Dear Sean Cody,
I love your site and have been a loyal viewer. I will be as long as you are in business. I normally do not write letters like this. I believe in allowing every small business the freedom to operate the way it wants. But I also think your customers have the right to question some of the things you do, in this case your decision to start filming and marketing bareback porn.
I know that for years the straight adult film business has gone condom-less. Condom-less porn is hot. There is no denying it. In my own life, I always use condoms until I know someone for a very long time and even then you wonder, right? But guys, seriously, I am worried about your site. I am in my 30s and I have literally heard 18-year-olds say the following: “If I get something, it doesn’t matter. I go get on pills and I’m fine.” I actually moved over and got in the middle of this conversation at a bar. My buddies thought I was an idiot, but I wanted to understand.
So I asked them, “Why do you think not using a condom is okay?” The answer came, “Dude, no one wears condoms anymore that was like 10 years ago when you had to.” I said what the heck. Another guy, who looked to be about 20, jumped in to add, “Well, the porn companies stopped using them.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Wow. So you see that at least in some cases these “kids” are watching porn and then thinking it’s okay. No one looks at the brief warnings you put at the beginning of the videos when you are horny, guys. I mean, look, it is hotter. But I, for once, do not actively seek out raw fucking when I’m surfing for porn. In fact, the men who do actually might be a very small percentage. You might have research on your own customer tastes that differs, but there are porn companies such as CockyBoys who are doing quite well while maintaining a condom code.
Get with the facts. As a bottom, you can’t tell if a guy is wearing a condom or not. I will admit as a top I don’t love wearing a condom, but I do it anyway because it is the right thing to do for me and my partners.
So I am pleading with you guys: Please re-think your new policy of all of this condom-less sex? I mean, I’m not asking you to be the watchdog for the gay community. You have a business to run. But you also do have a responsibility to care about your customers. It is wrong to profit off their suffering. I learned at an early age growing up that you always wore a condom, every time you have anal intercourse, and every bar some organization had them easily available if I didn’t have time to get some or the cash to buy them.
Now I am worried about the kids who are coming out now, long after I did, not to mention the models you employ in your films. Are they learning the same message that I did? Why did you, SeanCody.com, stop requiring condoms when as a company you used them in the first place? You are my favorite, so I am writing to you. But this applies to the other gay sex websites, too. I mean if you used them before why can’t you just use them again–or at the very least cordon off that section of your site for that specific use. And put up real warning by making the use of condoms look sexy as hell in trailers or wherever. It’s the right thing to do.
Once again, I am all for businesses doing what they want but I also feel once you reach a certain status, financial and otherwise, in a community as vulnerable as ours, you owe it to your audience to do the right thing.
I am sure I am going to receive a form letter from you that says something like “every performer is tested before the shoot and then retested” or some crap like that. But most guys who has seen one of your movies does not have the foggiest notion about all that. And even if he does, what are the chances that it will be on the top of his mind when he meets a guy while out drinking at a bar? Instead, it’s the image of the allure of raw sex that will be emblazoned in his mind. And this means me, too: I’ve fantasized about some of your guys at the very moment of decision when I’m with a guy. Even for me, it’s getting harder and harder (pardon the pun) to put aside the image. I’ve stopped watching a lot of your raw videos for that very reason: to avoid the temptation in my own sex life. By watching hot, healthy-looking guys going at it in porn I risk desensitizing myself to the dangers, especially since nowadays, the dangers can seem far in the future.
A lot of men of all ages no longer understand how dangerous HIV remains, but particularly young men who have not seen AIDS kill. They see HIV-positive friends (and even some porn models) thriving with treatment. And that’s good. But HIV still damages your body, and the treatment can be toxic over the long term.
I know you guys probably get letters like this all the time. I know you have your lawyered up a once paragraph response. I imagine your models must sign a contract waiving your responsibility should they get infected or get an STD on one of your sets or, more likely, take the practices home with them and into their own personal lives. I’d like the powers-that-be at Sean Cody would really think carefully about what the company is doing. You may be thriving financially, but do you feel comfortable profiting in this way?
Thank you in advance for reading this and at least considering what I have to say. I’d really like to know: You built a company around latex. What the hell changed? Why?
Again, I’m a loyal SeanCody.com viewer, so much so that at one time I fantasized about being a model on your site (well, at least if you ever hired men in their 30s — LOL).
I look forward to your non-auto response on this. Thanks all.
Kind Regards,
Jon Patton
[This letter has been edited for clarity since it was sent to Sean Cody and before it was published by Queerty. The author received a response from Sean Cody to the effect that the company tests its models for HIV and STDs regularly.]
redcarpet
Not that I disagree with the author, but isn’t this kinda late? SC has been bareback for a couple of years now.
Frankly, I don’t think it makes their videos any hotter. The men have been more and more generic looking since they started barebacking.
Maybe my taste has just changed. I prefer video that shows guys who are actually enjoying the sex and not faking it. SC guys are all straight guys who you can tell are not really into whats going on.
Caine
Dear Mr. Patton – if you don’t like bareback porn don’t watch it.
Don’t buy it.
Other than that … come into the new millennium – cos apparently you are living in 1982.
Eric Auerbach
The idea that bareback porn is going to make the author lose his self-control and tempt him into barebacking is pretty ridiculous. If and when you have raw sex, Jon, it’ll be your fault, not Sean Cody’s.
whatisthis
@Caine: Come into reality – cos you apparently live in a fantasy world where STD risk in MSM activities isn’t still extremely high.
Stache1
@redcarpet: That’s about the only thing I agree with. I’d rather watch golf.
Eric Auerbach
@redcarpet: I agree. SC guys all look the same. Same white guys with the same faces, the same body types, the same hairlessness. Boring boring boring. Plus, they do lay it on a bit thick with the acting.
wildanimal
@Eric Auerbach: The author’s point was missed. He talked about the message it sends to our youth. That he personally experienced.
and the thought that you can just take a pill…
Blatantly false…
Eric Auerbach
@wildanimal: I’m talking about this (fairly silly) passage:
“I’ve fantasized about some of your guys at the very moment of decision when I’m with a guy. Even for me, it’s getting harder and harder (pardon the pun) to put aside the image. I’ve stopped watching a lot of your raw videos for that very reason: to avoid the temptation in my own sex life. By watching hot, healthy-looking guys going at it in porn I risk desensitizing myself to the dangers, especially since nowadays, the dangers can seem far in the future.”
sportsguy1983
Sounds as stupid as those that say gay parents, boy scout leaders, teachers, etc… will turn kids guy.
Derek Williams
Everyone knows if you don’t use condoms you’re taking a huge risk, just as they also know if you stab someone they might die.
Just because you see something being done in a movie doesn’t mean YOU have to do it.
CMObrero
I guess ‘Murica should be caring about the education those kids received intead of the porn they are watching. As Derek Williams has said, and as Dan Savage has been saying for years: you gotta teach the difference between fantasy and reality.
Teleny
I work with 18/19 year olds. Let me tell you-they don’t have the best decision making skills & most seem to think they will soon be on a reality show. I think the author’s point is very valid.
Stache1
So I guess we should be sending all the video game companies a letter demanding they stop making violent games because some kids won’t know the difference between fantasy and reality. We could start an organization called One Million Dads:)
Justin
Porn is a fantasy. Condoms are a reality. Why must they blend?
The truth of the matter is that the safety of the actors is top priority. In fact, some porn creators are hurting just because of the cost of testing alone. They do it because it is the right thing to do.
If the public was tested as often as these actors, perhaps the spread of HIV would lessen. In many ways, porn actors are much more responsible due their consistent testing. It would seem to me that the risks they take in their personal lives would be less since a positive result would ruin their career.
Pistolo
I agree with the author. Have any of you gone for an HIV test or gotten an HIV scare? I have, I had unprotected sex and went into a clinic 6 months later for instant test (no sex inbetween) until the moment I got my results (NEGATIVE, thank god) I just kept saying to myself “Why didn’t I have sex with a condom? Why does anybody have sex with a condom?! This is fucking scary”. Even if the models at Sean Cody get tested, even if they feel as though the odds are in their favor, they are still basically fucking *strangers*. They’re in a sex industry where infection spreads like wildfire.
Also, even when it was transmission through heterosexual sex, people still put up headlines for Rod Daily describing him as a GAY ponrstar. It comes back to us in the worst way when these things happen.
mcflyer54
Anyone who thinks that HIV or AIDS are “manageable” needs to review how that term is used by medical practitioners. Yep, there are now pills that weren’t previously available but with those meds (which aren’t always effective) often come some pretty horrific side effects. People still die, in the USA and elsewhere, from AIDS. And HIV infection is again on the rise among those under the age of 30. I have donated thousands of dollars to various support organizations and more thousands of hours volunteering care for AIDS patients and, while safe sex decisions are up to each individual, I never met a single person with AIDS who could completely care for themselves without help once their illness became “unmanageable”.
Liam Sauer-Wooden
Actually, the more disturbing thing about teens, young adults, and condoms is the too frequent message they are getting from sex education classes in WA that, if you are gay, there’s no reason to bother with condoms as you’re going to catch HIV anyway. Or at least this is what I hear from teens and young adults who drop-in at support centers in Seattle, WA.
heath0043
@Justin: And yet there are still porn actors getting HIV.
Fitz
Please. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
Tony
So Queerty review’s Sean Cody’s Fan Mail now… AWESOME.. can’t wait to read mail from his actual fan’s that LOVE what he’s doing and will continue to do because thats what his fans want. Patton if you don’t like it DONT watch it, and stop eavesdropping on peoples private conversations at the bar troll
jonjct
he “wears a condom because it’s the right thing to do” .. are you kidding me? half the guys i fck are married, partnered or not legal. so to begin with my encounters are not really the right thing to do. get real.
Kamuriie
Wow. This “letter” is full of total BS.
BB porn is way, way more popular. I just looked at the top 20 most shared torrents on a popular gay torrent site, and 18/20 are BB.
Bottoms CAN tell the difference when the top is using a condom or not. Maybe YOU can’t, or some people can’t, but you can’t make that idiotic generalization.
FYI, the same way you want people to realize HIV is still a serious disease, you should also realize that–while HIV is horrible, it isn’t on the same level of “if you get it, you’re dead” that it once was, and that perhaps the best way of teaching people that HIV is dangerous isn’t going through PORN.
Know why? PRAGMATISM. You’ve NEVER going to be able to get 100% of the studios to use condoms, because consumers *WANT* BB porn, any studio that switches back to condoms loses LOTS of money to the ones that still DO.
Care about HIV awareness? Start an awareness campaign. Demonizing BB porn is dumb.
the other Greg
Queerty has reported often that transmitting HIV – or even being falsely suspected of doing so – is criminalized in 30+ states.
“Get with the facts. As a bottom, you can’t tell if a guy is wearing a condom or not.”
I’m glad he says THAT. I brought that subject up once here and someone bitched about it, said it’s like telling the difference between Coke and Pepsi. (Yep, there’s a distinction that’s worth a life-threatening illness?)
But wait – what depraved place does Jon Patton live in, where the bars don’t card 18 year olds?
@jonjct: “half the guys i fck are married, partnered or not legal. so to begin with my encounters are not really the right thing to do. get real.”
All the more reason for you to use a condom, and adultery isn’t actually a crime, but… wait… “not legal”? You mean, underage? I’m pretty sure that’s a crime!
Justin
It is very rare that I meet a guy that insists on a condom in the heat of the moment. I might add (in my experience) that those guys are usually so timid and scared that sex shouldn’t even be on the table in the first place.
I agree with jonjct. Half the guys “I jump on the good foot and do the bad thing” with want it bare. I have probably heard about every excuse in the book not to use them.
People will write what is the correct thing to do but the truth falls to side. In private they do the oppisite. I have experenced it so many times it could be viewed as sad. But it is what it is.
samwise343
Sean Cody is not the mama to all the young men who bareback.
samwise343
@Justin: “Porn is fantasy”. Um, no, porn is real. Those two guys fucking is REALLY happening. The fantasy is thinking that any of the performers would be interested in any of the watchers.
michiganstateofmind
As long as he’s not in the chips I don’t mind. When I see the previews of him makes me want to vomit! The young hot models are desperate for quick small cash. There impressionable. They see his big home fake charm and fall for it as he makes millions off them. Not thinking of the ramifications. He’s old fat nasty rich pay kids/young men to have sex with him.No regrets or shame on his part.
scotshot
Gonorrhea
chlamydia
syphilis
herpes
hepatitis b & c
A few more diseases that can be spread by anal sex – there are of course other ways to be infected.
I’m a child of the 60s & 70s. I was infected with Hepatitis C at an unknown point in time. I had a liver transplant six years ago. At this point My medical fees are somewhere in the range of 2 million dollars – they’ll run to 3 million dollars in the next decade.
Feel free to bareback. I grew up during a time that we thought anything could be cured by penicillin.
DarkZephyr
@the other Greg: Its also disturbing. In some states, the age of consent is 16, so it makes me pretty freaked out at how young some of his partners really are. Dear God.
Kangol
@scotshot:
Thank you for your dose of reality.
Gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, herpes, hep A, B & C, HPV, anal warts, etc., can all be spread by oral sex as well. Just saying. HIV transmission by oral sex is far less common, but if someone has a suppressed immune system, anything is possible.
Having seen many people die from HIV/AIDS related diseases, and many longtime HIV positive friends now dealing with various kinds of chronic and acute secondary diseases, I really do wish at the least that these porn companies–all of them, straight, gay, bi, trans, all of them–would at least let viewers know of the risks they face.
I’m not saying no raw/unprotected sex in videos, but at a time of poor to non-existent sex ed in numerous secondary schools across the country, and in the absence of a cure for HIV and given the serious health consequences for some of the diseases above, much more of heads up to viewers, especially young ones, is the most ethical thing these companies could and should be doing.
EdWoody
I sent basically the same letter to them just as they changed policy. I received a stock response of “we consider all communications seriously” and nothing else.
I am and will always be a passionate supporter of safe sex in porn, and I am happy to say so as many times and on as many sites as I can. All of you commenters who think porn doesn’t have an effect on sexual behaviour, you’re incredibly naive. There IS no sex education for gay men EXCEPT for porn – that shouldn’t be true but it is. Of course the kids are going to do what they see in porn because no-one is telling them otherwise.
At least studios like Sean Cody and Corbin Fisher don’t actively glorify disease in the way scum pits like TIM do, but they are still part of the problem and not part of the solution.
robco
Maybe it’s time to levy a tax on all porn (gay and straight) that features unprotected sex. Use the money to fund awareness and treatment campaigns and such.
danonce
Jesus! Gay guys complaint too much about bareback porn. How hypocritical u’re, as if u cared too much about them.
The chance to get HIV on screen is really rare. They mostly got it off screen: prostituting, having bareback sex with customers, cheating… But what they did in real life is none of ur business.
Dxley
What a waste of my time. I guess I’m one of those guys who are more interested in BB porn than anything else. If he doesn’t like what he sees, he’d better visiting SC. I hate it when people try to force their “morals” down other people’s throats and it totally pisses me off. People watch horror movies all the time but I don’t see them walking with hatchets, or whatever the weapon may be, killing everyone in sight. I think he still needs to grow up a bit, because this letter was not only long but also bullshit.
Go tell it to somebody who actually gives a crap. I love that SC goes BB and I visit it and Menhub only for BB. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. SIMPLE AS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see a lot of guys agree with him mainly because they’re all positive, I mean no offence, but you don’t get to run other people’s lives because you got burned. SC is a business and it doesn’t force these boys to come on board. But when it Rome, do what the Romans do. They get involved knowing SC doesn’t use condoms and as much as the author likes to reflect some morals, I think he sounds fucking stupid – get a new favourite site.
Leave BB for people who actually like it – like myself. We don’t have to argue over such things. SC tests its models regularly and takes all the necessary precautions and you should practise safety in your sexual affairs if you’re not monogamous but please don’t shove your morals down my throat. I’m gonna puke them up. What a dumb slopabottomus queer. Dude, just stick to your condoms and I’ll stick to watching my BB and everyone’s happy. You don’t get to tell me what’s good or not. You sound very much like those stupid Christians who always want everyone to believe the same thing as they do – no difference.
You don’t like something? Move away from it and stop trying to get everyone to agree with you. Dumb-ass fool!!!
Justin
@Dxley: Amen!!!
ChiChi Man
I love when the BB crowd compares criticizing risky behavior that spreads disease to Puritanism and homophobia.
Girls, take a pill – well, another one. I didn’t read anything about banning or criminalizing bareback sex — just a call to be more responsible. If he’d encouraged KFC to use better meat, would he have been accused of taking away personal freedom? Doubt it.
I love BB porn, but I’m not stupid enough to have BB sex. For many, this is not the case and this isn’t a good thing. It really isn’t. Poz folks should not be demonized but we shouldn’t all become infected to make them feel better. I go back and forth about BB porn. But it doesn’t bother me that someone raises arguments against it.
litper
So when SeanCody treated it’s gay models like shit while worshipping heterosexuality, it was ok for mr. Loyal fan, but no piece of rubber is such a shock for him!
Stefano
For those who can read French :
https://www.sidaction.org/ewb_pages/e/epidemie-vih-etats-unis.php
Stefano
There is also :
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/basics/ataglance.html
litper
CDC? A homophobic organisation which still uses faulty data based on self-report to keep gays from donating blood.
Stefano
“Although MSM represent about 4% of the male population in the United States, in 2010, MSM accounted for 78% of new HIV infections among males and 63% of all new infections.MSM accounted for 52% of all people living with HIV infection in 2009, the most recent year these data are available.”
Stefano
http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/statistics/
Stefano
@lipter : continue deny the spread of HIV and do BB if you want…gay men are so irresponsible.
litper
“MSM represent about 4% of the male population”
that’s the faulty anti-gay statistics for you. 4%-5% is a number of openly gay or bisexual americans, the number of people who openly admit same-sex experience (what CDC describes as MSM) is far higher than that number, and that’s only people who are honest in their responses.
Stefano
If you can read French :
http://www.inspq.qc.ca/publications/theme78.asp
Stefano
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/aids-sida/publication/survreport/estimat2011-eng.php
gatrdave
@scotshot: Good point. The focus on STDs, when there IS a focus, is on HIV. And yeah, people believe the ads with the hot sexy men jumping in the air because they can take a pill to manage their HIV infection. But now they are slaves to the drug companies and the pills don’t last as long as one thinks.
But yes, their are still other worries out there that people need to consider as well. The youth always think that they are invincible and that worries like this are for the old people. They see examples of what they agree with and go with that.
I tell you though, that if they saw examples of hot gay men who got HIV like we did in the 1980s, they just might think twice before engaging in risky sex. I still remember those men I saw in pictures and in person. How many young, sexy, swinging, Grindr gay youth today have seen those pictures?
mz.sam
More postings such as this is needed to keep the discussion and awareness viable in the community and general public. What is offensive is the irresponsible publishing of named SC models as advocates of the company they worked for, like wanted criminal notices at posts offices.
randeman
@Justin: Do we know for sure that there aren’t studios out there that don’t care about the status of the models? There was or is a company called Bareback Jack that made at least one video that I know of that has that cavalier attitude.
The author has some good points. It was also pointed out by a poster that teenagers don’t exactly have good decision making skills. This is the God’s honest truth. They can’t be controlled, but they can be educated. They need to be taught that all sexually transmitted diseases are not curable or treatable, and while they may not all be potentially fatal they can prevent themselves from enduring a lifetime of pain and discomfort.
No one knows how long these anti-viral drugs will work, nor do they know what the long term effects are to the body.
Kieru
I personally would never BB outside of a monogamous, long-term relationship. Like many others I don’t condone a devil-may-care BB lifestyle in others, and I tend not to watch pornography that glamorizes BB porn because of this personal choice.
That being said… let’s admit one thing.
It is not the responsibility of the adult film industry to portray a realistic and sterile sexual environment. Adult film stars are not role models. They are employees of a multi-billion dollar industry that makes their money selling the fantasy – not the reality.
If teens are looking to pornography for best-practices that to me represents a failure elsewhere. Clearly they are not getting the level of sexual education they require either through compulsory education or through their family/peers.
krystalkleer
sticks and stones…and condoms fer bones i say! but that’s what i say fer me! http://www.getoffmydress.blogspot.com
Stefano
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/26/brain-scans-porn-addicts-sexual-tastes
Polaro
The author has a point. The amount of time people spend watching porn is huge. It does have an affect on behavior. The question is, should there be some larger acknowledgement of the health issues by companies that make their money selling a product that could have a significant impact on its customers’ health? I’m not sure about banning BB porn, but I would like these companies to think about how they can make the little blurb at the beginning of their videos about testing more concrete for the customer. Young men today have no clue about the risks that those of us older men were forced to learn decades ago through fear. So, what is the next step?
balehead
If you don’t like it then don’t watch it….Jon Patton sounds like just another hypocrite/media ho looking for attention….
balehead
Jon Patton sounds jealous…should hit a gym already….
sportsguy1983
It seems no one wants people to take responsibility for their actions. If people claim that 18 to 21 year olds aren’t the best in making decisions (in this case about bareback sex), then maybe we should push to take away their right to vote, sign contracts, enter into marriage, join the military, consent to sex, drive cars, work, etc… This nanny mentality is laughable.
Stefano
Is having HIV a choice ?
Stefano
@kieru : how did you know that your long-term relationship boyfriend isn’t cheating on you? Or having BB sex with other guys? How can you be really sure? I think that BB is like driving a car with your eyes closed.
Kieru
@Stefano: The choice to (or not to) engage in bareback sex with your long-term partner is an individual one and ultimately one of trust. Obviously if you cannot trust your partner to be monogamous you probably ought to reconsider going BB.
Of course, if you’re so paranoid that your long term partner is barebacking his way through every gay club in the area should probably first reconsider why you’re dating him.
Stefano
@kieru : i see that you live in a world of beliefs and not of knowledge. Your beliefs prevent you from recognizing that HIV is now much more prevailing in less then 30 year gay population because these guys are simply not informed. African countries have been experiencing more lower HIV rates since they stopped listening to religious leaders that are against condoms for esoteric reasons. I also see that you live in a Cinderela world…but it is your choice. Good luck ! 🙂
Kieru
@Stefano: That’s quite the high perch you’re looking down from, passing judgement.
My choice to (or not to) engage in bareback sex with my partner has literally NOTHING to do with my (or my partners) knowledge of infection rates or how HIV is transmitted. It is based entirely off the absolute conviction that he and I are completely monogamous.
You can choose to see that as my living in a “Cinderella World” but I’m going to see it instead as you being unable to accept that some people may have opinions and actions that differ from your own; that doesn’t make those people less or their viewpoints/actions less legitimate.
dirknerd
I’m so glad that oral sex is low risk, condoms are disgusting. I have been with the same man for 24 years and I thank the goddess every day that gay men are all about youth and looks. Also porn is rather stupid. Guess that makes me a freak or something. I do understand being young and dumb,not thinking about the consequences of a good old fashioned pagan flesh to flesh F**K. Been poz since 1985.(STDs are bad UMK?) (insert voice of Mr.Mackey) Darwin awards to anyone having unprotected sex. LOL
Charlie in Charge
Men who have sex from men would benefit from the culture emphasizing the importance of safer sex.
loua61
For me some of the hottest scenes have been when condoms are used. I like when they both seem to be into it and have a connection. I think it’s hot when the bottom seems to be enjoying what he is doing and you can read the pleasure in his face. These gay for pay models bore me. They look like they cannot wait for it to be over and have no expression or excitement. Porn is about fantasy and I like to see the performers enjoying it as much as I do. That is what gets me off. A condom seems secondary to me if it appears they are into it.
DonW
I’ve had the same conversations with young gay men as the writer: porn is the only “sex education” they get, and they have utterly unrealistic ideas about HIV as “no big deal” (the glossy pharma ads with pictures of rock-climbing studs play a role in this delusion, too).
If Hollywood can be pressured to stop showing glamorous stars chain-smoking, it’s legitimate to ask a gay-owned porn studio to recognize its cultural power and take some responsibility for the example it sets.
It’s amazing how hostile and defensive some guys are about efforts to discourage barebacking. They lump in gay public health advocates with Puritan haters who wish we were dead. But by showing such disregard for the health and life of young gay men, are they really any better?
Gigi Gee
I wrote a similar, but much more succinct, letter to Jake Cruise many years ago when he started doing bareback porn. He replied that he was “giving customers what they want.” I asked if he’d start doing snuff films if they were what his customers wanted. Apparently Mr. Cruise is not a fan of hyperbole. I wish I still had his reply to that question. It was one of the most invective, profanity-laced e-mails that I’ve ever received. I never watched another one of his films again.
loua61
@Gigi Gee: And he seems like an ass too. Over the hill queen who has to pay all his models to sleep with him as he is not at all attractive.
Dxley
Just because Charlie is as large as a barge he thinks he’s in charge. Let’s stop trying to sound morally correct and say every man for himself, because no matter how much you may preach it – the decision still ain’t yours.
I don’t encourage BB between 17, 18 year olds who don’t know anything about sex except that it makes you feel good, however, we can’t force them to use protection. I’ve been with my boyfriend of almost four years now, we’re totally monogamous, have tests every six months and we don’t use protection. It’s not necessary for us to.
I wouldn’t be with a man that I don’t trust and the regular tests are just a mere formality. We both agreed to have them and it works for us. If you don’t trust your lover and your mind gets preoccupied with possible infection whenever he makes love to you – my question to you, my gay brother, is – what the fuck are you still doing with that man?
You obviously don’t trust him and your gut tells you not to – leave that guy. As for HIV+ guys I can assume it’s harder because you can’t enjoy your lover raw EVER again regardless of their status. If he’s negative, he’s obviously going to insist on condoms and you wouldn’t normally want to knowingly infect the poor guy. If he’s also positive, the condom still applies – you don’t wanna risk re-infection which I heard is dangerous – I admit I don’t know much about re-infection.
These models aren’t children and they know right from wrong. They know that their livelihood depends solely on their HIV status – one slip-up and you’re fucked and I’m sure they’re smart enough to practise safe sex in their private affairs.
I love “Queer As Folk”, and we(the fans) all know its sex scenes are very heavy and sometimes very explicit – not hardcore, yet explicit. Its main character, Brian Kinney, should be some sort of an example to all young gay men because he’s very promiscuous but practises safety to a full extent – ALL THE TIME. If that can’t show these young boys how important protection is, I don’t know what will. He still used a condom when Justin didn’t want him to – they’re both negative, by the way. The show encourages gay men to have sex and feel good about it, AND it ENCOURAGES protection all the way – which, of course, is a bit far-fetched when in a long-term relationship unless one if not both parties are positive.
I still stand by what I said – I prefer bareback porn. It’s a turn-on for me – unlike the one with condoms. I really hate that. It’s just a matter of choice. I love it 🙂 !
DCFarmboi
Tolerace of BBing has no place in our community. Those who promote it are evil.
DonW
@Dxley: Your responsible choices about sex within your long-term, monogamous relationship have nothing to do with the risks posed by unprotected casual sex with partners whose status you can’t possibly know, which is really what’s at stake here.
JennyFromdabloc
A few truths: Sean Cody boys are the hottest. Porn is about fantasy. The onus is on the individual to be responsible. HIV is still a big deal. Everyone should know their status. Dxley made very good points.
sportsguy1983
Are these guys having guns put to their heads? No one believes in personal responsibility apparently.
Daniel-Reader
They need to remind young people that HIV is a virus. Viruses have the power to mutate. At any moment, the various strains of HIV can mutate beyond the power of any drug to hold them at bay. Just look at drug-resistant forms of TB and other ailments.
viveutvivas
Whatever you think of it, condomless sex is not going to go away – it simply feels so much better than the wrapped variety to most guys. It is time for HIV prevention outreach to stop demonizing it with an all or nothing approach (which is counterproductive) and to start making a real effort towards making it less risky for those who do choose to engage in it, with education about risk-reducing strategies and easy access to PrEP, for example.
jeff4justice
There’s an increase in glorifying condomless sex. Meanwhile porn is likely going to be the sex-ed that many LGBT teens get since schools aren’t providing it. Denying condomless sex glorification in porn is responsible for impacting the behavior of young gay men who see it is as absurd as a tobacco or fatty-fast-food company denying the impact of their product on public health.
Meanwhile, HIV rates remain among gay men. And the economic downturn has still resulted in major reductions in HIV services.
Will you see a group like GLAAD or the HIV walks/runs/bikerides ever call out any LGBT glorifies or unprotected sex? Not likely.
Online search:
Economy Hurts Government Aid for H.I.V. Drugs
AIDS and HIV Patients in Limbo as States Consider Funding Cuts
Budget Crunch Hampers HIV Drugs Distribution
Waiting lists still growing for AIDS drug assistance
Greece, its Collapsing Economy and HIV
Gay Glorifying Of Bareback Sex
Condomless Sex Glorified By Mainstream LGBT Company
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXeOdOKBExo
QueertyFan
The writer of this letter is a moron and no better than the Michelle Bachman’s trying to legislate sexuality. If you don’t like BBack Porn, don’t buy or watch it. Period.
I’m sick and tired of the sexual zealots and homophobes even within the gay community telling people not to have Bback Sex. It’s a choice. neither a good or bad choice. It all depends on your situation and intended outcome. So I’m SICK of seeing conversations that start . . . “I’m Not Advocating BBack sex…” Why shouldn’t we advocate BB sex? After all, it’s “what’s natural” and what the Religious Right likes to say “it’s how God made us.” He/She/It/ Dog didn’t make us wearing condoms. So straight people can have unprotected sex but gays can’t? Because that’s what I’m reading into a lot of the anti-BB sex people. Husbands and Wives have unprotected sex (anal & Vaginal) every day for pleasure and they are not trying to have kids. Boyfriends and Girlfriends have sex every day and they are not trying to have kids? Sterile couples have unprotected sex every day (and can’t have kids). But Homos need to wear condoms? What a load of SHIT! Sex with condoms (or without) is a choice. Plain and simple. And no one choice is better than another, unless you are trying for a specific outcome, like not getting pregnant or having sex with someone you know has an STD and you are trying to prevent yourself from getting it. Those two aside, there is NOTHING wrong or improper with BB sex unless you just don’t feel gays are equal to straights.
There are plenty of STD’s you can get while wearing a condom. You can get them while wearing three condoms on top of each other. You can get Herpes, HPV, Crabs and Hep B (according to the CDC site) as they are all skin to skin contact and HP B is both liquid & Skin to Slkin. So your unexposed pelvis, scrotum, testicles, and rectum can spread these either by your body touching the body of someone with it or your hands rubbing their effected or infected area and touching your body. You can get them without even having anal or oral “sex”, just petting.
And while PReP is great for people who get accidentally exposed, If anything, I think PrEP is going to cause a massive rise in HIV in the short term. I say this because I hear on almost a daily basis from friends and friends of friends that they are no longer concerned about risky behavior. They’ll just pop a PrEP (so they think). What they don’t understand is that it’s not 100% effective and it’s like putting chemo in pill form in your body for weeks. Its not a one pill deal. It could make you very sick for a short time and possibly have uncontrolled actions (like pooping yourself). And in some cases, not. But PrEP is not a vaccine and just like the day after pill, we have no idea what long term effects it will have on you for taking it. And as someone who’s been taking HIV meds for 23 years (more than half my life), that’s a big concern for me. So if you don’t have to take them, don’t. But with that said, trying to shame people into behavior never works. And telling a business how to conduct their business is bullshit.
Daniel-Reader
They need to also warn young people not to be naive in relationships. There are guys who don’t disclose and infect their partners so their partners won’t leave them, using the claim of “who else is going to want you”. It is sad. Protect yourself.
crazycorgi
“As a bottom you cannot tell if a man is wearing a condom or not”. . . Seriously? Perhaps my bottom is made of different material than that of the author, but I can definitely feel the diference. I am not taking any side on this issue, but I had to state that as a bottom I can feel if a condom is on or not. I can’t believe I am the only guy who can feel the difference either.
viveutvivas
@crazycorgi, yes. My bottom definitely can feel the condom. It chafes more. Condomless sex is much easier on the bottom, especially so if the top is uncircumcised, for obvious reasons.
viveutvivas
And by the way, what about the tops? Are we chopped liver? The top can certainly feel the difference too.
When we came out and joined the safe sex movement in the 80s, it was not supposed to be that we could NEVER EVER again in our lives have real sex with some sensation. I really don’t blame the people giving up on condoms. There are other ways to reduce individual risk too, such as serosorting, only topping in some situations, PrEP, and so on. They are not as good as condoms, but neither are the possible consequences as bad as they used to be.
@QueertyFan, the drugs used for PrEP and PEP have much less side effects than the effects of some of the older drug regimes you are describing.
DonW
@QueertyFan: A whole lot of hostile hyperbole there, Fan. The writer is “no better than Michele Bachman”? He is, like anyone with any sense, alarmed by the skyrocketing HIV infection rate among young men and asking some common-sense questions about attitudes toward safety in the community.
The choice to bareback is “neither a good or a bad choice”? In most cases of casual sex with a partner whose status you can’t be absolutely sure of, it’s a BAD choice. Getting HIV is still a BAD thing. Thank God it’s no longer a death sentence, but no one I know who’s poz would recommend it. (Maybe you feel differently — I’d find that hard to imagine).
You don’t have to be a zealot or homophobe to recognize that, given the much higher prevalence HIV rate among gay/bi men, we have to be more cautious than straights. We account for 61% of new infections in the U.S. (91% among 13-19 year-olds), even though we’re a small minority of the population. (http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/statistics/)
No one is saying heterosexuals get a free pass (they’re still at risk of HIV and other STDs, not to mention unplanned pregnancies) but the truth is that, in the U.S., you are many times more likely to become infected through male-male sex than male-female. At current infection rates, HALF of all college-age gay/bi men will be HIV+ by age 50. Why shouldn’t we use every possible means to counter that trend? Like it or not, condoms are still an essential tool. It’s utterly foolish to paint barebacking as an inconsequential personal “choice” in this environment.
As for PrEP: it’s an exciting development and a good choice for certain individuals, but the jury is still out on its effectiveness in combating the epidemic as a whole. It’s certainly not an excuse to drop our guard on safer sex. And it’s not a condom alternative — the prescription calls for consistent condom use. (By the way, you are confusing PrEP and PEP — PrEP is pre-exposure prophylaxis; PEP is the “morning-after” treatment you refer to).
As for STDs that can be transmitted despite the use of condoms: yep, we live in a world where sex has consequences. All the more reason to remember a rather unpopular piece of health advice: keep your number of partners to a sensible number.
Finally, your contention that “telling a business how to conduct their business is bullshit” — is bullshit. When they are conducting their business in a blatantly irresponsible and harmful manner, it is perfectly legitimate to call them out on it.
DonW
@DonW: Oh, and as for condoms not being “natural”: neither are soap, seatbelts, or antibiotics. Or for that matter, HIV meds, Fan — so I guess you’ll be quitting yours?
GymJockTX
@redcarpet: Wow, I have to strongly disagree with you about Sean Cody men being “all straight and not really enjoying it”. Regardless of what their actual orientation is in real life, I’ve seen easily over a dozen, maybe two, of their films in which the HOT HUNG n Handsome studs bang each other Raw and deep throat each other with what is clearly joyful abandon. They’re clearly into it like pigs in mud.
Maybe you’re watching the wrong ones! I sure haven’t come across any of Sean Codys’ films I’d call a boring waste of time, that’s for damn sure. The ones I seen show studly and hung muscle guys who Clearly are enjoying the hell out of going at it top, bottom and sideways. Incredibly hot studs, wicked hot sex, jizz dripping and spurting out of tight holes, and hot dudes who are obviously loving eating that ball butter. Choice. Rock on, Sean Cody!
Vulpes
IMO the difference between saying that there’s a real life influence from bareback porn and things like violent films or video games is that society gives you the clear message that violence is bad. You know from a young age that hurting people isn’t right and is something you can be punished for. People don’t run out of a cinema and start killing bad guys (because ‘bad guys’ rather than good/innocent people are usually the victims of fantasy’s portrayals of violence, and if the victims do happen to be innocent people then you probably aren’t meant to be rooting for the one doing the killing). You even hear about how violent media is a bad influence enough of the time. It’s obvious what stance you’re meant to be taking there in society’s eyes.
Sex is something completely different, and a lot more easily emulated than jumping from exploding buildings wielding a machine gun in each hand, or single-handedly taking out a group of terrorists trying to launch nuclear weapons.
SeanCody put a little ‘don’t ever do this at home even if you’re in a relationship, everyone was tested beforehand’ message before their videos (at least when they first ditched condoms), but the copy text for those early scenes fawned about the greatness of having sex without condoms and specifically highlighted things like the sensation of not wearing a condom or cumming inside the bottom. The videos are about showing guys enjoying sex without condoms. The product they’re selling nowadays hinges on the premise that bareback sex is hot (they don’t really give a choice for porn with condoms, excluding their back catalogue) and you should be watching it (but don’t ever try this thing we’re praising so much for yourself).
When you watch the videos, you don’t see the testing or any of the negatives or downsides (like how the putting on of condoms is often edited out of porn in general). You see people having sex and having a good time (or perhaps pretending to). You see people doing something that is overwhelmingly considered to be a really great thing that men in particular are meant to be obsessed about all the time and will jump on any opportunity to get, sex, and feeling great about it. And then they’re back in a couple of weeks, doing it with a completely different partner. And gradual exposure to things erodes resistance, it normalises it.
That porn effects people’s perceptions and attitudes towards their own sex lives is something people have commented on elsewhere in other areas (like teenage boys pressuring their girlfriends to act out things they have seen in porn, or having distorted views on what’s normal and common because they based their perception on porn). Even for straight people who do get the bulk of (if not the entirety of) sex education tailored to their circumstances and needs, there is an influence on them. It’s not the porn industry’s responsibility to educate, but that doesn’t change the fact that it still has an effect on how people behave.
Porn isn’t really a fantasy in the same sense that Die Hard or Call of Duty are fantasies. On one hand you have things like films and video games that aren’t practical to recreate in real life (and if anyone tries they are usually met with wide-spread disapproval and criminal consequences if they should injure or kill someone). And on the practical side, the majority of the dangerous stuff in film is staged and not really happening, and video games obviously don’t involve anything real happening beyond things like motion capture. You know what you see on screen is all smoke and mirrors.
But porn, barring more extreme varieties, are something that anyone could emulate. (And it’s a fantasy that had to be preformed by real people in order to deliver to consumers. Star Wars never happened, no Ewoks were harmed by laser guns and all those people on the Death Star didn’t really blow up; that guy you saw getting fucked really did have the top ejaculating inside him. It’s a fantasy for the viewer that had to happen in reality to bring it to you.) You could go out and copy what you saw in a scene tonight if you wanted. And the majority of the messages you’re getting about it, except the little message at the start of the video that is probably skipped most of the time, is that it’s something that feels really amazing and is really hot to do.
Saying ‘you ought to not have bareback sex with men you don’t know well/trust fully because you might catch STIs which could involve treatment for the rest of your life’ is about as homophobic as saying ‘you ought not to smoke because it’s bad for your health and you might develop cancer’ is hateful. When did advocating for people looking after their health become equal to bigotry?
And straight people, at least here in the UK, do get campaigns directed at them telling them to use condoms to prevent STIs. I’ve seen straight-focused campaigns on national TV trying to inform people about sexual health matters. The only places I’ve seen any directed at gay men is at venues for gay men specifically or at the GUM clinic.
seaguy
Don’t like that Sean Cody does bareback well then don’t buy thier porn. But don’t go preaching on your high horse trying to control what those of us who like bareback porn can buy. This is america a free country. People like you seem to have a hard time understanding that the studios make BB porn because that is what the consumers want. It is what sells. No ones forcing you to watch Sean Cody there are other studios like Falcon that do not do BB so I suggest you check them out.
viveutvivas
@Vulpes, “the copy text for those early scenes fawned about the greatness of having sex without condoms and specifically highlighted things like the sensation of not wearing a condom or cumming inside the bottom. The videos are about showing guys enjoying sex without condoms. The product they’re selling nowadays hinges on the premise that bareback sex is hot.”
But it is hot, and people don’t need SC to tell them that. Would you deny that it is hot and try to pathologize the natural preference most of us have for barrier-free sex? Witness the psychological problems created by the pathologization of gay sexuality or kink in the past. Many of us have been scarred by these messages over the years. For examples within the current context, just look at the mixed-up attitudes of some commenters here who have confused unprotected sex with evil in their minds. Witness the terrible anxiety many of us have associated with sex over the years. Rather acknowledge it as part of a healthy sexual imagination and try to work with it when trying to keep people safe.
At least in my case, bareback porn has provided me an outlet for fantasies that I would not have indulged in real life.
DonW
@viveutvivas: There’s a valid argument to be made about whether bareback porn can be a cathartic alternative to engaging in the real thing. But unlike your examples about ways gay sexuality have been harmfully pathologized in the past, showing hot guys enjoying sex with condoms (it can be pretty fun too, you know) doesn’t pathologize anything. What the studios are doing now is not just recognizing the valid human desire for barrierless connection — they are actively putting down safer sex as uncool and building on the rush of breaking a taboo. If this is simply, as the fierce proponents of bareback keep insisting, a matter of free choice, why not split the difference and show scenes of men enjoying sex both with and without condoms in each film?
viveutvivas
@DonW, I am not sure I agree that they are putting down safe sex as uncool. But you do touch on a point that is quite interesting: a lot of why bareback sex appeals to people is indeed because it is taboo. Ask Sade 🙂 Barrierless sex, which used to be unremarkable, has become a kink. I think an interesting question is whether some of this could have been avoided if the prevention message all these years had not been quite as all-or-nothing.
the other Greg
Porn is not a reflection of reality – for instance, the proverbial “money shot” (cum shot) for the camera’s benefit, in someone’s face. While in real life, the bottom either couldn’t care less if it goes into a kleenex, or else he wants it right in his mouth (yum – & fortunately, extremely low-risk). The real-life way wouldn’t be so impressive on camera.
the other Greg
I guess it’s nice that most of the self-centered tops here are such obvious psychopaths. Hopefully any sensible bottom will notice this in real life too, and look for someone more responsible.
tdx3fan
@wildanimal: If our youth is this stupid, it is their own damn fault. A simple google search gives you more sex ed than you will ever need. Blaming condomless porn for barebacking is about as realistic as blaming violent video games for violence. Stupid people do stupid things.
tdx3fan
@Justin: I love bb porn, but when I top a guy I INSIST on a condom. I only bottom for my partner of three years and we go bareback. I get a yearly test (what my insurance covers). It is about having as much respect for yourself and others that you play as safe as possible.
Vulpes
@viveutvivas: “But it is hot, and people don’t need SC to tell them that.”
That wasn’t really the point I was getting at. What I meant was that what little warning they give is that you should never do it (IIRC ‘even in a committed relationship’ according to their warning message), and then in the next dozen breaths tell you how awesome it is to do it (but don’t you ever think about doing it).
viveutvivas
@Vulpes, I agree that is ridiculous.
wolfwave
Thank you for this letter, Jon. I mentored queer gay men for a while and one of our sessions focused on safe sex practices. They had no problem putting condoms on dildos correctly and were well informed about the risks of unsafe sex. The problems they said they faced in their personal lives were partners who were cavalier about contracting disease. That is was hard to resist when partners used the heat of the moment to bypass putting condoms on. Youth today face an environment where so many don’t care about the damage that HIV and STDs/STIs can do to a person and their relationships (even when treated). If seeing performers wear a condom encourages even one or two men to procect themselves then it is worth asking producers to step up. These diseases are preventable and as a community it does not hurt us to put off even producing BB porn until these epidemics are truely something of the past.
[email protected]
A SONG ON THE SUBJECT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAOEs0DDQ8
SeaNMtnsJON
FROM AUTHOR JON PATTON:
Thanks for reading gents (and ladies). As one poster pointed out, the point of the article was my concern for guys coming up in our community younger then me getting the wrong message from watching porn. Period. Look, it’s a free country and SeanCody can do whatever they want. My point: condoms were in the majority of gay porn when I was in my 20s now in my 30s they’re gone and in speaking with 20’s they think its okay not to wear condoms. Facts are facts and this is a change in general attitude. But I wouldn’t dare tell the BB community STOP! SLIP ONE ON! C’mon guys get real. I’m amazed how some of you took a very simple article to many other places. @ChiChiMan, I think you got this more than anyone else, thank you. @EdWoody and I are on the same page. @Robco interesting idea. And, of course, SeanCody is not the mama to all men who have raw sex. They are, however, one of the image makers. Images stay with us. We do have free will but images can be powerful nonetheless. Anyone seem to notice cigarette companies can not advertise on television? And most film and television productions have limited character’s use of cigarettes over the last twenty years and especially over the last ten. Anyone notice? I put this in the same category for our community regarding condoms. An image is powerful and an image can remain with you forever. We all have free will, we all can do whatever we wish.
In the time since this article was published, I have spoken to more guys in their 20’s. The majority just don’t think it is a big deal to wear condoms. I took a poll of friends in their 30’s who had the same opinion as me. Unprompted again a younger guy said to me, the porn companies stopped using them because “things are safer now.” We gay men in our 30’s saw more condoms used in gay films. Therefore, just by default, we had an image to follow. It was something I noted. It’s a subliminal message: “Wear a condom, there is a risk.”
Look, I realize everyone is going to have a different opinion on this topic. It’s a free country and I went out of my way to point out the SeanCody’s of the land have a business to run. However, if you’re peddling something to our community I do think you have some kind of responsibility. I stand by that opinion gents.
My argument with SeanCody.com, – why not section it off as a different part of your site? So it doesn’t feel the like the norm.
As for not being affected by an imagine seen on the screen – sorry I disagree and I’ve seen the research on that. Images can be powerful and images, while everyone has free will – images stay with us. It doesn’t mean if you’re watching a video game with guns you’re going to go out and get a gun and it doesn’t mean everyone watching raw sex is now going to go have raw sex. But guess what ? For porn, the message is being sent: “it’s okay, don’t wear condoms, look at how easy this is, this is the norm.”
And some of you posters, are okay with that message. I just respectfully disagree with your stance on it.
Interesting that one or two posters had to resort to name calling. Really? Over this guys? LOL. I’m actually far from that description but thanks . @Polaro agree, I never said ban it, section it off on the site and put a message up before click on. Just don’t make it feel like the “norm”
To the majority of people who posted, even if you disagreed with me, thanks for remaining civil. It’s good to have dialog in our community, thank you @mz.sam we do need to keep the dialog going on these topics. It’s a good thing. To those who don’t like reading an article imploring a porn company to use condoms… guess what? You have a choice not to read it. . Kind Regards, – JP
Matt
Only losers have anal sex. If you don’t like what Sean Cody is doing then don’t claim to be a loyal viewer. They’re not going to stop showing irresponsible behavior when gay guys are paying to join the site. And you don’t even have to pay to see it. Gay men into the top/bottom/vers lifestyle think they’re straight people and the anus is their vagina. We’ve seen since the 1980’s that hasn’t worked out so well for them. HIV+ is now at 20% for gays living that lifestyle. Don’t blame Sean Cody or any of the gay websites who are going bareback. Blame the gay men who keep infecting each other. Nobody ever said just because you’re gay you have to have anal sex.
jasentylar
@redcarpet: SC went bareback in late December 2012. It hasn’t been a couple of years.
josephmills
Distraught fan of porn? You must be awfully lonely.
I am poz and I bareback. Love it. Live it. Own it.
ecllips
@EdWoody: There are actually a lot of “community level” organizations that their main purpose is to teach safe sex to Gay, Bi, and Curious men. I am one of the staff for GP(Genesis Project)a organization that does what I previously mentioned. We are part of the Mpowerment project which which is nationally ran. Just last month we had a training where we all flew to Chicago for better ways to teach young Gay, Bi, and Curious men to have safe sex. Staff and volunteers came from Idaho, California, Puerto Rico, Vermont, Florida, Texas, just to name a few. If you would like more information or just need help finding out if there is a program close to you or maybe even in your own community I can help you with that. Here is our website for the project I work at in Pocatello Idaho.
http://www.genesisproj.com/
ecllips
@QueertyFan: And yes Donw is correct in the fact that there is PrEP and PEP, but since you stated you have been on HIV meds for so many years I just assumed you knew about that. Which since you knew about PrEP I am sure you knew about PEP. I am just clarifying on the off chance you did not. I do not want you to feel like I was attacking you, I don’t think it came off that way. After reading all the other reply comments to yours though I could see you accidentally taking it that way and just want to clarify that as well Lol!
Ryan Healey
Well, I have to agree with a point in the comments and a point in the letter posted.
1. This letter is a few years too old. Forget about Sean Cody, Corbin Fisher, many others and now even Lucas Entertainment have gone BB. Why, IT SELLS. I am sure each of these studios is competing with tons of free porn online and they have discovered if they produce bareback porn, they make BIG money or they wouldn’t do it.
2. That said, the author does have a point. As a gay man in my 40’s I admit to having many gay friends in their 20’s that condoms are an afterthought to. This comes as a shock to myself and my friends, say over 35. However, I have asked and almost all of them have had the experience. For some reason, at least in our area, it’s the 20-25 year olds that seem to hit on us (NO idea why. I was not looking for someone much older at that age) but sure enough, condoms are an “option” to the “kids” as we call them. Yes, they do believe they can simply go on a pill and be fine AND that the chances of getting HIV are slim.
SO, while I don’t feel bareback porn is going to change… I agree the younger the gay man, the less likely they seen condoms are required or see HIV as a major issue. It is scary.
TrekBear
Even though HIV and AIDS is a treatable condition these days, why would you want to take pills every day for the rest of your life? HIV transmission is preventable, so any choice to contract it is irresponsible to say the least.
gskorich
there is so much education about HIV and AIDS that i find it very amazing that people are still getting it. i can only assume people are asking their partners if they are negative and if they say yes they decide to not use a condom. its up to the individual to protect themselves. if you are HIV negative you should be doing all you can to stay that way. that includes being informed. bareback porn is not the problem, people attitudes about HIV are. its up to the individual to take responsibility for their own health.
DeeJayMiles
HIV is treatable, but over a period of years the body’s response changes. The average length of successful response is about 10 years give or take. What then? You’re 25 and you’re gonna take Truvada every day for the next 50 years? Crazy. There will be no cure per se, the outlook is dim. Finally, SC is a business and barebacking vids make money. Enough said. Cash money rules.
barkomatic
Porn companies are moving to bareback sex because that is where the market is going. The author may not like bareback sex, but the majority of consumers do and so his letter should really be addressed to them.
Life is often about calculated risks and everyone gets to decide for themselves when they’ll throw the dice. Luckily, today we have a greater awareness of those risks and how to mitigate them. Sex is by its nature passionate and spontaneous–if it’s not then you aren’t having good sex. I like the idea of PrEP because it’s protection you can give yourself well before you take the first drink at the bar and/or start kissing that hot guy. One may argue that condoms are better, but you can’t wear one until you are hard can you?
bigrawtop
don’t worry straight guys having fake sex with each other and without any gays involved is the safest gay sex there is.
lividvivid
Every time this topic is broached, it seems that quite a few like to talk just to talk – rarely thinking objectively. But I’ll offer some objectivity. You’re all gonna die! Point blank. No amount of “right living” has ever changed that fact. Stay in your lane and protect your own boundaries and accept the possibility that the number of people in this life who are your allies, in terms of values, could be quite low. All religious or philosophical hyper-judgementalism is the result fearing this. Everybody wants to gain the world, but there’s some consequences to that, worst than death.
lividvivid
Every time this topic is broached, it seems that quite a few like to talk just to talk – rarely thinking objectively. But I’ll offer some objectivity. You’re all gonna die! Point blank. No amount of “right living” has ever changed that fact. Stay in your lane and protect your own boundaries and accept the possibility that the number of people in this life who are your allies, in terms of values, could be quite low. All religious or philosophical hyper-judgementalism is the result fearing this. Everybody wants to gain the world, but there’s some consequences to that, worse than death.
david_swiental
“You have a business to run. But you also do have a responsibility to care about your customers.
Sean Cody has no responsibility to its viewers.
GDubz
Oh wait, years later…
– now there’s Truvada along with a whole other pipeline of similar drugs, i.e. this is becoming irrelevant
– OP is still real self-righteous
– those here discouraging the free choice of sex in a relationship are still shamelessly vying to teach quasi-morality to the masses
It’s taught in middle school health classes that unprotected sex can lead to the transmission of STDs, but sure, let’s blame the porn studios for simply making what consumers want. SC wouldn’t have done this in the first place unless it posed a significant business return; everyone is individually responsible for their own HIV status and always has been.