The higher pay scale and profile within a production often leads to group scenes where a straight actor only 'tops.' A 'top' actor will often be sought as a bottom and the debut is often treated as a notable event or even its own release. Some straight actors have started acting in gay porn only to be accused of being gay while others' first step was to strictly do solo masturbation or muscle exhibition scenes. Moreover, many gay or bisexual men who star in gay porn films may wish to be identified publicly as heterosexual for personal or professional reasons.

Some actors who are actually gay or bisexual will be marketed as straight to appeal to the 'allure of the unattainable,' because straight men (or those newly coming out) are virgins to sex with other men scholar Camille Paglia declared that 'Seduction of straight studs is a highly erotic motif in gay porn.' Pornography īecause some gay men consider heterosexual men to be objects of fantasy, some gay porn producers have almost certainly described some actors as heterosexual to increase sales and publicity for their product. In the gay pornography industry, that uses amateurs as well as professional actors, the term gay-for-pay refers to actors who identify as straight but who engage in same-sex sexual activities for money or sexual gain. Through the 1990s, mainstream movie and television actors have been more willing to portray homosexuality, as the threat of any backlash against their careers has lessened and society's acceptance of gay and lesbian people has increased.

The stigma of being gay or labeled as such has steadily eroded since the Stonewall riots began the modern American gay rights movement in 1969.

The term has also applied to other professions and even companies trying to appeal to a gay demographic. Gay-for-pay describes male or female actors, pornographic stars, or sex workers who identify as bisexual but who are paid to act or perform as homosexual professionally.

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