Stigma Against Crossover Porn Stars Examined in “Paper”

Lifestyle magazine Paper recently explored “Why the Porn Industry Still Stigmatizes Bi Male Performers” in an article profiling bisexual performer Lance Hart and his wife, Charlotte Sartre. Paper’s Sandra Song also spoke with retired bi performer Christopher Zeischegg (formerly known as Danny Wylde).

“Decades-plus worth of evidence has proven [porn] to be an especially rough industry for bisexual—also known as ‘crossover’—male talent and their partners,” wrote Song. “Without fail, every one recounts getting ghosted on roles and scenes due to the latent fear surrounding gay sex and potential HIV transmission.”

Lance Hart, who’s been working as a crossover performer and successful clip maker for half a decade, told Paper, “People who used to be in porn would tell me, ‘Ah, you’re screwing yourself. Stop now with all the gay stuff, you could probably be a straight pornstar.'” 

Meanwhile, Sartre mentions that she’s “definitely lost work” because of her relationship with Hart. Sartre went on to reveal that female performers are often misinformed about the risk of working with crossover talent by their agents, who say it will “ruin their career” and that “all the bi guys are a higher risk for HIV and you need to be scared of them.”

Zeischegg reveals that this outdated prejudice is likely a leftover from the 2010 Derrick Burts scandal, in which crossover performer Burts “contracted HIV on set from a ‘known positive’ male actor he had worked with on a gay shoot where condoms weren’t used for oral sex—an incident that led to intense scrutiny of the sexual practices on the gay side of the industry, which didn’t require testing at the time.”

“And this all continues to happen despite the current industry’s incredibly rigorous testing standards, which utilize some of the most accurate systems modern medicine can provide,” wrote Song. 

Some of the lingering stigma, said Zeischegg, may be due to the fact that “everyone has the right to choose who they want to work with,” which is a good thing. But Sartre pointed out that, “If your comfort is based on prejudice, that bothers me…If you’re really that worried about getting HIV, either get on PrEP or don’t do porn.”

It’s great to see mainstream media covering the lingering prejudice within the industry. Maybe with more exposure to the ways it can hurt performers, and the ways in which old prejudices are outmoded, these old-fashioned ways of thinking can be left behind, where they should stay.