Bare back porn is quickly becoming one of the biggest niche markets in the industry. Unprotected sex and skin to skin contact has been fetishized. Obviously this has raised a lot of tension in the queer community. For some it epitomizes a faux-post- AIDS culture, and for others bare back porn is what all porn is— a fantasy.

Last year’s ban of promotion and distribution of bareback porn at the International Mr. Leather leather marketplace sparked a debate on the existence unprotected sex in porn. The initial announcement of the ban reads as follows:

Though we are now three decades into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, no cure has been found.? The CDC and local health officials inform us that new infections are on the rise.? And, while we have had some success developing medications that might make infection more manageable, that accomplishment comes at a price.? Not having experienced the deaths - the loss of loved ones -- which preceded these medications, we have an entire generation who may not fully appreciate or comprehend the severity of the situation.

Chuck Renslow, President of IML, believes that bareback sex in porn makes vulnerable queer youth desensitized and promotes unsafe sex practices in real life. He believes that because queer youth did not live through the horrors of the 80’s AIDS crisis any kind of promotion of high risk behaviors in porn makes us susceptible to high risk behaviors in the bed room.

Activist Tony Valenzuela disagrees with Renslow. In a response to IML’s announce Valenzuela wrote for Trevorhoppe.com, he explained his point of view. Valenzuela believes that by ostracizing a subculture of bare backing gay men you are limiting your ability to educate a community on high risk behaviors. Valenzuela also notes that much of the rhetoric in IML’s letter is strikingly similar to common censorship arguments of the right wing.

These arguments about the "gateways" to HIV infection (be they substances or images) are, it should be noted, of the same class of argument used largely by evangelical Christians and Republicans in their attempts to criminalize pornography, to censor sex and violence from TV and video games, and to shut down commercial adult establishments such as strip clubs and bathhouses. The business of protecting you from your untrustworthy self has historically been the province of the right wing.

If condoms in porn are being used to promote safe sex in real life then the message of safe sex should be more visible. Safe-sex in most porn is something that is almost hidden. During initiation one performer never turns to the other and asks if they have a rubber. For the most part condoms appear randomly; lubed and ready for action. Little attention is actually drawn to any kind of safe sex practices. The Crash Pad Series (explicit), a lesbian and trans porn group, features safe sex prominently throughout their videos. And Fuk!t (explicit), a safe sex organization, uses porn stars to promote its message.