Homoerotic Archaeology: Adam Gay Video (November 1994), Part One

Friday, November 17, 2023

Adam Gay Video (November 1994), Part One

In his editorial column found in this November 1994 issues of Adam Gay Video (which has been broken into two parts), editor Dave Kinnick discusses a major shift in pornographic actors and agents during the middle of the 1990s. As Kinnick explains, prior to this change, both actors and agents were all housed in Los Angeles, which made it easy for directors and producers in the pornographic industry to find quick replacements and survey talent prior to booking them. However, after the shift, many began to emerge in other cities and states, some as far as Boston, who mined the local populace for talent and farmed them out to studios in Los Angeles. As Kinnick contends, this change introduced a wider range of talent, but also made it harder on directors and producers, since they could not find quick replacements and had to stick with undesirable models because they already paid for plane tickets and hotel rooms. In addition to Kinnick’s article, this issue also contains stills from the pornographic films House Rules, Night Watch, Posing Strap, True Stories, and Ty Me Up and profiles on models Donnie Russo and Cort Stevens.

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What is Homoerotic Archaeology?

In 2016, I discovered several discarded boxes at an estate sale. Under their flimsy flaps were hundreds of well-worn issues of homoerotic magazines from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. I purchased them out of mild intrigue and, as I perused their pages, I was startled to realize that something commonly disregarded as pornographic smut earnestly chronicled the evolution of gay culture: the social and sexual liberation of the 1970s, the crushing devastation from AIDS during the 1980s, and the gradual strengthening of the community in the 1990s. As a gay man, I was touched by the subtle narrative these publications told. As a historian, I was motivated to digitally preserve their content. And, as an educator, I was driven to create a platform to share that information freely with others interested in the progression of gay society. Homoerotic Archaeology is that venue. Here you will find the advertisements, articles, short stories, and (of course) pictures found in these magazines lovingly preserved and presented for future generations of gay men to enjoy and study.

Why Preserve Homoerotica?

As early as the 1970s, scholars such as June Rook have stressed the need to preserve homosexual history in an effort to combat repression and establish a cultural background for future generations. Much of the preservation process admirably focuses on the substantial works of homosexual artists and thinkers; however, it sadly ignores other elements quintessential to the community’s history, particularly homoerotica. Although frequently labeled obscene filth, homoerotica has, just like the significant creations of artists and thinkers, been a prevalent part of the group’s culture and has played an integral role in shaping identities and perceptions (consider how influential Tom of Finland’s hypermasculinity has been in molding the body ideals of modern gay men). Due to this factor, the conservation of homoerotica is just as essential as the preservation of major artistic and theoretical homosexual works.