Why the Porn Industry Still Stigmatizes Bi Male Performers (Paper Mag)

Read the full article by Sandra Song at PaperMag.com

While on the surface porn may seem like an inherently accepting, progressive community, decades-plus worth of evidence has proven it to be an especially rough industry for bisexual — also known as 'crossover' — male talent and their partners. Without fail, every one recounts getting ghosted on roles and scenes due to the latent fear surrounding gay sex and potential HIV transmission. And it's a situation that married performers Lance Hart and Charlotte Sartre know all too well.

"People who used to be in porn would tell me, 'Ah, you're screwing yourself. Stop now with all the gay stuff, you could probably be a straight pornstar,'" Hart says, while Sartre mentions that she's "definitely lost work" due to their relationship.

"It's getting better, but there's still a disconnect. [If a straight performer] becomes HIV-positive, no one in straight porn is going to work with them again," Hart says. "Everyone learns in middle school that HIV is the worst thing ever. You're dead, you'll get cancer, stay away. That fear is still there."

And while Hart admits that the stigma has actually led to him "making a lot of money" via his independent gay and femme-domme clip stores (as the supply for crossover talent doesn't meet audience demands), he does admit that the straight side of porn is inherently skittish about certain sex acts that could even vaguely be interpreted as "gay." As he explains, there are still a lot of rigid rules of conduct in place if you're a straight male pornstar. For example, any form of rectal insertion (fingers belonging to women included) is frowned upon and kissing a woman if you've ejaculated on her face beforehand is a hard no-go.

But why? Especially given all the scientific advancements and societal progress we've experienced over the past few decades? Well, as Chris Zeischegg — who used to perform as a crossover under the name "Danny Wylde" — points out, it's likely the lingering effects of incidents like the Derrick Burts scandal, which rocked the porn world in 2010. Burts, a former crossover performer, contracted HIV on set from a "known positive" male actor he had worked with on a gay shoot where condoms weren't used for oral sex — an incident that led to intense scrutiny of the sexual practices on the gay side of the industry, which didn't require testing at the time.