Take a look at
Wikipedia's story about 'Boys In The Sand. It was released in 1971, prior to 'Deep Throat' and was a milestone for
all porn movies, not just gay ones.
Made on an $8.000 budget and filmed on Fire Island, it was theatrically released in New York City grossing nearly $25,000 the first week. After being reviewed in 'Variety,' not just 'The Advocate,' it grossed over $140,000 in the first six months and was released nationwide and in other countries.
IMDB said it was the only X-rated film reviewed in the 'New York Times." That seems hard to believe, but a quick Google search did not show an NYT review of 'Deep Throat.'
Quite a few of those New York 8mm porn movies did get transferred to VHS and Beta at some point. I remember some of them being especially sleazy, uninhibited, and hot. As for 'Boys In The Sand,' it was sort of a visual poem, meant to be artistic, yet it was also sex-sex-sex.
Bob