While celebrating LGBTQ+ PRIDE Month, Billy Porter gets super candid about his love life as he admits to calling escorts and hiring a “professional” to teach him “how to bottom.” Porter made the confession in a new YouTube documentary, ‘Finding Fire Island,’ from producer Jess Rothschild.
RELATED: Billy Porter And Husband Adam Smith Call It Quits After 6 Years Of Marriage, They Remain Amicable
Last week, the third episode of the second season dropped. It was titled, “Sex Before the Internet,” and takes a look at “cruising” Fire Island and New York during the 1980s and early 1990s.
While participating in the series, Porter recalled his visits to Fire Island’s infamous Meat Rack — where visitors have spontaneous encounters. Porter said, “I’ve spent some time in the meat rack. I ain’t gonna tell you all my business! You know, I’m a gay man at a certain age. Yes, I was in the meat rack.”
He continued to share:
“I moved here December 27th, 1990, to be in the original cast of Miss Saigon. And so at the time, a lot of the Broadway community people went out there on Mondays because that was the day off. So you left, you went out on a Sunday night, you stayed through Tuesday afternoon, and you came back to do your show. I remember how magical it was. I’d never been to a place like that. We grew up very poor. I didn’t go on vacation. I’d never experienced a beach.”
Porter then recalled how hard it was being one of the only Black men on Fire Island back then. However, he confirmed it’s more diverse now. Later in the episode, Porter recalls magazine ads and phone lines that helped connect men before hooking up online. He admitted to responding to some of the advertisements. He confessed:
“Yeah. I called a couple of escorts from HX [a well-known gay magazine out of New York City]. I’m telling some real personal sh*t right now. You know, I was what you considered a top.”
Porter went on to explain that when the AIDS crisis (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) first broke, many people believed the STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) was something only bottoms could contract. Subsequently, some men became tops believing it would be more safe. Others began working out to become as fit and healthy-looking as possible, no matter what their paperwork read. Porter said:
“Oh, ‘I’m a top’ was a common, fear-based response. But by 30, I was ready to be versatile. And I didn’t really know where to go, and I wanted a professional. So, I did go to HX. And you had to vet over the phone. They had pictures, but you had to call, you had to talk. It wasn’t text message. You had to hear the voice. That was a part of the allure of it, your voice. But I, you know, had to hire a professional to teach me how to bottom.”
#Socialites, be sure to check out the post below, then leave us your thoughts in a comment after!