Over the holidays I tend to find myself in a lot of airports. With my family scattered across the United States, I frequently had layovers and long trips to make it home for the Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday breaks. This year I flew home to Texas all the way from Berlin (and then again from Texas to Ohio to see some more family). As per usual, I had some time to kill in the airports which naturally led to your typical airport newsstands full of cheap paperbacks and glossy magazines.

Airports sell porn

I always noticed airport newsstands that sell porn but never thought too much about it. Then I became curious. Before flying out of Berlin last week I decided to take a quick walk-by of the pornography section. And, lo and behold, I actually found gay porn in an airport newsstand! I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen this before (granted, I wasn’t always looking). A million times flying in America and I’d always notice the Playboys and Hustlers shrink-wrapped on the top-shelf, but I’d never see gay porn. Again, magazines are dying and all and I wasn’t always looking, but I was honestly a bit surprised to see some gay porn in a Berlin airport.

Besides porn in the airport, though, I also never found any of the international gay magazines like Attitude or OUT—periodicals I used to always see when working in a bookstore. In America, I can’t remember ever seeing one of those (along the lines of a GQ or Details or something) on the airport newsstand. From doing a bit of reading (and a fair amount of travelling), I’d venture to guess that gay magazines are more popular in European airports than in their American counterparts. I’m not sure why, though again I could venture a less-than-happy guess.

Wait, why do airports even sell porn???

Since starting this blog, I’ve sought out a lot of gay-specific news online. Though I buy magazines so infrequently, airports are as good a place as any. But, thinking about it, why on earth do airports even sell porn magazines?!? Maybe all those long hours waiting, the mentality of feeling trapped in a confined space, cancelled flights, people on the go…does all that add up to make people feel the urge? Really?! Personally I’ve never bought porn in an airport newsstand, but maybe if they actually sold some gay magazines, I just might!

Further reading, if you’re interested:

• Why do newsstands sell porno at airports?
• Do travelers really buy those magazines?