Gay for Play

Is everyone an adult film star now? ‘OnlyFans’ and the mainstreaming of gay sex

Seth Fornea

The Netflix show Altered Carbon shows James Purefoy entering a room naked, Russell Tovey just got engaged to a former RandyBlue performer (ho-hum), and it’s not uncommon for hookups and dates to ask, innocently, “Hey, mind if I film this while we’re at it?”

Male nudity, it would seem, is everywhere these days, so much so that the term “porn star” seems antiquated, referring to a time when there were actual stars doing the nasty and magazines you bought under wraps and videos you purchased in the backrooms of video stores. Ever since Tumblr turned into a revolving door of boys being boys’ fantasies, it’s like we’ve entered a world of 15 minutes of naked fame.

“I think that pornography has been integrated into the contemporary psychological and social world—it has become a widely accessible form of social knowledge,” says Jeffrey Escoffier, author of Bigger Than Life: The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore. “It has replaced the sex education which parents used to do. Most kids learn about sex from the Internet.”

That trend is now even more pronounced with OnlyFans, the Twitter app that allows you, for a fee, to see your favorite studs in compromising positions–video and otherwise. (The app is also used for mainstream artists and for straight-related content, but for the purpose of this article we’re sticking to the gay goods.) Anyone can join–yes, that means you–and judging from what I witnessed, the content ranges from PG-13 to Triple X. Whereas former rugby player and fitness model Stuart Reardon uses the service to contemplate life mostly from the waist up (relax, kids, the REARdon shows some backside), Ginger hunk Seth Fornea has gone red hot hardcore.

“Yes, I’ve crossed the line and am now a porn performer,” Fornea (his page costs $15 a month) tells Queerty. “I decided to join OnlyFans because a few friends had snapshot their accounts for me and shown me how profitable it could be … after I started the account I really began to enjoy making the posts.”

Related: Sexy Body-Positive Photo Series Challenges Perceptions Of Male Beauty

Similarly, straight but quite flexible Brit model Adam Coussins, who charges $12.99, loves to entertain the lads and can’t stop posting pics and videos of his private parts in all their un-cut glory. He seems as eager to please as a drunken frat boy who just discovered the camera likes him.

Adam Coussins lets you get behind the scenes

Says Coussins on being naked for the boys: “I don’t mind at all. I have met many people over the years with many lifestyles and hobbies and beliefs; if no one is getting hurt it’s all good. Plus, over a decade in the game I’m used to it.”

Aye, there’s the rubdown. In a competitive world of beautiful men and a more homoerotic society, is getting down and dirty becoming expected, even required, to keep up a fan base? After all, why should I stare at a zillion shots of New Fitness Model on the Block wearing muscle shirts and underwear, when, for a little cash, I can watch You Tube star and fitness model Bryan Hawn show some of that booty (yes, he’s on there too).

“I don’t feel pressure to push the limits sexually cause there is a ton of porn out there,” says Hawn. “For me, the pressure is to be phenomenal. To have the best physique I can cause there is simply more competition. Technically, the real frustration comes from competing with Photoshopped models that don’t exist. I stopped taking photos for that reason a long time ago.”

Bryan Hawn sings Only Fans praises

Hawn believes that sex is a natural part of life that should be celebrated, not shunned. It’s also good business.

“Our society has become so promiscuous, with everyone sending dick pics, ass pics, etc.,” he says. “It seems that everyone has naked pictures floating around these days. There’s just a smaller group of people that are smart enough to start getting paid for it. Sex sells. That is nothing new.”

“It just not much of a taboo anymore,” says Michael Lucas, founder/CEO of Lucas Entertainment who also uses OnlyFans ($9.95) to document his own sex life–the percentage of the partners he solicits are amateurs, not professional performers. “If you’re, say, a trainer, what’s easier? Jacking off for five minutes and showing your *&^%hole, or training people in the gym for an hour? The money factor is huge. They think, ‘I’m hotter than that guy. F*** morals: I want to make the money.'”

Michael Lucas is having it both ways

Not everyone is jumping on the OnlyFans bandwagon, and there’s a concern that models might be overexposing themselves, in more ways than one.

“I don’t want naked pictures of me floating around the Internet,” says commercial model Phil Fusco, who is not gay. “A lot of people start out as models but they don’t go anywhere because they show nudes. Their careers are blossoming, they could be really good commercial or runway models, but they see this little money factor to make a quick buck and they’re over-saturating themselves. Talking to a lot of agents, they won’t work with models that have too much of a crazy background. If their past involves sucking d*** they’re not going to hire them.”

Hawn, who charges $29.99 a month, isn’t worried about a backlash.

“The people throwing shade are the ones that aren’t making the money or don’t have the same ‘marketing materials,'” he says. “People who shame others who make money with their physique are simply those that don’t have one, or have religious hang ups. The male physique is a beautiful form of art and it should be celebrated, especially when somebody puts in thousands of hours and dollars into creating something beautiful.”

Adds Lucas: “Look at Trump. If you’re talking about sex while you’re married you can still be President. People care about immigration, and f*** political correctness. Celebrities have leaked sex tapes. Nobody gives a s***.”

Phil Fusco is not an “Only” fan

For better or for worse, OnlyFans is making quite an impact on the branding of sex. Whether that means porn has lost its luster, or that we’re headed to a world where it actually becomes more competitive, where bigger, better stars pop up without the hassle of the middleman, depends on whom you ask and you’re own crystal-ball vision.

“Just like people wished they were more active on YouTube in the beginning, I believe they will be saying the same thing about OnlyFans a few years from now,” says Hawn. “The million dollar boat is gonna leave the dock, and if you have a fan base, you need to decide whether you wanna be on it.”

“It’s brand-new,” adds Fusco. “We’ll have to wait a year or two to see what happens to these models.”

Now give the camera a great…big…smile?

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