstasy and the players end
up wiped out in a body pile up.
In sports, no one would tolerate pretense or fake
experiences. If we found out that a tennis game was scripted from beginning to end, the players were just acting, we would throw a fit. If we found out that the player, who got the
contract for the college team, was not really a student, we would scream
foul. What if we found out that some of
the guys on the bench had no experience, they were there just to make the team
look good? And can you imagine a major
football player saying in an interview, “I don’t like football. I don’t ever play it outside of my job. I’m actually a baseball guy. I just play
football because the pay is better.” It wouldn't happen. Sometimes porn is a reality show. The cast members talk to the camera and they behave in unscripted events. No one likes a reality show that misrepresents the contestants. Imagine finding out that Honey-Boo Boo was really an actress or her family was planted in that lifestyle, but are really more average. What if her lines were written for her?
Porn can also be compared to music. We listen to the same singers and same songs
over and over, because we get off on their talent. It must be authentic. We don’t like voiceovers. We want the real singer, even if they aren’t
the prettiest thing. We want singers who enjoy the music. We want athletes who enjoy the sport. We want reality stars who are real. Why
don’t we want porn performers who enjoy the sex? Do we want acting or
fucking? Hot porn is about the experience, like an out of the stadium
homerun or mind-blowing performance of a Broadway anthem. It can’t be phony, rarely fantasy. We want it
to be real. We want to imagine ourselves there in the bleachers watching the
action live or even participating. It is
not about creating a visual representation that looks similar, it is about the
vibe and the spirit. When that is false?
It comes off tasting like paste.
I cannot comprehend a gay porn scene where the director and
the performers are all straight. Where
after they yell cut, the moans stop, they spit out the cum, the dicks go limp,
and the performers call their wives and tell them they’ll be home soon after
they take their paychecks to the bank. But
this is a common occurrence with many studios and websites (such as Mendotcom).
The men who perform in these scenes don’t want to wear the gay or bi label, but
often get called “gay pornstars”. I think we should call them “fake4pay”.
PORN CONSUMERS
From a consumer
perspective, we are being sold a product that is truly fake. Most businesses try to hide it when their
products aren’t authentic. But in gay
porn, it is bragged about and even marketed that way. And we the consumers tolerate it because we
so desperately need porn.
Some of their models have come out as gay. Is false advertising the norm?
(Pathetic that gay guys have to come out in gay porn!)
To many of the men who buy the product, porn it is an
important part of our experience of being gay, of being sexual. A large portion
of the gay porn audience is older men who experienced a different world than
the younger guys who make the porn. In
the eighties and nineties, pornstars were the heroes of the community. There were few role models or openly gay
figures in the media.
And for many gay men, porn is their sex life. Access to
partners is not readily available. The
nearest Grinder hookup in rural America may be hours away. Large size and older
gay men are significantly challenged in finding partners unless they have the
funds to “pay4gay”. Porn can be a substitute for a lover, boyfriend or husband.
Porn strikes at the core of our sexuality. It explains what we do with each other that
defines us as gay. It influences our
feelings towards our selves. We have fought long and hard to defend that
definition of gay and to take pride in it. When it is cheapened or faked, it is
a threat and an insult. Truth has become
a battle cry for many a gay man. Once we
start fighting against the deceptions and misrepresentations, it is hard to
stop. Apparently, many of the gay men making gay porn haven’t ever matured out
of the lies and shame of the closet.
Isn't Gay4pay and a gay pride flag a contradiction?
There are lines we won’t accept in the gay porn industry.
Fake fucking is groaned about the moment it is discovered by fans. Many porn makers and commentators refuse to
support condomless sex and condemn performers who do it even though it is more
profitable. Producers even seem to discourage
the revelations that straight performers have wives and/or kids, even though
many do. They know that that information
crosses the line and alienates many consumers.
I say, gay4pay is an old idea that we should no longer endure
or buy either. It is a scar on the back
of the gay community. One that wasn’t
beaten on to us by the haters; one that we self imposed. It's time we took back our self-respect. The price we pay for this product is not in money. It is in the beliefs about ourselves and the
way we prosper in our community. More to
come on that later. If the porn industry wants to thrive again, in the competitive Internet-based market, maybe it should consider taking itself seriously and honestly.
So my work started back and overtook my life. I am working on new posts -lots of them and hope to re-launch in late September. Thank you for your patience. Follow me on twitter for update news. -Colorful Kent
I am a gay man with too much time
on my hands right now and bored with everything so I’ve been overdosing in gay
porn and have become disturbed by the gay4pay takeover. I
have been coming to terms with my feelings about it and have decided to share
what I have learned with others in hopes that they will find their own
resolutions or join me in mine. From this experience, I have ascertained the four
elements of quality gay porn and the issues and concerns around them. I have only seen one or two, if any, provider
that does all of it well, but that depends on each viewer’s perspectives. So to begin the discussion, let's lay some groundwork as I define the four qualities that I
have discovered –the four “Cs” of gay porn:
1) Cocks –Everyone loves a hot looking guy with a big
cock. We each have our own opinions on
what we like but there is a general concept of what is hot. Most of the big studio productions focus their
efforts on finding great looking performers, sometimes at the expense of their
performances. I call them the fantasy
providers. I have fallen in love with
some of their models even before I saw them perform like Tayte Hanson from Cockyboys. I haven’t seen his scenes yet, but he takes
my breath away with his beauty. Even if
the sex isn’t great we don’t care, we get off on the guys just seeing them
naked and aroused. The performers don’t
even have to be gay to some fans. They can fake it
all they want, as long as they look hot doing it.
As much as the industry claims to
see past one’s sexual identify differences, it doesn’t see past skin color as
much, but that’s probably due to fan preferences. Black cocks are most often delegated to black
porn productions and Spanish speaking performers work for Latino sites or don’t
speak much in American gay porn. Asian guys are the rarest. I,
myself, am not as familiar with these performers and their sites because I am
one of those fans who prefers white guys which is the largest market. And the porn press covers foreign based white porn well, especially that of European
producers.
Large size men (bears) have a place
in porn, but only a small place unique to their own sites. The same for older models in their senior
years, but younger models, twinks, are hugely popular and the concern over some
of them still being in high school has raised some eyebrows. Hairy performers are common but overall used less, but there are
sites dedicated to them. Both cut and
uncut models are used extensively. I
know of no American website that favors one over the other.
Some performers, usually the gay
ones, develop relationships with their fans through social media, like
Twitter. They know that it brings them
loyalty and popularity which helps when they aren’t on an exclusive contract
with a particular company. Then there
are producers like Sean Cody who forbids his performers from any contact with
them. Others like Randy Blue and Corbin Fisher encourage them to go on cam
sites and interact with fans. Some of
the performers also escort through sites like Rentboy.com. The porn is a marketing tool for the
escorting.
2) Cumshots- Where the cum ends up has always been the central
question of gay porn. Many of us often
just fast-forward to the cumshots. The
action is so defined by it, I find myself mentally checking off which performers
in a scene have cum or not. Even kinkier
scenes, with fisting and torture, usually bring it home somewhere with a
cumshot.
Many porn producers, like Treasure
Island Media, focus more on reality sex than fantasy sex. TIM gives us realistic uninterrupted fucking
even if the cameraman gets in the shot.
Who cares as long as the sex is scorching. They don’t promote their models like stars
and some of them wouldn’t win beauty contests, but they know how to make it
real. Let’s face it bareback is more realistic. It’s sex natural as it was meant to be. The
magical condom doesn’t suddenly appear.
Committed to Treasure Island Media.
Many fans prefer amateur porn, like
those personal sex tapes loaded up to X-tube because they want to see real sex,
not choreographed sex with bad music. Often,
you don't see the actual cumshot in them, you see the facial expression or the top's physical reaction, because true amateurs don’t pull out.
Unknown to us consumers is exactly
how much of the fucking is faked in porn.
Occasionally, a scene will be exposed for trickery or the use of fake
cum. Performer Cody Cummings is said to have faked most of his scenes. Nothing gets a fan angrier than this
deception. Real fucking is core to
porn. The betrayal would be comparable
to watching swimming competitions on TV and then finding out that the cool underwater
footage was pre-taped.
3) Commerce–From the provider’s perspective, their porn has to
be in demand so that they can make a profit. To the consumer, the amount of money invested
in the product, its promotion and distribution shows. Smart providers distribute the product through
multiple channels –their own websites, DVD orders, and through porn streaming
sites like AEBN. They give us high quality video at websites that are easily
navigated and easy to join. They promote their content through trailers and
samples at various industry blogs and through on site tours that show you what
you will get with your subscription.
They make it easy for you cancel your subscription and communicate with
the webmaster. Content is updated frequently
and the price is reasonable for the quality and amount of content. A good porn website will release two-three
scenes per week and charge no more than $30 per month. Lucas Entertainment is probably the best
example at doing all of this well.
The piracy of porn is having a
major effect on the entire porn industry –gay or straight. There is exaggerated talk of it eroding the
industry completely. Producers like
Corbin Fisher have taken consumers to court and companies spend ample resources
trying to keep websites from stealing it and redistributing it. In any case, it gives producers justification
for paying performers less, even though they themselves are living rich. Whether performers are paid fairly is an
issue of discussion, that producers don’t like discussed.
4) Community –The messages that gay porn delivers about and to
the LGBT community are the most often disregarded by the makers of gay porn or
more accurately called –all male porn. It’s hard to balance community concerns
and commerce concerns at the same time, but expert producers can make it
work. They know that history will
reflect on them poorly if they don’t. The porn industry has successfully kept the
talk low on one issue –that of drug use on porn sets. But the two biggest issues that affect the gay
porn industry that they cannot keep quiet are whether performers use condoms or
not and the sexual orientation of performers.
Loyal to bareback. Is it going away?
Barebacking in gay porn, though common
in straight porn, is seen by many as the wrong message to send out, but it is
becoming more and more popular with fans –outselling condom porn even though
there are less providers of it. With new
laws being made that forbid barebacking in porn in California –the capital of
the porn industry- some companies are moving their shops to Vegas. The laws are futile. Barebacking will thrive and expand, and it
won’t have to go underground to do so.
There are negatives to bareback porn makers. The Grabbys awards for the gay porn industry
excludes them and so does the IML. Many
community publications and media won’t promote them. But the increased access to the drug Truvada
will ultimately re-shape this issue, as more companies give up the condoms
trading them for HIV testing. Testing
brings with it issues of privacy and discrimination, which relates to the other
big issue of using straight guys over gay guys –
gay4pay.
The gay porn industry is overrun by
gay4pay performers these days creating concerns of how it negatively impacts
the gay community. Only a handful of
companies use few or no straight performers –Lucas, Men at Play, Jake
Cruise/Cocksure Men, Jason Sparks are the most noticeable, but not always for
the community reason but because the action is better performed by true gay or
bisexual men. There are some companies
that pride themselves on using primarily straight men –Corbin Fisher, Sean
Cody, and Broke Straight Boys to name a few, and some that don’t advertise it
like MenDotCom, Sketchy Sex, and Dallas Reeves.
Many performers have wives and kids.
Some of the straightness is just false marketing, while some of the
performers are confused about their own sexuality. Some gay performers have
recently started to come out with their dislike of the practice -Brandon Jones
and Diesel Washington to name two. This issue and its impact I will be
exploring extensively in my next writings.
It is the focus of my efforts.
He has also written some articles himself about sex and relationships, so
he’s not shy at all talking about the topic of sexuality. He is also
unapologetic for having one. When he was included in Out Magazine’s Out100, it
was said that he “has long rejected
the idea that the only suitable pop star is a neutered one". .jpg)
DNA magazine called you “one of the hottest
men in the world”. What is the best
thing about being one of the hottest?
The worst thing?
I used to have fun with crazy designs in my
head and now I’m going for a more streamlined fade.
What makes you angry in the gay community
or gay movement? How do you deal with it?
.jpg)
