Not only in the form of all the buff military boys he can eat, but also in living the American Dream super-sized. He’s not exactly what a modern homosexual is supposed to be: “I’m a queen, not a ‘gay man'” he informs me defiantly. Picking me up from the airport, the faceless Svengali of military porn turns out to be a short, very stoutly built, affable and charismatic chap in his thirties, with an infectious chuckle-giggle that starts off low but can go mighty high. Usually followed not long after by: “Arch your back, bitch!”. Sex-rapping constantly in his tobacco-rich Southern drawl: “I’ll re-spect your boun-dar-ies… would you like some more lube?’ is one of his favourite lines. So in 2004, with a commission from and an introduction from mutual friend and co-author Steve Zeeland (we published a book of salty correspondence called ‘ The Queen is Dead‘), I flew to North Carolina to meet Dink, the man behind ActiveDuty and also the director and cameraman who you never see – though you might occasionally glimpse his helping hand – but you always, always hear. Somehow I managed to convince myself that this story of straight military men ‘acting gay’ in the form of mansex rather than manicures was something that I, the ‘father’ of the metrosexual and over-keen follower of masculine trends really needed to research. And they get to be that most modern of celebrities, a porn star – rather than just wear the T-shirt. After all, it’s contrary to both the etiquette of their official sexuality and the Pentagon’s Matronly sex-policing which decrees no sodomy, no adultery, no prostitutes, no porn (so what’s the fucking point of joining the army, dude?). The guys seem to be getting off on the sheer naughtiness of what they’re doing. There’s a curious blend of innocence and corruption, and genuine excitement to Dink’s deliberately amateurish films. If they’re faking their enthusiasm, they’re doing a much better job than, say, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain: they take it like real troopers not Hollywood cowboys. They’re ‘gay for pay’ – even if they look like they’re mostly enjoying a play. (Though sometimes it does look more like an endurance test or another assault course than intercourse.)Īnd, contrary to much of the coverage the story received, they’re not ‘gays in the military’ many if not most of them are straight-identified, some with wives and kids. What’s more, they usually do it with cheeky grins and gosh-darn dude-ness. The guys in ActiveDuty are videos are impressively versatile, frequently taking on almost any challenge. No ‘tops and bottoms’ sissy role-play for them.
With ‘stirring’ titles such as ‘Battle Buddies’, ‘Tour of Duty’, ‘Rear March’ and ‘Band of Lovers’, not only do they offer the online voyeur athletic young military guys with military tattoos and military demeanour who actually look the part, but, manfully, they frequently do everything. Long before the Department of Defense and the global media took an interest earlier this year the ‘art’ films of Dennis Ashe alias ‘Dink Flamingo’ at had become a phenomenon amongst the self-abusing cognoscenti. And the really odd thing is that these guys who have had little or no exposure to the tired codes of gay porn are making it feel, in their joshing, horsing around, try-anything, decidedly non-jaded way, like my first time with a guy. It’s my first time in porn, my first time with two paratroopers, straight or otherwise.
“You mean it gets bigger dude?” asks Jason, with a forgiving wink and a smile, proving, to my mind at least, that he most definitely isn’t gay. “I’m sorry about this lads” I say, gesturing to my semi, “I’m a bit nervous”. And they’re much more ‘up’ for this than I am. I am on a bed wedged between not one but two naked fit cute, and ostensibly straight American soldiers in their early twenties – “Jason” and “Carl” – who are being very friendly indeed. But then, this is a rather odd situation. It’s an odd question for me to be asked by a straight paratrooper who is trying to fluff me. “Is this your first time with a guy?” asks Jason solicitously in his Tennessee burr. (Uncircumcised, uncensored version of exclusive which appeared in Details, April 2006 ) Mark Simpson bravely gets to the bottom of the US Army’s gay porn scandal