Throwback Thursday: 70’s Star Richard Locke and His Affect on Gay Culture

February 22, 2024
HANK ORSO

Richard Locke had a lock on our hearts...and other parts.

"‘My name.‘ I'm very proud of my work and everything I do. An artist signs his name to the canvas, and I sign my name."

The above quote is by 70's super-stud Richard Locke in a 1992 interview for Manshots. The response was to the question early in his porn career what he wanted his pseudonym to be in the movie credits. Now can you imagine what sized huevos this guy had to use his real name in hardcore gay porn? It's indicative of the man he was: forthright, honest, blunt.

Born in 1941 in Oakland, CA to two parents who were not only tolerant of the sexuality of both he and his gay brother, but proud and encouraging as well. Such support at that time seems almost incomprehensible, but there it was. After graduating high school he was an Army tank mechanic stationed in Germany before returning to civilian life and earning degrees in Film and History from Chico State University.

It goes without saying that, without the restraints of self-hatred often brought on by a repressive upbringing, Locke was free to be his own man and seek out a life on his own terms. If his film roles reflected any of that search and commitment, it was as a gay man unrestrained by any mainstream gay stereotype or culture. He didn't live a "gay lifestyle." He led his lifestyle, a bit of a desert nomad with his partner, a community volunteer, and a free-wheeling sexual connoisseur unfettered by emotional ties to the men he laid down with.

His first porn role was in 1974's Passing Strangers, and you do the math. He was already in his thirties before he started in porn, an age we think of as being "over the hill" in adult films. He was no pretty twink; he burst through the door as a hawt Daddy ready to take what's his.

Locke with Will Seagers in L.A. Tool and Die.

It was with Joe Gage's iconic "Working Man Trilogy" of Kansas City Trucking Co. (1976), El Paso Wrecking Corp. (1978), and the esteemed L.A. Tool & Die (1979) that he made his indelible mark. The final film is still regarded as one of the greatest explicit gay movies ever made, with John Burger, the author of One-Handed Histories: The Eroto-Politics of Gay Male Video Pornography, describing the sex as depicting "all levels of erotic experience faithfully documented by the porn industry... men could be whores, men could be monogamous or men could cruise the spectrum in between."

In the trilogy, Locke plays "Hank," a man looking to satisfy his lusts as he searches for the man of his dreams. Spoiler: he finds both, and along the way the sex he and many others experience are random, anonymous, spontaneous, in couples and groups, in public and private settings. It's a three-way road film one could say, as Locke's Hank travels from the Midwest to parts South and finally ends in California, finding love and partnership with the man he'd been searching for played Will Seagers.

Mechanics, gardeners, hitchhikers, tradesmen, businessmen, coaches, and so many dads! Gage also included some straight and bi scenes, the participants observed by gay guys which would then veer into man-on-man pairings. This sexually unencumbered and easy manner of portraying a wide range of sexualities was a hallmark of Gage films, and Locke led us through the maze with a strong, firm hand. (The scene between the coach and the father of a struggling student remains one of yer boy Hank here's most enduring video images!)

Dan Pace as Coach, Scott Sinclair as Mr. Carson in L.A. Tool and Die.

Back before baby gays were trained how to think and live and fuck from way too much time spent on the internet, we moved through different communities trying to figure things out for ourselves. To find the right balance that served us well. Some of us rejected the mincing stereotypes found in such "mainstream acceptable" fare as Boys In the Band and sought out a less urban, more simple and rugged depiction we felt was more akin to our natures. The blue-collar aesthetic of Locke in those Gage films struck the right chord for many and influenced how we lived and romanced. We didn't copy it; we recognized in ourselves and it gave us permission to be ourselves.

As AIDS started hitting, Locke became an educator and volunteer in hospices and AIDS wards in San Francisco and New York, ultimately settling into what became known as SF's holistic approach to AIDS care. He used his celebrity to draw a much-needed positive focus on safe sex practices and education. As he said, "Everybody loves a daddy, so if I can serve in that capacity to transmit information about good, clean, healthy sex, then I am more than happy to play that role." He can be seen in his volunteer capacity in this 2018 documentary about 5B, the country's first hospital ward at SF General Hospital, created in 1983, serving only AIDS patients.

Locke lost his own battle with HIV in 1996. He leaves behind a lasting film legacy, imprinting on the first post-Stonewall gay Gen-Xers like myself a freedom through honest sexual expression that, while somewhat a thing of the past, still influences current adult filmmakers.

There is only one last thing I hope to accomplish in doing pornography. When I was coming out, I didn't feel good about myself. Now I do feel good and I want to share that. If I can project that solid, good feeling within myself into the audience, to people who don't feel good about themselves, if they can say, "That's what I like; that's what I want to be like, open and free," then I will have accomplished one of the goals in my life — to bring freedom to other people, the freedom of being themselves. Richard Locke in this incredible interview with his brother Robert in Blueboy magazine, 1978.