The History of Gay-for-Pay, Part II
From the Golden Age to the Digital Frontier
From Str8 No Chaser®: This is the second installment in a series tracing the complex history of “gay-for-pay” and male-on-male sex work. Missed Part I? You can read it here. This post includes themes related to sex work, erotic performance, and adult media.
The Rise of the Golden Age: Porn Goes Hardcore (Late 1960s to early 1980s)
When hardcore gay porn emerged in the late 1960s, the majority of models weren’t gay-identified men. They were bodybuilders. Physique models. Hustlers. Transients. Grifters. Directors and producers weren’t fixated on orientation. They wanted charisma, chemistry, and erotic charge.
The Physique-to-Porn Pipeline
Ken Sprague, a.k.a. Dakota, is a prime (beef) example. Born in Cincinnati and crowned Mr. Cincinnati in 1967, Sprague was a successful bodybuilder before a friend encouraged him to try modeling. His photo work with COLT Studios (nude, sensual, unmistakably masculine and unapologetically) led to hardcore gay films and a financial windfall that allowed him to buy Gold’s Gym in 1972. Yup, that Gold’s Gym! Ric Drasin, another bodybuilder who performed in gay porn, designed the iconic Gold's Gym logo, which features a bald weightlifter holding a barbell.
Sprague’s frequent scene partner was Rick Cassidy, a bodybuilder who modeled for legendary gay erotic photographer Jim French and appeared in Pat Rocco’s landmark 1970 documentary Mondo Rocco, a collection of vignettes chronicling moments in early gay cultural history. Cassidy’s rugged look and casual confidence embodied a new porn archetype: masculine, matter-of-fact, and sexually versatile.
The supply chain of performers in 1970s and ’80s gay porn wasn’t a casting agency. It was the streets, hustler bars and “track” zones like Polk Street and the Tenderloin in San Francisco; Selma Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in LA; or the Gold Cup and The Spotlight in Hollywood, became de facto audition spaces. Directors sourced from where hustlers worked and socialized.
David Hurles’ Old Reliable studio specialized in ex-cons, rough trade, and streetwise, hyper-masculine performers who might otherwise mug their clientele (and did!), not pose for them. Hurles didn’t look away from their volatility, he recorded it. Got off on it, even after he was beaten and robbed by some of his rough trade hookups. (More on David Hurles in a future Str8 No Chaser® post.)
Crossovers
During the early years of the Golden Age, many performers fluidly moved between gay and straight porn films. (Bisexual porn was largely scarce during the Golden Age.) Among the most well-known performers of the era: Casey Donovan (gay porn’s first superstar), Jack Wrangler, George Payne, Marc Stevens, Johnny Hardin, Bill Cable, Rick Cassidy, R.J. Reynolds, Sam Schad (aka, Gino Colbert), and Marc Wallice.
Moreover, some of the most successful straight male models (yesteryear and today) started or performed in gay porn loops or films: Peter North (aka, Matt Ramsey), John Holmes, Paul Thomas, Paul Barresi, Danny D (aka, Matt Hughes), Seth Gamble (aka, Troy Gabriel), Chad White (aka, Mattox) Tony De Sergio (aka, Jay Alexander), Wade Nichols, and Jamie Gillis. Not that most of them revealed as much once they became major stars in straight porn films.
The arrival of HIV/AIDS in the early 1980s closed the open borders of porn. While straight women continued performing in “girl-girl” scenes with little fanfare, men faced increasing scrutiny. At the time, the “witch hunts” didn’t come from audiences so much as from studios and media. It was now dangerous to admit crossover work, until a new breed of openly straight performers flipped the script.
Jeff Stryker, Ryan Idol, Rex Chandler, Johnny Utah, and Ken Ryker – who all emerged between the mid-’80s and mid-’90s – were among the first openly straight-identified porn models in gay porn, thanks to studio hype and media interviews that made sure everyone knew it.
In contrast, Kip Noll – one of the most famous gay porn stars of the late ’70s and early ‘80s – was also straight, but without the benefit of a PR machine. His truth lived quietly in the pages of gay porn mags, back when the fantasy still came first.
Stryker’s success marked a turning point: gay porn consumers knew (or were explicitly told) that these stars were straight. And it didn’t matter. Stryker remains one of the most popular gay porn performers of all time, despite retiring from porn in 2001 and never identifying as gay.
Unsung
While many crossover performers faded or blacklisted during the AIDS crisis, Randy Paul (who performed in gay adult films under the name Robert Harris) carved a two-decade career across straight, gay, bi, and trans porn. Beginning in 1986, Paul’s versatility was nearly unmatched. He died in 2020, a month shy of 60, still relatively unknown despite his prolific output.
His peer, Jay Huntington (a.k.a. Chance Caldwell), performed from 1989 to 2012 in a wide spectrum of scenes and genres. Both men laid the groundwork for today’s fluid performers: ChristianXXX, Wolf Hudson, Steve Rickz, Kurt Lockwood, Dante Colle, Lucas Knight, Derek Kage, Michael Vegas, Dillon Diaz, Roman Todd, Colby Jansen, Sage Roux, Pierce Paris and many others who perform across all genres without apology.
Bobby Garcia (and, subsequently, Dirk Yates and Dink Flamingo) helped usher in the modern gay-for-pay era through ultra-low-budget films featuring real or supposed marines and enlisted men. Garcia’s models were often paid in beer or petty cash. but the fantasy of “straight military guy on camera” became one of the most bankable formulas in modern gay porn. (We’ll return to military fetish porn in a future SNC post.)
Internet Boom: Reality Porn
As broadband internet entered bedrooms, the gay gonzo era of porn emerged. Sites like AmateurStraightGuys, Sean Cody, StraightCollegeMen, MilitaryClassified, Str8 Boyz Seduced, Active Duty, HancockMen, StraightFellas, TrigaFilms, and BrokeStraightBoys presented sex acts less like watching porn and more like being a fly on the wall.
The guys were young, sexy, broke, exhibitionistic, occasionally high, or simply along for the ride. Subsequently, thousands of homemade videos surfaced on hub sites, helping to redefine what audiences considered sexy and plausible.
It should go without say this: women have long performed in “girl-girl” porn scenes without having to defend or explain themselves. In fact, girl-girl scenes have been prevalent throughout porn history without scruples, backlash, or interrogation about sexual identity.
But as therapist and sex researcher Dr. Joe Kort noted, society stigmatizes men for thinking about same-sex acts but fetishizes women for the same.
Sex, Labor, and Legacy
As with identity labels like gay, straight, and bisexual, the term gay-for-pay is a relatively recent construction. One that (clumsily) attempts to distill complex behaviors, desires, dynamics, dealings, and power into a user-friendly (if reductive) soundbite. But male-on-male sex work has been interwoven throughout human history for millennia. From sacred temples to war camps, from artist studios to seedy bars, men have exchanged sex, intimacy, and performance long before we had modern terminology for it.
And I haven’t even touched on how street hustling migrated into online escort ads, cam rooms, massage listings, and back pages. Or the many non-sex examples of “straight-for-gay” labor. For example, gay establishments hiring straight-specific bartenders, barbacks, go-go dancers, servers, and strippers to entice their mostly gay clientele.
The history of gay-for-pay is long, winding, messy, and enduring. This isn’t just porn history. It’s sexual, cultural history, and labor history. And it’s still unfolding.
Coming Next on Str8 No Chaser® (SNC)
The next installment of SNC explores the backlash to gay-for-pay: why some consumers and creators have turned on straight performers in gay adult content, why some of the criticism may have validity, and why some of the pushback may be hypocritical and homophobic! We’ll look at the popularity of the gay-for-pay genre: for the adult film industry, porn models, and content creators. And, what is “straight-for-pay”?
Thumbnail photo: Model: Bill Cable. Sourced via Pinterest from a public vintage archive or unknown origin. Used for editorial/contextual purposes representing general aesthetic and era. Contact for attribution or removal concerns.
Enjoying this series? SNC posts are free for a limited time. Join as a paid subscriber to ensure continued access to SNC, bonus commentary, reflections, and personal essays.
Thanks for reading this essay. This post is publicly accessible for now, feel free to share it.
Have questions or thoughts about this essay? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments section below.
Previous Str8 No Chaser® posts: