Wrap It Up 90's Style!

I'm 40 now, and one of the things I have had to adjust to when it comes to gay porn is the absence of condoms. It wasn't that long ago where it was unheard of for a major studio like Falcon, or a major director like Chi Chi LaRue, to be shooting scenes without them. I understand that with the emergence of meds like PrEP, and a greater understanding of how medications can protect those who aren't HIV+ has made it so that there is a much lower risk, to almost no risk, of transmission. Medically we have also gotten to a point where HIV is not a death sentence. Not even close. Yet the whole "Wrap It Up" mentality still pops into my brain when I don't see a condom on a performer.  

I'm going to put this disclaimer here. I'm American, so my view point is from that cultural background. When discussing this subject I am specifically referring to gay life in America from the 90's to current times, and more specifically as I personally experienced it. This is not meant to be a blanket statement on the effects of HIV and AIDS on the gay community as a whole, and for sure not globally.  I do fully understand that the situation is very different around the world due to numerous factors, including poverty, education, social stigma, criminalization of homosexuality, drug availability and ease of distribution. Outside of this disclaimer I really am not going to touch on the ongoing global AIDS crisis, as I do not feel comfortable in my knowledge base to really have any useful or informed commentary on it. Obviously I wish it was possible for all those in need to get the medical treatment and education that they need, but I also understand that there are millions of roadblocks that need to be tackled to make that happen, including the cutting of funding by the current administration. This discussion is specifically about the presence of condoms within gay porn as it reflects the changing times and attitudes towards people living with HIV, safe sex and the impact of the disease on western society, and more specifically the American gay male community as I experienced it growing up as a gay man. 

To get you into the right headspace, keep in mind that I grew up in the fallout of the AIDS Crisis. I was a child when AIDS related deaths were at their peak, and so I grew up with the the almost literal specter of death hanging over the act of sex. People my parents knew had died of AIDs, so it was something I was aware of pretty young. It shaped how I approached sex as I was maturing. I am glad that younger generations don't really have that same dark shadow hanging over the very idea of physical intimacy. I did my best to educate myself, to understand my risks, but I also grew up in a fairly conservative environment where that information was not readily available, and educating yourself on the subject was frowned upon. Sex was meant to happen when you were grown up and married, and you didn't have to worry about it because you and your spouse would both be pure virgins when you finally consummate your relationship. Obviously, for closeted little me, that was not the future I was headed towards. Nor was it the future most of my straight classmates, either. Coming of age in the "True Love" waits era doesn't mean people were waiting to cum. 

Obviously a disease like HIV hit porn hard. You saw infections across the board in both gay and straight films. You suddenly saw a lot of studios and directors shift to a condom only policy as the world entered the 90's. This was not only in the gay world, but also the straight world. Major straight studios like Vivid and Wicked had condom only policies well into the 2000's. You had performers from the 70's and 80's dying, and a sudden focus on safe sex was really the only way to keep the industry alive. That is part of the reason I have such a hard time watching older gay porn movies. So many of those performers are gone because of AIDS. Condoms became not only part of the landscape, but part of the plot, for lack of a better word.  You were now talking about condoms within the films themselves, seeing the performers putting them on themselves or their partners. You had discussions about protecting yourself, and the responsibility of the gay community to educate and be safe. It wasn't in everything, but it did become part of the general background of gay porn in the 90's.

As we moved through the 90's, and as I discovered gay porn thanks to the rise in popularity of the internet, there was definite clear messaging in the movies I was seeing about safe sex. Major studios such as All Worlds, Falcon, and Titan were strict in their condom policy for any new productions moving forward. You saw condoms being mentioned in movies, and even incorporated into the sex scenes in ways that tried to make them erotic. The industry was vocal in support of protecting yourself and others. No one screamed it louder from the mountain tops than the Queen of Gay Porn, Chi Chi LaRue. If you bought a Chi Chi LaRue movie on DVD in the 2000's there would even be a PSA in the special features where LaRue would directly address the camera and talk about the importance of safe sex. Chi Chi was also a very successful straight porn director, doing some pretty good work over at Vivid. I know we will be covering his Sunrise Adams movie Sentenced at some point on the blog. When they moved to condom optional, Chi Chi left the studio, unable to square his own morals with those of the studio. 

I do remember attitudes starting to shift as I was getting out of college, though. by this point we were in the mid-2000's. and being HIV+, while still plenty scary, was no longer seen as the instant death sentence that it was in the 90's. There was still a big push towards safe sex, and condoms were still in all the major films, but you saw studios like Desert Island Media really push bareback films into the forefront, even getting mainstream attention with a gang bang featuring their popular performer Dawson. Viewers were also craving more condomless material. You also saw a rise on public awareness on niche subcultures like bug parties, where people would willingly get infected with HIV. This mostly got notice because of storyline on Queer as Folk. I highly doubt it was wide spread, but there was the sudden hard push from parts of the gay community against the fear of HIV and AIDS. Some was positive, focusing one education and awareness over fear mongering. Some was, well... 

 

Then the movie  Dawson's 20 Load Weekend happened. I remember the discussion at the time around that film being... odd. There was plenty of anger around it from safe sex advocacy groups, but there was also a lot of people who really pushed for the movie to be recognized. It was popular. It featured Dawson having unprotected sex with 20 men over the course of a weekend. He bottomed in all of the scenes, and all scenes involved his partners finishing inside of him. Now, Dawson was HIV+ at this point, and was open about his status. He was also young, handsome and into what he was doing. He was the opposite of what the media, and what people in general, thought about someone who was HIV+. The film was released by Treasure Island Media, who focused on hardcore, gonzo style bareback sex. These movies leaned into the raunch real hard. With the release of 20 Load Weekend Dawson even got some mainstream coverage, as its popularity was seen as bareback gay porn moving out of niche and into the mainstream. I remember reading some interviews with him back then, and was able to find one he did with The Windy City Times back in 2005. I am actually going to link their interview here, as it is better to hear from those directly involved to get a more rounded image of the attitudes of the time, and who the performers involved were. The article does discuss obvious NSFW topics, but does not include any 18+ visual materials. 

I am going to give my personal opinion here on bareback porn in the early 2000's. I never saw the movie, but I was aware of  Treasure Island was not my cup of tea. I also believe, at the time, the risk of having unprotected sex was still to great. Yes, there were growing treatments for HIV, but we were not at the point where there was not still great risk. Now, the article does detail how Treasure Island works to give their performers information on their partners so that they can make an informed choice. These are adults, unless I'm informed otherwise, they consented to star in these movies. That is there choice. It is also the viewers choice if they wish to engage with that material. While I have my own personal issues, everyone involved was a consenting adult.  

After that, the attitudes continued to shift, and so did medical advancements in not only the treatment of HIV, but in protection against infection. A lot of online sites started to move to condom optional as well. Some of the studios still held off on going to condom optional, though. I remember Falcon digitally removing condoms from their 1970's themed California Dreamin' to make the movie feel more authentic while still sticking to what they felt was the best practices to protect their performers. 

Then PrEP came along, and the game changed. 

Now I cannot remember the last time I saw a condom in a modern porn scene. Safe and smart sex is still a thing, and something everyone should practice, but the tools we use to protect ourselves and those we love have changed so much. The discussion about sex in general is so vastly different than it was when I was in my teens and twenties. Now those movies from the 90's and early 2000's feel like this odd time capsule that may seem almost unrecognizable to people in their 20's now.

Thank God for that. 

I'm going to end on this note. Pornography works as a kind of time capsule. It captures a very raw snap shot of society at the time it was made. Gay porn during the 90's and early 2000's is the perfect example of that. It was formed and changed by the community that was making it and enjoying it. It tried to meet an educational need that was sorely lacking elsewhere. While it was legal in most states to be gay at that point, it wasn't nation wide. That didn't actually happen until 2003. The films coming out were from a community in recovery. A community that was angry and sick of being ignored. It was also a community that was doing everything it could to protect their own. Times have changed for the better in a lot of ways. Condoms are no longer the best defense against spreading HIV, but for a while that was all they had to keep themselves safe. Well, short of not having sex at all. It made sex between gay men an act of defiance. Defiance against a still unwelcoming society, and against the fear that AIDS had brought. I mean, these are still just porno movies, but the attitudes in them and behind them give a glimpse into a generation of gay men that survived a literal plague. 

Sorry this post was so long. I didn't even realize I had so much to say on the subject! Well, next time we will get back to doing a little more movie talk!