Currently gay porn can be defined as the sex relationship between males for the purpose of satisfying their sexual arousal within their own community. The pornography of this kind was once also known as soft-core pornography, which was accepted by homosexual males as well as heterosexual females as beefcake pornography. The history of sex between men is not new as it is supposed to start from pre-historical times from Greek civilization of ancient times. In order to narrate the history of homosexual activities among men you will have to search through various mediums. Today homosexual pornography includes making and broadcasting private videos and short films through the internet and various other means of communication.

An American artist, Thomas Eakins, released a painting, The Swimming Hole in 1884–85 which was considered as the most finely designed masterpiece outdoor picture by him. This painting was considered as one of the initial examples of homosexual art of America. At the right bottom of this picture Eakins himself seems to stand in the water in a particular pose to express his feelings about gay sex. Jonathan Weinberg remarked on The Swimming Hole as the mark of commencement of erotic images of homosexuals in the American art form.

Since the invention of photography and movie making homosexual relationship has became its inevitable part. But the pictures of such sexual activities were kept underground as they were considered obscene by law. Most jurisdictions considered homosexual material as the proof of illegal activity under the laws of sodomy. But the Supreme Court of United States has considered such laws as illegal in Lawrence v. Texas case in 2003.

According to Wikipedia.org, the history of hardcore pornographic movies, however, starts even before the start of producing usual films which were known as stag films before 1970 when they were legalized. In 1908, it is supposed, that the first pornographic motion picture was produced in Europe. But French film “Le ménage moderne du Madame Butterfly”, made and publicized in 1920, is considered as the earliest film that focused on hardcore bisexual or gay sexual activities. But, A Free Ride, produced and released in 1915 in America, was considered by most of the historians as the first American stag film. But, The Surprise of a Knight, produced in 1929 is considered as the first official movie on hardcore homosexual activities. Early pictures of hardcore gay activities were kept underground due to the restrictions of law and the initial pictures which were made available commercially included the images of males dressed with G-string or completely naked.

History

In the 1940s-1950s the focus of gay porn was on the poses of muscular and young bodybuilders or athletes having less hair on their bodies. These pictures were mainly published in fitness magazines, known as beefcake magazines, which were mainly read by fitness freak people. In 1945 a photographer, Bob Mizer, founded the Athletic Model Guild or AMG in Los Angeles as the first studio to produce gay material commercially. He also published a magazine, Physique Pictorial, in 1951 known as the first gay magazine of its kind which featured the drawings of Tom of Finland in its several issues. Before his death in 1922 Mizer produced millions of images, videos and movies on pornography.

During the 1960s to 1970s photographers produced lots of movies on male masturbation and gay sex, separately or collectively, after the advent of 16mm film cameras. They sold these movies and pictures through various tactful channels including mail order distribution. Some of the photographers involved in homo photography in initial days sold their films and photographs out of the rooms of their hotels only through magazine ads and mouth publicity while travelling around the country.

Sexual revolution

In 1960s supreme court of the United States released a series of rulings to create a more liberal and legal environment for the commercial use of pornography. The first decision in this respect was made in MANual Enterprises in 1962 through which the magazines containing nude or nearly nude photographs of male models were not considered obscene as per the law of 1461. This ruling opened the mailing of the magazines containing photographs of nude males in gay sex activities through the U.S. Postal Service.

In about 1970, Boys in the Sand produced by Wakefield Poole along with the works of filmmakers like the Park Theatre, Los Angeles, California and Pat Rocco were considered among the first pornographic movies on gay sex. In December 1971 it was released in a theatre in New York City and received record breaking box office collections. After it in June 1972 “Deep Throat” was successfully launched as a first straight American commercial film on homo pornography. In this way during the 1970s the production of gay porn videos expanded considerably with the release of a number of adult movies on gay sex relationship, like “Nights in Black Leather”, in the theatres. These gay porn videos you still able to find online, on sites like Tube.agaysex.com. The artists were shown to enjoy homosexuality in sex clubs, beaches and bathhouses, etc. Many magazines like Blueboy and “In Touch” as well as Playgirl on LGBT sex were also launched which were enjoyed by gay males and lesbian females overwhelmingly.

The period of 1970-1985 was the period of change for commercial pornography of homosexual males, which has developed as a large industry at present. Being a developing industry, many actors from the LGBT community was recruited as due to the risk of social boycott and social discouragement people were not willing to act as gay. During 1980s due to the introduction of VCRs adult sex movies were easily available to see at home at a very reasonable price. The movies focused on sex between males were made more attractive to release them directly on home videos instead of on theatres. Lots of producers entered in this trade and made lots of low budget porn videos which made these movies more affordable. But the discovery of AIDS and HIV problems in the 1980s has also shifted the public viewing of x-rated movies to private viewing as it was considered riskier to view such movies in public. Though the cost of these videos reduced considerably due to the introduction of video technology, but some of the gay movies of the 1970s were also published in novel form in 1980s. There was no legal restriction on such publications. The sex scenes of these films were described through some dialogues and the pictures of the performers involved in foreplay, anal penetration and close up of ejaculating penises at the climax.

Later on the standard of the gay models was set by some major directors, including Eric Peterson, Matt Sterling, William Higgins and John Travis. The especially casted young performers to look like the 22 or 23 years old gay boys having a hairless slender body like swimmers as compared to older performers with hairy body used in homosexual movies of the 1970s. The roles of these performers were also divided tightly between the bottoms and the tops. The performer with more muscular built and larger penis has to perform on the top as penetrating partner in anal sex videos. The performer with comparatively smaller built has to perform at the receiving end at the bottom in these movies. The top position was usually given to the star of the decade, whereas bottom position was changeable from time to time.

Some of the directors of that decade preferentially reflect the strict division between top and bottom positions by hiring heterosexual persons for their gay movies. These heterosexual people performed in these motion pictures for earning more money than usual films as they are treated as a rare article in the trade of gay sex which can be afforded only by the big producers.

The Year 1985 was very important for gay porn as it became a desirable field of work for normal males along with gay men due to the growth of its market during previous years. According to a survey conducted by Chi Chi Laure, a porn director, more than 50% of straight people acted as gay in adult male sex films. Though the implications of it and ethics behind it are not defined till date but such incidents were known as a gay-for-pay.

In 1990s Fluffers were used in male sex motion pictures to help in getting and maintaining the erection of the actors as per the requirement of the scene. The diversification in the industry of gay XXX movies in the 1990s has introduced unique job opportunities in the field of production and distribution. Kristen Bjorn has set a standard for gay porn producers in 1989 after entering into this business as a professional photographer due to high quality images in his videos. He improved his credibility among actors as, being himself a porn star, he handled them carefully. Other directors in this trade followed him. The explosion in the niche market was another big change in this trade during this decade. Producers started producing gay erotica for the audiences of specific taste, including transsexual performers, pornographic performers, performers from certain ethnic groups and bondage fetish performers which introduced diversification of consumption and production of porn photography.

The popularity of the industry of male sex photography increased during the 1990s by evolving of a subculture of interactive and complex nature. Technicians, deck operators and professional directors like John Rutherford and Chi Chi LaRue and performers took pornography as a career when video technology was in the VHS phase. The emerging influential critics like Mikey Skee and pornographic media sustained their work.

21 Centuries

In the 21st century, many Asian Americans and Vietnamese American men started working as gay pornographic film directors, photographers and performing actors in the male sex videos made in Western countries as it has become a highly profitable business by this time. These changing interests were catered by various online delivery sites of many niche genres. For example, most of the work of Darkholme contained the Japanese art of bondage, Shibari, and special knot tying technique of BDSM culture as their niche.

Literary classics like Two Naughty Tales and Decameron, on the other hand, were adapted by Lucas Kazan Productions as they were based on the two novels La Locandiera by Goldoni and The Innkeeper by Boccaccio. Lucas combined melodrama and male sex porn in its The School for Lovers which won the 2007 GayVN Award for Best Foreign Picture after being inspired by the operas of 19th and 20th centuries.

Till today there are certain complications regarding the studios producing the videos of bareback sexual penetration of the penis without wearing a condom. According to various main film productions companies including Hot House Entertainment, Falcon Entertainment, Lucas Entertainment, Channel 1 Releasing, Lucas Kazan Productions, Titan Media and Raging Stallion Studios along with the health advocates of LGBT the videos of condomless sex (bareback) contribute to the pandemics like AIDS and HIV by supporting the unsafe sex in both the LGBT community as well as the industry of porn films. This controversy was erupted during the years of the introduction of an HIV crisis when all the companies involved in gay pornography directed their porn models for anal sex to wear a condom.

Some of the notable figures of pornography industry are of the view that this forum serves as a teacher for modelling healthy sex behavior and the skills of safer sex. Even the gay bareback studios which agree to promote healthy sex behavior with its x-rated motion pictures do not agree with the AIDS crisis as one of the concerns for healthy sex. Paul Morris, the founder and owner of Treasure Island Media believes that the idea of fear from HIV for the gay people is generated by the people living with PTSD to great extent and they will not get any kind of support as this war against HIV is over now.

Thus, according to the history of gay porn, it is a responsible work of art which should be produced by the pornographers featuring men living their life happily with open and positive attitude. Gay erotic movies are now becoming more and more popular round the world. Not only gay people, but people with normal sexual orientation are also enjoying gay porn videos online.

8-Mar-2017 news. Coming soon new article about gay pornography history, with illustrations. It will posted in the next few days.