Hi guys,

sorry this is a bit off topic but if I'd placed it in the politics/debate section, no-one would have read it!

I am a gay academic who has written extrensively about gay culture on the Internet (mainly in relation to Japan). I have been asked by another gay academic and writer on Australia's gay porn culture (the author of a rather famous article entitled "Suck on this Mate" which crops up in various anthologies of queer culture), to contribute an essay on "the best gay porn site" for a volume he is editing for Blackwell's (US) entitled "Beautiful Things in Popular Culture." The purpose of the volume is to draw attention to usually overlooked aspects of popular culture - things that millions of us use but rarely get theorised or written about - like porn, TV soaps etc. Having been subscribed to cruisingforsex (under the name urusaineko - Japanese for "noisy cat") for over 2 years, I naturally thought about writing about CFS. My treatment, needless to say, would be celebratory, and, drawing on aspects of queer theory, would talk about the site's function in creating an international public space that is of exceptional importance for MSM - not just "gay" men.

Research ethics demand that I can't just take stuff of the site and cite it without permission. Keith, the cruisemaster, has said he's fine about me going public with the article and has answered some queries but what I really would like is some first-person quotes - stuff from actual users saying what you think is really cool/useful/revolutionary/remarkable or even daggy/uncool/frustrating about the site. Has it changed your lives? or has it just provided an alternative to the TV?

If you'd be kind enough to post your comments in this thread (on the understanding that I may use them) that would be great. If you want the quote to be used anonymously (i.e. without your handle, that's fine, too, just say so). Feel free to communicate anything you want or would like me to consider - but bear in mind I only have 5000 words!

Thanks guys.

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