Gay Games VII — The XXX Factor

Our man-in-the-field, Big Peter Dixon, went looking for porn-industry folk who were competing in Chicago's Gay Games VII and filed this report.

It's amazing to see an entire city transformed for a gay event. And for the Gay Games in Chicago nothing I've experienced even comes close. Not International Mr. Leather, not a single circuit party, any Pride day and parade, not even the political marches in Washington and New York.

The Gay Games originated in San Francisco in 1982 and featured approximately 1,300 athletes from 12 countries competing in 17 sports. This summer's Gay Games VII, held July 15-22 in Chicago, was assisted by about 3,000 volunteers and featured 11,000 athletes from 70+ countries who participated in more than 40 sports and cultural events.

Hundreds of individual and team contests were held in nearly 100 sports arenas and performance venues in four counties in and around Chicago which hosted six different sports villages — yes, just like the regular Olympics. This doesn't even include all the additional cultural events (art, theater, music, comedy, political roundtables, night club events, sex clubbing) that were brought in specially or arranged by the city of Chicago in addition to the Gay Games.

Guys, who would have thought my fellow 'mos could get it together for such a big event?

I was psyched. I love athletes, the uniforms, the testosterone, the competition. Most of my favorite porn films have a sports theme. And let there be no doubt about it: Porn stars are athletes. You try holding someone up on your shoulders for 60 minutes at a time for a ten-minute fuck scene!

I love gay porn and sex is my favorite recreational activity, so I almost got a hard-on when GAYVN said I could cover the Games from the porn-industry angle for them. I started to put the word out to the studios and it wasn't too long before I heard of a javelin thrower, a wrestler, bodybuilders, and a swimmer, all with porn-industry connections, who would be competing.

I'll tell you right now so we can dispense with the suspense: For one reason or another, all but two of these guys either ended up not participating or declined my request to tag along as they encountered the rigors of the Games.

One of the two, photographer/ filmmaker Tom Bianchi took a silver medal in the Physique competition in the Men's Masters Over Age 60 (Modified) category. The other, photographer/ filmmaker/ Kristen Bjorn associate Barry Gollop, is a longtime friend who couldn't say no, so he's who I hung out with.

Barry Gollop, also known as The Bear, is a figure photographer who has been published by just about every gay porn magazine you've ever heard of. After working on 18 Kristen Bjorn films, he is proficient in all areas of creative production and direction. His own fuck art film, Moscow: The Power of Submission, won GAYVN's Best Foreign Release trophy, the Grabby Awards' Best International Video and Best International Director, and a bunch more.

In order to swim at the Gay Games you need to be a member of U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) or an affiliate. Barry has been competing in tournaments for ten years including the Gay Games in Sydney, Australia, four years ago. In 2004 he co-chaired International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA) which hosted its own competition of 1,200 swimmers in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I'm exhausted thinking about how much stuff he does — and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Barry represented the porn community well. He and his relay team, the Gold Coast Masters, took home a gold medal in the 200-Meter Medley Relay, a bronze in the 400-Meter Freestyle Relay, and another gold in the 200-Meter Freestyle Relay, which also broke the Gay Games record.

I asked him what the value of doing the games is, especially for someone like him who is already surrounded by hot fit guys. He reminded me that the Gay Games is actually about doing your personal best in whatever you like. His theory is something like, if we can be proud of ourselves first, we can be proud as a community. That's why the events are broken into age groups, skill levels, solo or team participation, same-gender pairing, and mixed-gender pairing — and why they have events like cheer, color guard, choral singing, poetry, darts, billiards, bowling, and ballroom dancing (which are often mentioned with a snicker).

Barry added, "We will all always be at a different place physically and in age. Personal best is supposed to downplay the competition and shift the mentality from outdoing others to challenging oneself. Proud as I am about my medals, that's not why I came to Chicago. I achieved more than I had hoped both in the water and out. That's most important."

Though I wasn't able to hook up with other porn guys, you know with 11,000 athletes, way more than one is or will be a hot stud in an industry I love. Like that superhot daddy bodybuilder in the physique competition or the sweet, gorgeous, 20-year-old with the ripped abs — headed next for the regular Olympics, representing Mexico — either one might be in gay porn next. And I won't be surprised if it's sooner rather than later.