Derek Kage Chats Straight for Pay Pt. 1

Derek Kage Chats Straight for Pay Pt. 1

Here at Fleshbot, we are constantly covering and discussing ever-changing trends in the adult industry. An increasing trend and current hot topic are gay porn actors going straight for pay. We know that gay for pay has a long-standing presence in the adult biz. We have stars like Johnny Rapid and Reese Rideout who identify as straight with female life partners, still they are leading names in the gay porn biz. There are sites devoted to gay men's fascination with straight men, think Broke Straight Boys. But still the murmur in the industry, especially now, is that gay porn roles should be given to gay porn actors. It is mirroring the discussion that is being had in current mainstream Hollywood, should LGBTQ only be playing LGBTQ characters? Gay for pay has been part of the industry and as long as there is money to be made, isn't going anywhere. On the flip side, straight-for-pay is popping up and is widely being contended. The term was first seen in the industry when gay porn actors of yesteryear Cameron Marshall and Blake Riley did heterosexual scenes. In 2018, Men.com released its first bisexual scene featuring Arad Winwin with a woman. Fans went ballistic, accusing Arad of selling out. Arad did make a statement saying that he was a gay man, and it was just a paying job. In the present day, porn has become very fluid. Trans and bisexual porn is climbing in popularity, and porn stars are now taking part in all kinds of scenes with all kinds of partners. Still, there is some backlash to seeing our favorite gay porn stars filming with women. That faction's consensus is that we have so fought hard for queer representation, catering to straight scenes dissolves that work. One of the highest in-demand gay adult performers, Derek Kage, was met with such backlash when he filmed a library of content with Sophia Locke. Even his most diehard fans started to question his motives and call him out as a fake gay man because he was doing heterosexual work. For a community that doesn't want to be restricted by labels like gay, it certainly has a lot to say about straight-for-pay. As our go-to industry insider, Derek sat down with us for a two-part interview as we dive into the world of gay porn stars filming with women.

In this first part, Derek addresses both gay-for-pay and straight-for-pay. We can always count on Derek to be blunt, sincere, and opinionated. We love Derek!

Photos courtesy of Derek Kage's Instagram

Why do you think gay audiences have such a fantasy of “bagging the straight guy” or turning them gay? We seem obsessed with being with straight guys, even guessing a mainstream celebrity’s sexuality.

I am no psychologist and can only guess as to why gay audiences love the fantasy of “bagging the straight guy.” I have more of a statistics mind and this fantasy seems to be limited to generally attractive straight men. This can be the case with any man of any orientation. It could also be that straight men have this appeal to gay men of being the “forbidden fruit” and that we want what we can’t have, but we might certainly try. As far as guessing a mainstream celebrity’s sexuality? Live and let live and respect their sexual journey. No one should feel compelled to justify their sexuality.

Gay for pay has long been a fixture in the adult industry. What has been your experience with gay-for-pay actors, is there much of a difference in filming with someone who is gay for pay?

I haven’t had much experience with gay-for-pay actors as most of the performers in the gay adult industry are actually gay or bisexual. The few genuinely straight, gay-for-pay actors I’ve performed with have been good performers, are reliable and are capable of completing a scene. That’s generally the main goal in the adult industry for male performers. Granted—we aren’t being intimate and building intense chemistry off-camera or anything, but that’s not always the case even with actual gay performers. All of this is to say: I do not mind working with straight male performers as long as they can perform.

With the number of queer performers out there, should we be giving gay porn roles to straight men?

Queer, gay, and bisexual men obviously should be represented in mainstream gay porn. I would say this is usually the case when it comes to casting for gay porn roles. Like I said before the majority of male performers I have worked with identify as queer, gay, or bisexual. I think some of these roles should be available for the few gay-for-pay performers that are in the industry as long as they perform well, are reliable, and are professional on set.

There’s a new hot topic in the biz, and that is straight for pay with many typically gay-only adult content creators now filming straight and bi porn. Where has the evolution of gay performers going straight come from, in your opinion?

This is an interesting question to answer. I do not know of many gay performers who also perform in strictly straight roles. Dillon Diaz comes to mind as a gay man who is reliable and professional. He quipped to me that he is a “pay-sexual” performer. Dillon, like me, knows it not only takes the ability to perform in heterosexual scenarios and situations but also requires a unique professionalism being a male working with cisgender women. The women on the straight side of the industry are the bigger stars because the vast majority of consumers buying straight porn are paying to see the women. You always have to respect boundaries, and limits, and understand your role as the male performer.

Does a male typically get paid more for filming a gay scene over a straight scene?

The gay studios pay more per scene than the straight studios do—sometimes double per scene and even more if the performer has an exclusive contract. You might be asking why would I perform on the straight side when I don’t make as much per scene? That is because even though I make less per scene, I get more work per month performing for bi, trans, and straight studios in addition to the gay studios. I’m only able to get so many scenes per month with gay studios because there are just fewer studios and fewer opportunities.

This last year, you filmed a lot of content with Sophia Locke. How did you two meet and what was the inspiration to start filming together?

I adore Sophia Locke. She is my closest friend in this industry and I owe so much to her for the current success of my career. I forget exactly how I came across her social media, but when I did I took notice of how beautiful she is and how hard she was working. I sent her a respectful DM letting her know I liked her content, how beautiful she is, and that I was curious about filming with cisgender women. That turned into heavy texting/sexting and talking about our boundaries, kinks, fetishes, and what kind of content we could create. We both got very busy and didn’t meet in person until the 2023 AVN Expo, but meeting in person solidified our interest. It wasn’t long before we finally got together and created magic on camera.

How did your fans react?

The majority of my fans reacted very positively, but some did say they would just pass over it as it wasn’t their cup of tea. Despite the mixed feelings from fans our first video together is, to date, my highest-selling video on my fan sites. This leads me to believe that my fans love the content that I create no matter who is involved.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where Derek addresses sexual fluidity, his personal feelings about filming straight content, and the future of the adult industry.

Check out Derek's chat about how he got into the industry, with tips on how you can get in the biz.

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