Gay Sex in the 70's

Recommended Documentary About 70s Gay Scene
The documentary Gay Sex in the 70s examines the lifestyle and culture of gay men from 1969 to 1981--the dawn of the AIDS era. The documentary was produced by former ABC Producer (20/20)Joseph Lovett. Gay Sex in the 70s is an excellent film.

The film primarily focuses on the disco era. Various gay men describe their lives and how things happened during that era. There is also a great deal of archived footage incorporated into the film. From back rooms at clubs to wild scenes in semi trucks at the docks things were definitely wild and free during that era.

Gay Sex in the 70s is a great historical film. The saddest part of the film is when the early 1980's are discussed. The dawn of the AIDS era really impacted the gay community in a major way. One man shows a pile of pictures of all of his friends who died from the disease. Another man tells a story about how one of his patients called him when he was hospitalized for what he was told was a strange cancer. One...

"New York was a constant cruising opportunity."
For a micro-budget documentary this is a good introduction to the gay scene in the 1970's, butt the title is misleading since it only tells the story of gay men in New York City in the 70's. There is absolutely nothing about anything outside of NYC which is sad because I was hoping this would talk some about gay oppression in other countries. Butt, oh well, I still enjoyed the film and was amazed by all the archival photos and video, especially the gay docks, "the trucks" and St. Mark's Baths! That was some crazy [...]!!! The St. Mark's Bath sounded awesome! Why can't there be something like that for heterosexuals nowadays?! I'd be there every weekend.

My main beef though is there just wasn't enough meat to the story. Yea, everybody is [...] and [...] and [...] nonstop, butt hearing about it over and over chafed me kinda raw. I wanted the film to penetrate deeper into the story. Instead it just poked around the rim. I wish there had been some interviews with somebody other...

Limited scope, but still worth a look
While I was only a kid during the 70s, this documentary provides a fascinating, bittersweet snapshot of the "golden age of gay sex," i.e. after Stonewall and before full-blown AIDS - along with Friedkin's "Cruising," this doc shows us what NYC must have been like if you were young, hot, and single - and even if you weren't you could score, too. Hard to believe that this time period is only two decades ago, but it seems like a distant world, a long-lost era so alien from out contemporary culture. I wish the film had made an attempt to also cover other area around the nation like SF, LA, etc. but this insider glimpse of NYC nostalgia makes you pine for "the good old days" even if, in tragic hindsight, we know they could literally kill you.

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