Gay porn star Johnny Rahm committed suicide on November 7 https://adultfyi.com/read.aspx?ID=7020, but the controversy continues over his death. There was a follow-up article to suggest that Rahm was a victim of a sick gay porn industry. https://adultfyi.com/read.aspx?ID=7329. And porn star Gus Mattox writes the following piece for Southern Voice.

Porn Valley- THE DESPERATE YOUNG PERFORMERS are hired for pennies, and, in spite of the uncomfortable, sometimes unsanitary, conditions, are worked like animals.

Sweating and grunting from their labors they are expected to give 100 percent, risking the wrath of those in charge if they don’t.

The final product is so successful that the producers recoup their investment in mere months, and, still, the performers reap no further rewards from their contribution to its success.

No, I’m not describing my experience shooting “Taking Flight,” one of the more successful porn videos I made while under contract to Falcon Studios. What you just read was my experience performing in the national tour of the Broadway show, “42nd Street.”

In his Dec. 10 viewpoint piece, “Rest in peace, Johnny Rahm,” J. D. Cerna repeats some sensational, yet ultimately uninformed, clichés about the porn industry and the death of one of its performers.

While I don’t consider myself a cheerleader for the gay porn industry, I would like to offer an insider’s point of view of this understandably controversial subject.

I did not know Johnny Rahm, so I cannot speak to his situation specifically. However, in a recent letter to the Blade, Johnny Rahm’s brother wrote that Rahm’s tragic ending was not due to his affiliation with the gay porn industry, but rather with his battle over depression.

ON THE ISSUE OF GETTING PAID residuals for our work, there’s only one reason porn stars don’t receive them: It’s not in our contracts.

The reason we porn stars don’t have better contracts is that we don’t have a union to advocate for better terms. The idea of a porn performers’ union is appealing, but probably unworkable.

Right now one of the major issues facing Actors’ Equity, the mainstream theater union, is the number of performers who are willing to take jobs outside the jurisdiction of the union.

Imagine trying to enforce such a stricture, or levy an initiation fee, on young men who might have no plans to remain in the industry past the scene they’re shooting.

THERE DOES EXIST, HOWEVER, A foolproof safeguard against the most obvious ways performers are taken advantage of: a simple “no.”

I declined to renew my contract with Falcon at the end of a year. Why? Because they wouldn’t pay me what I asked for.

Since then I have made several videos as a freelancer, but have turned down more than I accepted. Why? Because they wouldn’t meet my scene rate. Not to brag, but it’s substantially more than $1,000.

I certainly understand how many young men might not feel the self-worth to decline a prospective gig (especially when the rent is due), but I think it’s safe to say these insecure, low-self-esteemed porn actors would also be insecure, low-self-esteemed waiters and paralegals and graphic designers.

Mr. Cerna writes, “You and I take a decent job with benefits for granted.” But unless he lives in Canada, I’m hard-pressed to know where he gets his information.

WEBSTER’S OFFERS A SECOND definition for “exploitation” (after “to use selfishly for one’s own advantage”): “draw from; make good use of.”

It is in this sprit that I am guilty of exploiting porn. In addition to all the usual reasons for taking my clothes off in front of a camera – including exhibitionism, money and ego – I had a hunch I could turn whatever celebrity I achieved to my advantage.

I am an actor and writer and musician, in addition to being a porn star. All three of those corollary careers have benefited from my increased visibility.

Does this make me a “greedy pariah?” You betcha.

It’s sadly true that in this business you encounter a disproportionate number of needy, emotionally fragile young men ready-to-be-exploited, who, by taking any job they’re offered, are destined for a lifetime of disappointment and heartache.

What’s that? Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t talking about the porn industry. I was talking about musical theater.