Sex Is…
Director: Marc Huestis
Studio: Outside Productions
Running Time: 83 minutes

Sex is a multifaceted experience and as we learn in Marc Huestis award winning documentary it can make wonderful things happen and can totally devastate people. Released in 1993, Sex Is… is a groundbreaking exploration of sex during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Featuring candid interviews with a myriad of people this documentary is relatable, entertaining and above all thought provoking. It’s an invaluable time capsule depicting what it was like to be a sexually active gay man in the early 1990′s. Once you get past the initial dated look and feel of this film you are rewarded with a wealth of unique perspectives and insights into the time when sex in the community changed forever.

Director Marc Huestis does a great job of narrating and structuring the role of sex in the gay community. Starting with childhood the participants share stories of when they realized they were gay and of course their first sexual experiences. Freelance writer David Perry tells us how his father, in an effort to butch him up, would buy him muscle magazines, which David would then use as masturbation material telling himself it wasn’t gay because his father bought them. Throughout the film we get varying perspectives on gay sex from people like porn star Bard Phillips, film exhibitor Bob Hanks and Jim Glyer a minister with MCC San Francisco. Jim confesses to being married and only being able to have sex with his wife when he thought about other men. Confessional moments like Jim’s fill this documentary but no participant opens up more than Performing Artist, Poet and Playwright Wayne Corbitt.

Wayne’s story best encompasses the journey we take in this documentary. Born in 1952, Wayne was a true performer who was known for creating honest work about his identity as a gay black man who liked S&M and lived with HIV. His stories are more than just anecdotes they’re gripping admissions and no other moment in the film is as moving as when he opens up about his partner who helped him deal with his demons before dying of AIDS. Wayne takes us on an emotional journey much like the film and like the documentary leaves us with a feeling of hope and survival.

Director Marc Huestis also takes his turn in front of the camera and like Wayne is brutally honest about his experiences. He confesses to his promiscuous lifestyle and drug use. One of Marc’s most compelling moments comes when he admits to the audience that sex was an obsession to him and at a time when all of his friends were dying of AIDS he used sex to escape the feeling of dying. It’s a touching realization that comes as a moment of maturity both for the director and the film. It’s one of the many touching moments interwoven within this documentary of the various aspects of gay sex.

While AIDS takes up a big part of this documentary the film also touches on many other facets of sex between men. Thanks to interviews with Madame X and Bambi Locke the film briefly touches on transgender issues. There are also discussions on the effects of gay porn on sex including ethnicity in porn, phone sex, fetishes, sex and racism, and relationships. Monogamy is represented by R. Wood Massi and his long time partner Larry Brinker. Larry Brinker is a long time activist and advocate of domestic partnership and rights in the workforce. Interviewed alongside his partner they’re prove that conventional relationships can work in our community and in spite of how destructive sex can be at times, true commitment can overcome all.

After watching Sex Is… it’s easy to see why it was celebrated when it made it’s way around the film festival circuit. Shown in over ten countries and sixty cities around the world this documentary was the winner of the Best Gay Film Audience Award at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival. It’s a dose of history everyone engaging in gay sex should take time to experience.

Have you seen this film? Do you agree/disagree with my thoughts? Leave a comment and let me know!