Objecting to the ban, art lovers note that Mr Kee has worked with some of the biggest big names in the entertainment industry, such as Quentin Tarantino and Naomi Campbell. Others point to the 20-odd shots available on the Internet, and say there is no full frontal nudity at all. They argue that Asian superstars wouldn't pose completely naked for Mr Kee anyway.

They also point to MDA guidelines on nudity, which find acceptable depictions of 'rear nudity (that are) not crude or exploitative (and) bare-breasted women and female or male genitals (that are) tasteful and relevant to the story'.

So MDA is behind the times, they allege.

I managed to have a look at the book, and discovered that the photos on the Internet don't give the full picture. In the book, you get pictures with full frontal nudity, with pubic hair and male genitalia in full unobstructed view.

True, some Asian celebrities, such as China's Gong Li, Taiwan's Shu Qi and Hong Kong's Tony Leung, were shot fully dressed. True, Hong Kong actors Andy Hui and Daniel Wu posed with only wisps of pubic hair peeking out.

But some 10 per cent of the pictures are those of full-frontal nudes, mostly Japanese models or singers, predominantly male, with their manhood not obscured from view in any way, shape or form.

Pro-gay websites like www.yawningbread.org identify Mr Kee as a gay celebrity. Indeed, it is hard to escape the impression that the work has a homoerotic motif running through it.

What comes next may sound counter-intuitive, but I would argue that the gay community itself should also support the ban. This is because gay porn promotes an illusion of gay males as young, muscular, good-looking and able-bodied. This fantasy is quite at odds with the bodies that most real gays have. Fed a diet of stereotypical images of perfectly buffed men with large penises, gays may develop unrealistic expectations about their own bodies. This can only compound the pre-existing feelings among gays that society marginalises them because of their sexual orientation.

Body image aside, gay porn also subverts gays by offering them two choices Try to become like the straight and dominant men portrayed - whom society says you have really never been - or be the effeminate subordinates you are, whom 'real men' like those in these pictures use and cast away.

Gay porn says to gays that they are less relevant in society and not entitled to equal respect because they are less male. It supports a system of inequality where men trump women and straight men trump gay men.

Back to SuperStars itself. There is some question about professional integrity too. For example, after viewing the shots which showed his pubic hair, Hong Kong singer-actor Andy Hui requested that they not be used. Yet they were. One wonders about the motivation for infringing upon as fundamental a tenet of professional behaviour as that of consent.

Then there is the question of artistic merit. Hong Kong mega-star Aaron Kwok's management said that pictures in which he looks apparently nude had been digitally doctored He had posed in a pair of black swimming briefs, which appeared to have been erased afterwards.