I even had someone who, when I posted about Michael Douglass and HPV, said Douglass was “dirty” for getting the disease – a disease that affects 90% of all those who are sexually active by the time they are 25 years old – a disease that few people know of or discuss, despite the fact that 70 million Americans have it. Judging by the comments here, sometimes I feel there are many in the gay community who are quite prudish. In Ayumi Hamasaki’s video for “ How Beautiful You Are,” the couple is seen kissing, which is still a rarity in Japanese media.
Koh even appeared with his partner, Tien Tien, in music videos and web series to spread his message of acceptance and openness. In the years before his untimely death from peritonitis brought about in the process of treating appendicitis, Koh began traveling to events in Thailand and China to meet with the fans he inspired in the East-something that Asian stars before him wouldn’t dare do, fearing both social and legal repercussions. Koh found fame in being unashamed of his sexuality and, more or less, an abundantly proud gay man. Unlike many gay porn stars in Asian countries who often wear swim goggles or surgical masks while performing in order to protect their identities, Masaki Koh was one of the first and most recognizable stars to ditch the norm and appear without censors in his many gratuitous flicks. He provided a face and injected pride into the Asian LGBT scene, and by doing so, encouraged a huge number of his fans to accept themselves and reclaim the beauty of their sexuality. It’s difficult for Westerners to imagine an adult star being an unsung hero and proper role model for gay youth struggling to find acceptance, but to Eastern cultures that harshly demonize and discourage an openly gay lifestyle, Masaki Koh was just that. It’s been nearly a month since the gay porn industry experienced the passing of Masaki Koh, one of its most prolific stars, but discussion of the late star’s contribution to Japanese LGBT culture is still raging on social networks across the web.