Once upon a time, gay adult studios rarely showed condomless sex scenes because they were considered “risky” “irresponsible” for allegedly encouraging the spread of HIV or viewers might go out and worsen the HIV epidemic by imitating the film’s performers.
That was nearly a decade ago. These days, condomless (or bareback) adult studios are in the majority. When longtime gay adult industry reporter Zachary Sire counted in 2018, there were 34 bareback studios to just four condom-only studios — a one-to-17 ratio. Today, GayHoopla and GayRoom are the two condom-only studios left in the mainstream gay adult video world.
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But that doesn’t mean that all the other studios are only shooting condomless scenes now. Some shoot a mix, and in a recent interview, longtime gay adult video director Mr. Pam reveals that some studios still covertly use condoms in seemingly “bareback” scenes to follow local adult video production laws that favor condoms. As such, there are secret ways for studios to use condoms without the viewer knowing.
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Mr. Pam (who is a woman) tells Slate, “We like to use Skyn brand condoms [now] as they have the lowest profile. Sometimes we use moodier lighting to conceal the condom. There’s some things you can’t do, like pulling out the (wang) and slapping it on the bottom’s (cakes). It will be obvious they are wearing a condom.”
Slate adds:
According to Pam, it’s common to shoot all the condomless foreplay scenes early in the day, and then take a break before penetrative sex. In this break, they will shoot marketing photos, let the crew have a coffee, and give the bottom more time to douche. It could be 30–90 minutes before everyone convenes to shoot the penetrative scenes, and yet in the final film, it will seem like the top just slipped right in (usually just with the aid of spit, rather than all the lube that has been actually been applied off-screen—another bit of [adult film] sorcery).
Mr. Pam adds that many gay viewers just won’t watch videos with condoms in them anymore — they’re considered passé even though condoms remain an effective method of preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
The move towards condomless sex in gay adult videos wasn’t just because of PrEP — it was because of money. While online commenters 10 years ago may have cried out against condomless scenes being “irresponsible,” studio profits told another story altogether. Barebacking was big business and more studios wanted a piece of the latex-free pie.
Josh447
The last thing I’d want on a gay porn set is a woman, especially named Mr Pam. Yikes.
ConnorBryant1658
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Brian
Considering how many straight guys are doing scenes these days, I doubt that’s much of a concern.
dhmonarch89
Brian…considering how many str8 guys have ALWAYS done gay porn…..
JonathanMartin1285
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innocentgay
So you would think. But that bich puts out some visually blistering stuff. I have to give it to her.
Josh447
Str8 guys can’t get it up for men and gay guys can’t get it up for women. If a man is taking it up the a** hard di**cked and sucking co***ck, he’s at minimum bi. There is no other label that fits. Str8? Yeah str8 up the a**ss.
Catholicslutbox
i wonder which scenes these were…
CenterRight
If our laws cannot stop these companies from producing disgusting and dehumanizing porn, the least we can do is force them to wear protective condoms in the screens. They nasty films are normalizing or even encouraging unsafe sex and promiscuity and should be explicitly banned by the government.
PinkoOfTheGange
Yes, yes that’s nice.
DarkZephyr
You’re going for satire, right? Or are you really an uptight sex shamer?
curiobi
OH look the sex hating troll is back clutching her pearls. Porn banned by the government in a democracy? Put down the damn crack pipe!
D_Bro
So, you think that PrEP, which is scientifically proven to be MORE effective in preventing HIV transmission than condoms, is not Safe? You are living in the past.
And sex shaming? Be real. Until 4 years ago all gay sex was considered outside of marriage and thus considered a sin by American religions. So, all gay sex would have been “promiscuous”. If you consider yourself to be gay and if you were not a virgin, then you are just the same.
Cam
It’s adorable when the right wing troll accounts scream “government get out” when they want to defend bigots against anti-discrimination laws, but the SECOND it has to do with anything other than letting bigots discriminate, or financial advisers stealing from their customers they are ALL About regulations.
Clutch your pearls Lindsay, red states consume far more porn than the others, but we can pull out your fainting couch if you need it.
Oh, and if you’re going to pretend not to be a troll account, try to type less like a 45 year old Mormon housewife.
Chris
Why are you on here and why the hell are you watching these “nasty” videos which you said should be “explicitly banned by the government”? You sound like a closet case to me. Come out or STFU.
Josh447
Love ORGIE scenes
RIGay
With the glut of amateur videos out there (XTube, etc.) and porn-heavy blogs that love to curate and promote them, this whole industry seems passe. Why buy a $50 DVD (or rent one) when you can surf the web and get just to those “good scenes” that you would normally fast-forward through 12 minutes to get to? Condoms or not, making real porn seems more of an art form than an industry.
The second issue is that with smartphones and social media. I’ve seen it all – thousands of naked selfies that include solo JO or group action – oral and anal sex that all seem to be a rite of passage to this younger generation. And honestly – nary a condom in site. Again – why buy a DVD when there is a wealth of men out there eager to share their videos for the sake of someone hitting the LIKE button?
DarkZephyr
Sometimes well produced porn is more fun to watch than amateur crap. Just depends on one’s mood.
I truly doubt the porn industry will ever become truly “passe”. There are always going to be specific themes that aren’t going to pop up on somebody’s naughty social media ( for instance, as Josh447 points out above, he loves orgy scenes), and certain pornopraphic “super stars” that the average Joe gym bunny just isn’t. Some may have an amateur fetish, but not everyone does.
But you really see these as “issues”?
Brian
People aren’t buying it renting DVDs anymore, they’re paying for subscriptions on websites. And there are apparently plenty of them doing it, since the porn industry is still booming.
topshelf
What’s a…. “DeeeVeeeeDeee”???
Regardless of whether it’s professional or amateur porn, no one buys DVDs anymore.
Bob LaBlah
The financial meltdown of 2008 spelled the end of caring about being politically correct for studios who intended to stay in business. It wasn’t long after the meltdown that many online studios found monthly subscriber renewals rejected because the credit card was no longer valid. People had no excess money to burn and turned to the free porn tube sites which took off like a rocket. The choice they had was get with it (to hell with condoms) or go under. Sketchy Sex is a low end gay porn site where near all of their models are positive and the models are required to be videoed before each scene stating their status and they knowingly know the risk and will not sue the company. Its called make money or move on, just that simple.
UlfRaynor
You forgot one studio… Kink studios gay side is still condom only, which I have always found very odd since their str8 and trans sections are almost all bareback.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
I still can’t figger out how porn studios turn a profit. Before the internets I would pay monthly fees for my viewing pleasure. Now pretty much anything thing you desire is available for free….
andyinchicago
34:4 is 8.5 to 1. Your math is wrong.
Also, as a microbiologist, if you have multiple partners, you should be wearing a condom. PrEP is real and it is wonderful, but it does nothing against antibiotic resistant gonorrhea. Getting tested regularly and using condoms are just good ideas.
Polaro
A hard-boiled “reporter” writes an investigative piece on the secret use of condoms in bareback porn and can even divide by 4. This stuff is just so sloppy.
controversial2019
I can’t stand amateur porn.
The participants are often only so-so looking, the camera angles are rubbish, the camera quality also.
I’ve always loved professional porn; CorbinFisher was my go-to on a daily basis. They had some super sexy guys and it was shot well.
I also find (obvious) condomless scenes to be hotter. It would irk me to see a dick sliding in and out with this sheen of (what looked like) plastic round it. Skin on skin is a lot hotter.
ShowMeGuy
We should have fetishized condoms from the very beginning instead of fetishizing russian roulette, gift giving, and bug chasing. Maybe a bunch of guys would not be dead right now. Maybe a bunch of 22 year olds would not be listing HIV + in their mating site profiles today.
Cam
Who are YOU hanging around with?
Kangol2
Strange, or typical, that this article leaves out DawgpoundUSA, Papithugz or NoirMale, which still do film condomed scenes, or are they not considered “mainstream” enough because they primarily focus on Black & Latinx performers?
The net is awash in for-pay and free porn from the US and now all over the globe. Porn studios have their niche, as do amateurs, who can post live sex on countless sites like Chaturbate or Cam4Cam, etc., share clips in Twitter, ask for a bit of money on OnlyFans or JustForFans, and share trailers and full films on XTube, Pornhub, etc. Studios that want to use condoms should do so, since there are people who still do watch condomed sex, and those that don’t shouldn’t, unless the state law or federal laws require it.
MarkT
Having watched porn for years, I can say that knowing if a scene is bareback or condom is an easy tell. I can’t imagine anyone now knowing the difference. Most online videos also expressly state if bareback or safe sex. While the bareback scene has been prevalent for years, sites like bareback.com started the trend to make it acceptable and then PrEP make it easy to feel safe. Most that lived through the 80’s and 90’s still remember the issues that arise from lack of condom use. That said, admittedly, my porn company was condomless for years and last year started to make bareback videos and their sales were boosted.
whateverokok
I still buy almost all of my adult films on DVD and Blu-ray. I would even buy them on 4K UHD if I could. I don’t like watching that stuff on a tiny phone screen or computer screen. Not when I have a 65 inch OLED 4K Dolby Vision television at home to watch stuff on. I almost never watch adult films on my phone or computer. I will stick to the physical format til I’m long gone. In fact, I still play my music on an old Car Discman. Way too old school for that pornhub s–t.
Josh447
What if you could hook your computer up to your TV screen, would that make a difference?
Chris
4/34 does NOT equate to 1 in 17. Try that third grade math again.