Here’s the thing about gay editorial sites: Most of them exist in a state of arrested adolescence, that period when many gay men of a certain age started hiding their true selves and pretending to be someone else. Once freed from that particular masquerade, they revert to giggly teens.
That’s why so many of these sites cover straight actors playing gay and sexy thirst traps on social media, but never, ever discuss pornography. Since these outlets are the Tiger Beat of 2020, they act like flirting is titillating but fucking is too embarrassing to discuss.
Case in point: In 24 hours, Instinct Magazine posted This Week’s 10 Sexiest Instagram Posts but also delivered a breathless exposé of Ronan Farrow’s Instagram follows, which include (gasp) gay porn stars!
“I can’t say I blame Farrow for following the incredibly sexy Torres whose partner is the equally hot Greek porn God, Alex Tikas,” writes Corey Andrew, playing the role of everyone’s overly accepting aunt who just can’t stop telling you how cool she is with your sexuality. “One thing is for certain, Ronan seems to have an online type! (Just don’t tell his fiancé, Jon Lovett, the former Obama speechwriter.) Then again, it’s a very liberal world we live in these days, so maybe Lovett’s totally good with it.”
As a matter of fact, it isn’t a liberal world if following porn stars warrants an article on a gay editorial site. Corey Andrew’s piece reeks of kink-shaming and sex negativity — of the need to make the consumption of porn a prurience that we’ll carefully ignore because some men have “needs.” It’s not hard to hear the disgust inside Andrew’s chirpy tone when he writes, “Ronan is known as a brilliant writer and quiet, intellectual type. But he’s only human, and sometimes honey, the pen just ain’t more powerful than the pinga!”
Do you know why people are afraid of and angered by homosexuality? The gay sex. They fear the foreign, and those of us have have gay sex don’t help matters when we report on out celebrities’ social media follows as though they indicate some dark, twisted desire that should be hidden from the public.
Perhaps the gentlemen at Instinct think this tone gives them “editorial integrity.” Perhaps they think it makes them respectable when they cover professional Instagram thirst traps instead of gay porn stars. Perhaps they think they’re doing some kind of journalistic service when they coyly shame someone who openly appreciates the work of men who have sex on camera for a living.
Or perhaps they’re reminding us that it’s not such a liberal world after all.
The Gay Goods is dedicated to engaging with a range of opinions and viewpoints. To share yours, email [email protected] or comment below.
