September 17, 2007 | Sex & Society

Out Magazine's bareback moment

Bareback porn. We've all talked about it. Most of us have watched it. And some have purchased it. What was once a social taboo is becoming increasingly mainstream.

But as studios offer more bareback titles to their customers, and as the rate of HIV/AIDS increases in parts of North America, we have to wonder if what we're watching is starting to affect our behavior.

James Gavin, writing for Out Magazine, recently explored the growing popularity of unsafe sex in adult videos. The article, Baring the Truth, offers a unique insight into a world divided between profit, apathy, and social responsibility. [more]

Shot like home movies, most of these videos are cheap to make and easy to profit from. Their casts include “real people” along with a growing wave of aging HIV-positive porn actors. Bareback porn is also a playground where boys barely out of high school frolic without condoms as though AIDS doesn’t exist. Many of these films fetishize semen so graphically that the message is unmistakable: a loud “fuck you” to the plague that once terrified us all.

But why?  Safer-sex fatigue, much-improved HIV medications and disinhibiting drugs like crystal meth are offered as a few possible explanations for gay men's willingness to reconsider their relationship to the condom.

There are many in the industry who speak out against barebacking, such as Chi Chi LaRue, known to his enemies in the debate as the "condom nazi," and Michael Brandon of Raging Stallion Studios.

But for every supporter of safer sex in porn, Gavin found a supporter of bareback, like 90s porn star Dino Phillips, who argued these videos are harmless fun that will not alter the behavior of their viewers. "Otherwise," Phillips insists, "every movie that shows gunslinging and murder would have to use a disclaimer saying, 'Duh, this is just for entertainment, we’re not really advocating this.' "

What was once relegated to small studios hoping to cash in on a niche market is now being exploited by big producers looking for additional sales. Bel Ami offers bareback videos on demand, though warns "We fervently hope that in your private life you act responsibly and take every precaution to keep yourself healthy." Kristen Bjorn was recently chastised for featuring a committed couple having unsafe sex in the mail order version of 'El Rancho Grande.' And just this week, Factory Video, until now committed to condoms, announced that it would start releasing bareback titles.

Scariest, by far, are those who recognize their latex-free videos can affect attitudes -- like Paul Morris of Treasure Island -- but who see it as a good thing. Morris, the article points out, considers being HIV negative "the new virginity."

It is a fascinating article, and one that deserves to be read in its entirety. Though we warn you: "Baring the Truth" may cause head shaking, rolling of the eyes, and sudden gasps in disbelief.