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Gay Sex In The ’70s

Rating: 3 stars

By COLIN FLEMING | February 2, 2006

3.0 Stars

Taking as your subject a sexual free-for-all might seem an exercise in excess, but in the case of this Joseph Lovett documentary — which spans the period from the Stonewall riots of 1969 to the outbreak of AIDS in 1981 — libido-on-display can serve as its own means for social change. Interweaving candid interview clips from Manhattan’s ’70s scenesters — the “trawlers” of Christopher Street, the pier enthusiasts, the clubbers — with stills of burnt-out buildings where nightly trysts could occur by the hundreds, Gay Sex suggests that though with visibility any sex gets de-fetishized and becomes commonplace, its sensual and emotional appeal remain intact. And though taking the ritual out of sex may do away with some of the mystery, with candor comes charm, as the many accounts celebrating physical gratification here attest.