Recent epidemic of gay porn stars dying young, more LGBT support needed
There has been an epidemic of gay porn stars dying recently, and one has to wonder why the industry is consuming them at an alarming rate.
The life expectancy of the average American male is 78.8 years old according to The Center for Disease Control , but it seems in the MSM (Men who Have sex with men) adult video industry that number drastically drops to about 25.
One may initially judge the industry as a career choice filled with drugs, unfulfillment and flesh-peddling servitude, but this isn’t the 70’s or 80’s anymore and very strict industry practices have been put into place for some of the bigger name production companies.
However, unlike the 70’s and 80’s, the internet, commonly known as the number one resource for pornography, reaches billions of people and acting out explicit sex scenes on camera can take an average good-looking young man and catapult him to viral celebrity within days.
Figure in that these men are not dying of sexually transmitted diseases, but other casualties and one would wonder if the LGBT community should add this to their list of concerns.
Not that much can be confirmed after the death of a male porn star. Many times as reports begin to circulate around the death of these men, there are no confirmed causes.
Recently, Mehran Chestnut, a.k.a King B., died on September 3, and there are still no details about why. He was 24-years-old.
In mid-November, San Diego local, and adult star Zac Stevens , 25, was found dead having only been active on social media a few days before. Details are still not clear about the young man’s death.
Also in November, 20-year-old Dimitri Kane was found dead which looked initially to be a suicide, but according to Towleroad upon further investigation, his death appeared to be an accidental overdose. Although those details are not readily available either.
Another mystery to the recent deaths are the times in which reports are made available. If it weren’t for sites such as the very NSFW blog str8upgayporn.com, these deaths may never be made public. Which is strange considering the popularity of some of these models.
Last month, Jasper Robinson, 21, died, but reports only surfaced this week of his passing. Again, only foggy details about his death were made public. Apparently, Robinson had a heart condition that may have contributed to his dying.
Of course adult film studios may want to keep details of actor’s deaths from public scrutiny. Some of these actors have signed contracts to porn powerhouses such as Men.com, Helix.com and other pay sites.
Publicizing the deaths of so many of their actors may be counter-productive. Social media seems to be the place to get initial information as friends post condolences, sometimes a month later.
Whatever one thinks of the pornography industry, and there should be a lot of opinions out there; NBC reports that the business makes $97 billion annually, there are human lives at stake and it appears that these performers are not getting the support they require.
Perhaps along with transgender support groups, HIV/AIDS therapies and coming out assistance, the LGBT community should also offer some guidance and outreach to the adult film actor who obviously needs help in either moving on or overcoming some unhealthy aspect of the industry.
Update The South Florida Gay News is reporting that The Broward County Medical Examiner has classified Dimitri Kane’s death as a “suicide.”
Timothy Rawles is Community Editor of SDGLN. He can be reached at [email protected], @reporter66 on Twitter, or by calling toll-free to 888-442-9639, ext. 713.
