Billy Porter is getting raw and unfiltered about his sex life in a new YouTube documentary. The Emmy, Tony, and Grammy-winning star made the confession during the third episode of Finding Fire Island from producer Jess Rothschild. The season two episode, titled “Sex Before the Internet,” explores cruising culture on Fire Island and in New York during the 1980s and early 1990s.
In the episode, Porter opens up about his visits to Fire Island’s infamous Meat Rack, a wooded area between Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines known for spontaneous encounters. “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,” Porter said.
Porter recalled moving to New York on December 27, 1990, to join the original cast of Miss Saigon. “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,” he shared. During that era, Broadway performers would go out to Fire Island on Sunday nights and stay through Tuesday afternoons before returning for shows.
The star also reflected on being one of the only Black men on Fire Island at the time, noting the destination has since become more diverse.
Porter admitted to responding to advertisements in HX, a well-known New York City gay magazine that connected men before the rise of online hookups. “Yeah. I called a couple of escorts from HX,” he confessed. “I’m telling some real personal sh*t right now.”
He explained that during the early AIDS crisis, many believed the disease was something only bottoms could contract, leading some men to identify as tops out of fear. “Oh, ‘I’m a top’ was a common, fear-based response,” Porter said.
“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,” he continued. He described the vetting process: “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”.
The Pose star concluded with a laugh: “I had to hire a professional to teach me how to bottom. Don’t ask me questions you don’t want the answers to, honey!”
