THE FEAR IS GONE

WARNING- IF YOU DON'T LIKE SEEING ADULT THEMED PICTURES OR A DISCUSSION ABOUT GAY PORN SKIP READING THIS POST!

I decided to post a responses to an e-mail I received this weekend that asked a sensible question that I had wondered about as well. I decided to post the answer on this blog since the others are really not designed for posts like this one.

The sensible e-mail of the week comes from Borderboys-Borderhunks reader Kevin:

Kevin wrote, "Since you have a better understanding about the ins and outs of the adult movie industry there is something that has got me thinking about the way the Adult movie industry works nowdays compared to the mid 80’s when AIDs was the big issue and bareback sex was became a no-no and condoms were a required accessory in both gay and straight movies.

I notice that in a majority of the clips/movies that you post on both the Borderboys & Borderhunks sites that the oral portions are almost always performed without a condom, the actual sex scenes use condoms but the aftermath is generally without a condom – I’m talking about after the climax when, in a lot of cases, the cum covered penis ends up in someone’s mouth.

While I realize that models are required to provide proof of their HIV status etc, why is it that condoms are still used in scenes if it is alright to expose the models to semen orally afterwords? Has there been a shift in attitude in the last 20 years or has something else changed in the way AIDs/HIV is viewed?"

Well first of all Kevin, I really did appreciate this e-mail and the way you framed the question.

First let's talk about bareback scenes...yes I randomly post bareback vids and do promote bareback scenes on select companies for one reason- BAREBACK SEX SELLS.

For some reason people tend to enjoy condomless sex scenes more than protected ones and they seem to love facials. The companies that I actively promote are reputable companies that protect their models.

A great example is Boycrush.

Andy Kay has spoken at length about the measures they take- at the expense of the company to make sure their models are HIV negative and safe. Likewise Helix and even foreign companies like OTB Video make sure the models are safe.

Yes there is a risk- no matter how safe one is...there have been cases where undetected herpes has been later found on one former model at one of the companies I promote but in the two years that I have doing Borderboys I have not heard of one case where a model from one of the sites I promote got HIV after filming.

Personally I am not a big fan of bareback sex at home. When I was young I did it with my lover at the time and got Epididymitis- which basically swells up the testicle to the size of a large orange so aside from the HIV risk I am hesitant to bareback, even with my partner of eight and a half years just because I don't want to experience that again!

There are a lot of people that publicly denounce bareback sex- both publicly on websites and allegedly in their private lives but the fact of the matter is a lot of people these days- especially if they are boyfriends and both test negative do it bareback.

And I have seen this myself- I won't get into what performers or former performers I have seen on a personal level barebacking as a rule...those who really know me can probably guess who I am speaking of..- adult performers publicly denounces barebacking and yet do it themselves in the privacy of their homes and out of the public eye.

As far as the facials - even when it is a condom scene, from what I understand at the studios I have a lot of contact with it is usually up to the models themselves how they want to end a scene.

Again let's use Boycrush as an example.

I know for a fact- based on the conversations that I have had with a lot of their models that both Andy Kay and Bryan Kenny never force models to do things that most would consider unsafe. And I feel like since we are dealing with legal adults it is on the individual model if he wants to take the risk of cum swallowing.

Almost no studio uses condoms for blowjobs because statistics have shown for a long time that unless a person has open wounds in the mouth there is not a gig rate of transmission in precum and vid fellatio..I have to check it out but I do believe that there is a higher risk to straight people and lesbians having active oral sex with a female partner...not sure on that so if I am wrong I stand corrected.

Now why such a lax attitude towards the risk of HIV these days?

In the 1980's I was just graduating high school and was just entering adulthood when AIDS reared it's ugly head.

Prior to that we did everything- as kids we didn't have a lot of access to condoms so I would bareback then and "swallowing" was not a big deal.

But when it hit...and in 1985 I lost a friend who was a grade behind me in school to the AIDS virus we all started taking being safe seriously.

Most of the people I knew, including myself, practically wore a body condom when having sex back then. Before medical science (the the government decided it was ok to stop killing off the queers because it permeated into the heterosexual world) and HIV medication prolonged life people stopped fearing it I think.

For most, unlike the 1980's and in to the 90's it was almost a instant death sentence, I think the fear is gone or at least not in the forefront of the minds of youth especially that were born well after the time where AIDS was killing hundreds worldwide a day in the 80's.

Medication has prolonged live and in fact I know people that are HIV positive that have lived with the disease for over 20 years now.

The fact that it isn't a death sentence anymore and that it can be managed- like diabetes- for most people with medications is the number one reason why I believe people take the risks on film and in private as much as they do today.

I do get some flack for promoting bareback sex sites...but again let's get real here. I am not the person running the studios. My job- at least as I envisioned it when I started Borderboys was to honestly watch and review scenes from a consumer point of view without being a moral majority leader.

In other words I understand that bareback sex sells and many enjoy that so just because in my personal life it is usually a no no I will not censor it on the blog and jump on the bandwagon. And for many in the industry that is what it is- again I have seen public adult entertainment figures proclaim that they are against bareback filming yet do it in the privacy of their own lives.

Rather than condemning studios that film bareback my big issue is the health of the models- especially if they are exclusives- when they are not filming. I know a current model from one of the main sites I promote that proclaims, on his personal Facebook and his performer one what he drinks to get fucked up and what he smokes.

I think it is the responsibility of the models- and somewhat the responsibility of a company that signs them as exclusive representatives of their sites- to at least in the public eye present themselves as living a healthy chemical free lifestyle. If I was an adult performer I would be very wary of doing a scene with someone I know gets fucked up a lot and has sex. Let's face it- none of us, straight, bi or gay, make wise choices when it comes to spur of the moment sex especially if we are under the influence of some chemical.

So all in all Kevin I think what has changed is the fact that one doesn't die soon after getting HIV these days so the fear factor is not as in your face as it was for me in the 80's and into the 1990's.

And for many sites it is a matter of economics. I can tell by the rate of subscriptions on my blogs and the donations- that are few and far between that studios almost have to present the types of material subscribers want.

There are many that just love bareback and cum swallowing scenes and especially if it has an amateur feel to it and if that gets subscribers in the door, companies who are already struggling to stay afloat because of the effect of piracy of their material on the internet almost have to present that money making genre of gay adult entertainment.

I hope it sufficiently answered the question and I invite others who read this to offer their point of view in the comments!

THANK YOU KEVIN FOR TAKING HE TIME TO WRITE IN AND ASK OF OF THE MOST INTELLIGENT QUESTIONS I HAVE RECEIVED THIS YEAR- I REALLY DO HAVE SOME OF THE MOST INTELLIGENT READERS ON THE PLANET!