The modern roots of films can be traced to the early 1970s when movies were shown in New York theaters. Over time the ' heterosexual adult industry blossomed in Southern California' and often included gay content. Several major shifts affected the gay porn industry: the advent of home video when anyone could purchase a movie to view in private the AIDS pandemic, which compelled models to be extremely healthy-looking and caused safer sex depictions to become the standard on-screen and the emergence of the Internet allowing live streaming, social networking and amateur pornography to change how stars are discovered, marketed and even viewed as the films do not have to be copied, packaged and delivered, although those options remain.
The list includes male actors in gay pornographic films who may be notable for their gay pornography and those who may be notable for other reasons or both.
