Partnership for a Drug-Free America, David

The commercial should air as it was originally filmed. It does matter what gender the young man, actually child, is having sex with. Would you still be arguing so energetically if it was a young girl saying the exact same thing? I don't think so. By the way, I am a gay male, out to anyone who matters to me.

I agree with the negative rating. They obviously chose a male gay prostitute instead of a female straight one because they meant to show the worst possible case. And they think homosexual relations make the prostitution just that much worse.

YES, I understand that the point of this ad is to show the degradation of being 'forced' into prostitution, and YES, I understand that for a straight man to be 'forced' to sell himself to another man makes the degradation more acute. Jason in Alexandria said "what's portrayed in this ad really happens... Get over it and get REAL." That is true. But the ad is ALSO antigay since it reinforces the idea that there is something disgusting and/or shameful about male-male sex. You can't have it both ways; i.e., you can't say the ad is 'powerful because real' and 'not antigay' at the same time, since it derives its power from homophobia. The commercial's producers might not be homophobic, but if they weren't trading on homophobia the ad wouldn't work. Leaving in the "I had sex with men" part undeniably makes the ad more powerful, AND undeniably makes it antigay. Its lack of homophobic intent does not change the fact that it has an indirect and powerful antigay message.

How can you possibly call this ad gay negative? Anyone who has to sell themselves to support a drug habit has indeed sunk to, as you put it, "the worst possible depth." If the ad had been about a young lesbian selling herself to men, would you be saying it was straight negative? I'm really sorry that the Partnership acquiesced to GLAAD's request to censor the ad.

How ridiculous to consider this a negative ad. Let's face the facts people: what is portrayed in this ad really happens. Surprised? Get over it and get REAL.

i disagree with the last comment. If a girl was doing drugs, she would say "sex for money to support her habit" This commercial equates sex between men as real low, and insinuates that gay men and drugs naturally go together. Shame on the advertiser for the negative associations they put out for gay men.

I don't think this ad deserves the rating you have given it. As an out gay man, I would be just as upset if I felt I was forced to have sex with women.

Despite this ad's "realism," this ad is very homophobic. It touches upon the deep fear, self loathing, and disgust of men having sex with men, whom we are working to alieviate, both within the gay community and the community at large. Not only does this ad imply that this is a low act on the part of any man, but it also implies that homosexual men are sex addicts. There are overtones of pedophilia in this as well, at the very least that gay men are predatory. More seriously, it perpetuates the idea that gay men cannot have stable long-term love-based relationships, and instead prefer casual sex. Some will say that I'm reading way too much into it, but the last thing we should be doing is reinforcing those unfortunate sterotypical attitudes. I commend GLAD for having this ad altered to avoid this unfortunate, "real", but very untypical portrail of male homosexuality.
Homosexual sex should not be portrayed as the biggest fear or the worst ourcome of drug addiction, because it is not. This pubic service announcement does a disservice. I'm surpised and disappointed that more people don't see it this way.

I think it's ridiculous to call this ad "gay negative"...it's about the consequences of drug abuse. The man in the ad threw his morality out the window in order to support his drug habit -- that's why he's crying. And yes, selling your body is a "horrible thought." It is a soul destroying, nasty place to be. And yes, prostitution out of desperation (if you're sober and you want to work in the sex trade, that's a different story) is one of the worst possible depths in which a person can sink...and that has nothing to do with being gay or straight.

This ad in no way maligns homosexuality. For this young, obviously straight young man having sex with men for money is a humiliating and disgusting thing. I imagine that anyone forced into prostitution whether they be male or female, homo or hetero sees selling themselves in the same way as this kid sees selling himself. I imagine I'd feel the same way he does if I were an addict supporting my habit by having sex with men, and I'm homosexual.

To those of you who thought that it isn't anti-gay and said 'what if it had been a woman instead' I want to ask, why exactly hadn't it been a woman? Precisely because the ad's meant to evoke horror at the thought of having to have sex with men.