I dream in black and white, I wanna make love in colour

D

id Cybersocket, I wonder, realise the controversy its "40 Amazing Porn Stars" list would cause?

Probably - there's nothing like a good controversy to drive traffic. But more interesting than the list itself, and who is and isn't on there, is the debate it's sparked.

Some have argued that Cybersocket's list is acceptable. And lists are essentially worthless, Zach Sire of The Sword says, not unreasonably. Elsewhere, Jeremy Feist points out personal preference is your prerogative: not finding black guys sexy doesn't make you a racist.

All of which is true. Despite personally digging Brad Patton as much as Shorty J as much as Peter Le, I don't think it's wrong (or requiring justification) for someone to say "I'm only into white guys". Being gay doesn't mean we're all misogynists, after all.

However, Cybersocket's list reads thus: "40 Amazing Porn Stars - Consider this a sampler of the guys who have been shining most brightly on our radar during the first half of 2010." It's not one individual's personal choice, thrown up on their own personal blog.

If I were to come up with my own Top 40, for my own obscure little blog, you can bet there'd be every flavour of boy candy in there. That's just me. I could easily fill such a piece exclusively with the models of PapiThugz and Taggaz, but then I'd have to call it my "Top 40 Amazing Black and Latino Porn Stars", wouldn't I?

And if ka-os|theory wasn't such an obscure little blog, such a list of exclusively black models could be deemed as deliberately provocative and controversial. Gee, I'd probably see a huge spike in page hits - right, Cybersocket (the self-proclaimed "leader in gay and lesbian online information")?

Race isn't a non-issue, least of all in gay porn.

The response from readers to this micro-controversy falls broadly into two categories: those protesting against the list, and those claim there's nothing wrong with Cybersocket's list, and that the problem is actually with its detractors. "It's not racist, it's personal choice!" they cry. "Race card, race card - I didn't vote for Obama, gee I must be racist," is another favourite. Oh, and the old intellectual heavyweight: "Grow up".

It's that remarkably common tactic in the GBLT community: deny everything. Prejudice doesn't exist. There is no homophobia, just hypersensitive queens playing the victim card. There is no racism, just hypersensitive queens playing the race card. And so it goes on - deny everything, and you keep your veneer of Teflon.

They might be okay, hardened and heartless queens that they are, but what about that 16-year-old black kid who's just realised he's gay, and stumbles upon Cybersocket's list, and wonders, "Why am I invisible?"

The Cybersocket list is a dog's dinner for many reasons: not because of what's in it, but because of what isn't. Not because, in isolation, it's pretty trivial, but because of what it says about the gay media in general. It perfectly captures a snapshot of a mainstream gay media intent on portraying an airbrushed, snowy white landscape where everyone looks like Sean Cody models. And it provides fuel for divisive racial separatists like James Earl Hardy and Jasmyne Cannick.

So it could be argued that Cybersocket's list of porn models isn't racist. But I dare anyone to deny that what it is, is symptomatic of casual racism in the GBLT community.

||| The Adams Report has a list of links to articles debating the subject.

||| Title quote: "I dream in black and white, I wanna make love in colour." Lyrics, BLACKstreet, "Black & White" (1999).