I’ve kissed other dudes in my life, so it’s not really a big deal. I have this conversation a lot because there is still a lot of homophobia in the world and in adult films, when you’re sharing a scene with another dude and a lady, sometimes certain things come up: gay this, gay that. The way I define gay or homosexuals is a sexual attraction to a member of the same sex. I fully believe that people can engage in any sort of activity. Like I hate basketball, but I’ve played basketball before and it doesn’t make me a professional basketball player. That [gay-sex] scene was a very important part of the movie, because it kind of represents the power switch. I think Bret was really worried I wouldn’t want to do it. It’s part of the script. It’s not like it’s real life. I’m not shooting a porno where I have to get physically erect and have sex with a dude. […]
When I was younger, I think I was like 15 or something, I would have a moment where I was like, I don’t know, maybe I like guys, maybe I like girls, what is life? I experimented and I never really… I’m not attracted to dudes. I kinda sometimes feel bad about that, I feel like I’m supposed to be because I hang out in San Francisco so much and people make me feel really bad for being a straight, white dude and I feel like I’m doing something wrong for being a straight white dude.”
— Porn actor and Lindsay Lohan’s The Canyons co-star James Deen discussing gay sex at length with Gawker.
Tackle
So in San Francisco he’s made to feel bad for being a straight white dude? (Really). Did I read this right… No one can make a grown adult feel anything. Least of all for being male,straight and white.
dwndckd
Being STR8 is a “fucking” choice—no one can make you feel bad about being STR8, dude pull your head out of you azz… If you want to be “GAY,” then by all means be “GAY,” just cut the B@llsh*t!
hf2hvit
Try therapy. You may be “straight” but something is definitely going on in that head of yours.
dwndckd
I can honestly say that the only thing going on in this heard (or any other head) is how to maintain my composure when dealing with people like you. Every time I log on this site- I learn a little more about the “GAY” community. Fortunately or unfortunately, a lot of what I lean comes from people such as you.
HirsuteOne
Uses the word “dude” a lot.
B Damion
He sounds stupid. This is some “straight” bull shit.
LaTeesha
I agree with his statement that you can engage in sexual activity with a member of the same sex without being gay. Being gay is more than just about sex. However, after making this valid point, he runs completely off the rails into self-pity and lunacy.
Kevin
He does a lot of work with kink.com, a set of people that do a lot of gay videos and also make work from a queer theory background. So maybe he takes some ribbing from the queers and the gay guys. He’s being self-deprecating — everyone lighten up.
BJ McFrisky
He feels bad about being straight?
Man, talk about your liberal guilt.
miagoodguy
Idiot
Dev.C
He’s so fucking annoying, even his name is pretentious and insulting.
tardis
What’s with the backlash? Why are you all looking into it so seriously? I doubt he feels “guilt.” Perhaps he didn’t express his thoughts concretely, but I don’t think he meant any harm. Lighten up.
Jacob Jake
yeah, the comment’s section here has kinda turned into a case of snow white and the 7 trolls
richg813
Maybe he’s just young and immature. Seems like a nice enough person, though.
pscheck2
Could this be the classic case of””[He] doth protest too much?” It annoys me to read where all of these guys who play a gay character, in a movie, always make the point they are str8 but they took the part because it was a challenge! I think he is trying to be clever using the ‘story’ about his straightness? so as to distance himself from the gay label and not marginalize himself in the public eye.Maybe a couple years from now he will do what Zach Quinto did (he too protested too much!) and come ‘out!’
GayTampaCowboy
So i read the whole interview on Gawker and now i find myself wondering WHY Queerty even picked up this story? Ok, so he kissed a guy on the movie. Ok, so he’s a str8 porn actor doing a project with an alcoholic (Lohan)….ok. And?
This guy is a hedonist. Fine. He’s doing some mainstream acting. Fine. He feels str8 guys who like things up their butt dosn’t make them gay. Ok. He feels 2 str8 guys DP’ing a str8 woman isn’t gay. I agree.
The only thing that’s go me scratching my head are his comments about how the people in San Fran make him feel bad about being str8. Um, which people? Please tell me Mr. Deen that you are talking about the “assumption” that because you do str8 porn, that gay men openly wish you’d do gay porn – that THAT makes you feel “bad?”
I still don’t think this is a Queerty-worthy article.
SoThenWhatHappened
Damn, but you smug faggots need to get the sand out of your vaginas.
Dwik27
Uhhhm, I’m sorry, but I’ve seen A LOT of his videos and there is no way this guy can say he doesn’t engage in gay sex. He’s a regular bottom. You only have to look at his patulous hole to see that he’s a regular. No joke. He’s putting something up there on a regular basis.
Palto
@SoThenWhatHappened: you mean your mother’s vagina.
Doughosier
He’s not saying anything any cool straight friend wouldn’t say. I happen to think he’s a total hotty.
GymJockTX
I’d gladly do my best to help you feel more comfortable with the gay sex stuff, Jimmy boy.
DuMaurier
Personally I like him (and I’ve never seen any of his porn stuff) He comes across a lot different if you SEE an interview with him, the sly grins and shrugs, the energy and humor. And of course he’s right about the distinction between attraction and action–I’d assumed that question was definitively answered with the invention of prisons and English boarding schools.
Xanderer
Don’t worry man, haters gonna hate. Just be yourself.
Snapper59
He’s obviously trying to merge into mainstream acting. I look forward to his next Gawker article about how he loses sleep because of global warming.
GymJockTX
@DuMaurier: I agree about him. Bummer there are so many spiteful, negative beyotches posting on here. JD has a fascinating life story, and I don’t care where he sticks it (or wishes he could LOL), he’s an okay stud muffin in my book. PS: Offer I posted in Comment #21 still stands, Mr. D. Oh yeah, and your dildo is HOT. Nowutimsayin? 😀
Brian
James Deen is correct about the porn industry being conservative. In most movies that contain both men and women, male-male interactions are strictly prohibited but female-female interactions are encouraged. There’s a bisexual double standard.
A lot of female performers are very homophobic towards male-male sexuality.
litper
There is never a “moment”. The guy is bisexual and lying.
BlogZilla
Why are you guys attacking him so much? I see the fat beer bellied queens are out again with their pernicious pessimism.
It wouldn’t have mattered what he said, you people would still bitch about him.
Kangol
Dear Mr. Deen:
You can always move to Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, etc., and you’ll feel very, very comfortable being a “straight white dude.” You might have to get a bit of old time Christian religion going, but you’ll feel very, very comfortable.
BTW, are you any relation to that charming Hausfrau Paula Dean? She seems really comfortable with “straight white dudes” too! She’s in Georgia in case you’re not sure where to find her.
Kangol
@SoThenWhatHappened:
Great that you’re on this site trolling. But for what? Gay sex that you afraid to admit to?
Brian
In straight porn, men sometimes engage in penis-penis contact during group scenes but this is a form of male-male bonding and camaraderie. The rules of straight porn are very strict and conservative. Only women are allowed to be sexual with each other. Under no circumstances are men allowed to be sexual with each other in the way women are.
Mofdgheb
James Deen needs to go away, along with Farrah Abraham.
Teleny
I don’t know who this kid is but it seems he is bisexual if he’s bottoming for guys. A lot of men try to say they are straight, but are bottoming for other men. He may not be gay, but he isn’t straight either.
iMort
@dwndckd: Spell much?
miagoodguy
Of course straight porn is “strict and conservative” with very little interaction between the male actors. it is STRAIGHT porn aimed at STRAIGHT men. STRAIGHT men are not looking for interaction between the guys. They are focused on the WOMEN and their interaction. It is not a double standard. It is called creating a product for your core customer. If you want the men interacting with each other, buy bi or gay porn.
EGO
When I was a teenager and tried to do the necking etc. with a girl, my appendage drooped even more. When I was around an attractive guy, my appendage snapped to attention. I came out when I was 19 and in the Navy. When I was 20 I sorted through all of the information I had learned which required some deep thinking. I tossed out everything I was taught about being a heterosexual and kept all of the other good values including know who you are and be that person. Once I decided to be who I am, a gay guy, I was able to get on with my life.
Most straight people I have talked to never had to go through this process. Some gay guys got married for whatever reason and even had children. They divorced later because they finally realized they were gay.
Good luck!
keep it real
Interesting…..
Boricuaex
I thought his statement is a rather professional one, if you ask me. Deen gave an honest answer and I don’t begrudge him. Having read this article, I have more respect for him now than I did before. Good for him.
QueenofFags
Hmm. I think this is a simple guilt by association thing. He feels bad because he doesn’t mind gay people, but his line of work is extremely homophobic. Moreover,he apparently visited a predominantly LBGT populated community which seems to affirm, in his mind, that there this nothing wrong with us gays. I’m assuming he feels bad because, as a straight guy, he’s somehow tainted by the wrong-doings of his peers.
That’s not true, I think. The association just because he’s straight thing, I mean.
I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant to say. But apparently some of you couldn’t figure that out.
Bo Dan
I think people need to calm down. Everyone feels guilty about something. Many gay people feel guilty for being gay and I know many straight people who feel guilty for being straight. They feel guilty about it, not because they are straight but because sometimes it is hard to understand the rise in LGBT rights, they have to hear homophobic things sometimes and they feel guilty mostly because they know we struggle for many of our rights.
I’m surprised sometimes with how some and other times many LGBT community members approach problems. Yes, we have been around for a very very long time but change can’t happen in the blink of an eye. We hope but we all know the reality is different.
From many straight men I have talked to about homophobia and in my opinion, probably one of the biggest problems, is lack of understanding. Most people are afraid of new things and change. It’s is hard to understand other people’s lives sometimes. They stick to what they know and base everything from that perspective. Is that wrong? No. We know what we know and we can’t be ashamed of that. But in saying this, we have to stop being so angry, bitter and so pushy. Yes, let’s push for a better cause, I am all for it but push for understanding. Who are we really to judge others when all human beings are flawed? We all hurt, we all feel pain, we all suffer something and we all struggle.
There are many wrong things in the world and of course that must stop and we must make clear what is offensive and not. But considering we live in North America, probably one of the freest places in the world, we’re lucky. Majority of the world is intolerant of so much and have to keep on fighting and keep going. We are not weak people, we are not less worthy or less deserving. We can be as angry and criticize as much as we want but anger is negative and also is criticism in a judgmental fashion. Lets strive for patience, persistence, understanding and love. If we are just as harsh as everyone else, are we truly any better? Is fighting insult with insult really going to achieve anything?