Straight bait

A gay porn genre in which a supposedly straight man is talked, paid or tricked into sex with another man: a staged fantasy, not a real trap.

Straight bait is a gay porn genre built on one fantasy: a supposedly straight man is talked, paid or tricked into sex with another man. Baiting is the act; the bait is the money, the promise of a woman or simply a dare. The viewer gets to watch the straight guy cross the line, and the whole thrill is in the crossing.

It is a fantasy, not a documentary. In the vast majority of these scenes the "straight guy" is a performer who knows exactly what he signed up for, and the surprise on his face was rehearsed.

How it works

The scripts are few and loved. A guy is approached on the street and offered cash for a quick video. A guy is blindfolded and told a woman will suck him off, then takes off the blindfold and finds a man, protests, and goes ahead for more money. A guy is "tricked" by a friend, a roommate or a cameraman who keeps raising the price. The most famous version is the Bait Bus, built around a van and a bait-and-switch.

Writing about the genre, Out magazine noted that it is popular in the gay community and that most of these videos appear to be scripted, with nobody actually deceived.

Why it sells

Straight bait plays on old and complicated feelings. Many gay men grew up wanting straight friends they could not have, and the genre lets them watch that wall come down. It also overlaps with the appeal of gay for pay performers and trade: masculinity that is not supposed to be available, made available.

It sits next to casting scenes, frat porn and military porn, all genres where part of the story is that the man "doesn't usually do this".

The criticism

Not everybody loves it. Some gay men find the genre's pleasure in a straight man's reluctance uncomfortable, and others point out that it keeps alive the idea that gay sex is something a real man has to be paid or fooled into. Its fans answer that it is fantasy, like the plumber who never fixes the sink, and that everyone on screen got paid and went home happy.

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