Authentic LGBTQ+ Stories Include Authentic Sex Scenes

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High school was an interesting time filled with new friendships, changing bodies, and an increased curiosity in boys. Hormones were in the air and my mind was full of finding ways to fulfill that curiosity. For a Black, closeted queer, Christian 14 year old in North Carolina, the only way I was able to fulfill that curiosity was through media. Not through dial up porn either, but good old fashioned HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax. My parents added these channels to their cable bill and I was sneaking to the living room to watch them in the middle of the night in hopes of learning more about my budding queerness.

I did get lucky with Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain — a film deemed iconic for its time. Watching the rising tension between Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger finally build into a passionate sex scene, was everything to me then, but when I look back at that scene now, there are elements to it that are baffling to 29 year old me — like who has anal sex with just spit after a weekend of horseback riding and bean dinners? If you’re an individual who is quite familiar with sex between gay males, then you’re probably well aware of the mechanics that go into it; however, if you’re not, just know that cleaning and lube tend to be components for these activities. Yet like the sex between Jake and Heath, sex scenes on screen between other members of the LGBTQ+…