Gay porn star Jason Domino’s BBC Three documentary reveals what it’s like to grow up gay in church
Gay porn star Jason Domino is on a mission to educate the world about HIV and demystify the ways in which it can be transmitted.
In a film he made for BBC Three, Domino – who runs a charity making adult films to spread sexual health information – documents his life from growing up gay in the church, to making porn films and how that resulted in his drive to educate people about the truth behind HIV.
In one poignant clip from What I Wish I’d Known, Domino recalls realising he was gay and desperately trying to condition himself not to be.
Watch the documentary below:
He tells the camera: “My brother got Zoo magazine once or twice, he would take the centrefolds out and put them on his wall.
“But for me, because I was getting into gay porn, I was trying to build up negative associations with sexual things like gay porn and looking at men.
“So what I did was buy a headset which would strap on around the back of my head and I would look at the image, and if I liked it to the point I was sexually aroused I would take a sip from a large bottle of water or mouthwash and I would try and give myself shudders because of the taste.”
In fact, Domino felt his situation was so hopeless that he contacted a so-called gay conversion camp.
“Watching gay porn, I wasn’t comfortable with it because of my faith,” he confessed.
“I contacted a ‘pray the gay away’ camp and got the details from my church, I eventually got to this camp and tried to change my sexuality.”
However, as Domino started to accept being gay, he decided to get into porn in order to explore his sexuality, which is where he encountered someone with HIV for the first time.
He revealed: “My first scene I had this amazing feeling as I realised I was able to it, and I had chemistry with the person I was with.
“When we had finished filming, I had a chat with my performer and he let me know that he was HIV-positive. I didn’t know whether it would mean that I would be able to have sex again, that feeling of worry, of isolation, I didn’t know if I would die, I didn’t know what was next, it was very, very scary.
“Actually the person I was performing with was undetectable and so there was no risk of me contracting HIV anyway, learning that I felt comfortable to go straight back into porn again.”
Now, Domino uses his charity and platform to educate about the reality of HIV and informs people about PrEP and UequalsU.
He spreads the message that once someone with HIV is undetectable, it is impossible for them to pass on the disease, which he has taken to the UN and hopes will prevent sufferers being ostracised due to the ignorance of others.
