#Tranpa, BONER MAGAZINE, 15. Oktober 2015

BONER MAGAZINE, 15. Oktober 2015: http://bonermagazine.com/tranpa/

Feminist and Queer porn are not so different from gay porn. Apart from the vaginas. All entertainment forms have experienced censorship, controversy and outrage in a heteronormative world. Even today a lot of  people cannot seem to understand, that everybody has the right to any consensual sexual act they like to perform.  Since 2009, the PorYes Awards (Feminist Porn Film Award) has been presented in Berlin and this year’s award ceremony takes place during the city’s own HustlaBall Circuit Weekend. A duplicity we find hard enough to ignore and sexy enough to share with you. One nominee to attend the event at Hackesche Höfe Cinemas this Saturday is Gender-bender Superstar Buck Angel, whose movies „Sexing the transmen“ plead for sexual diversity and self-determination.

Welcome to Berlin. Last time we saw you here was on a huge wall as the opening exhibit of the „Porn That Way“ exhibition at Schwules* Museum. Now you’re here in person, nominated for the PorYes Award. Are you excited?

I love, love, love Berlin!! It is one of my favorite cities. So I am excited for that and to see all my friends and fans. It is also so exciting to be nominated for a PorYes Award. I feel very honored to be among the many great filmmakers. 

Handsomely masculine with a beautiful pussy and an awesome attitude, have you always felt so confident about your body?

Well thank you my friend. For me it is very important to always stay humble around my success. I want to be approachable to people. As for my body, no way! I really actually hated my body for most of my life. Even in early transition I hated my body and my pussy. It wasn’t until I discovered sex with my new male body did I even start to feel connected, this is why making sex films is so important to me. I know how sex really helped me connect to something I always hated. So sharing my experience for others and to see how many people have learned to connect through my film work is the most awesome thing!

Who were the people who supported you most throughout your career? And who pissed you off most?

Hands down in my early days it was gay men, mostly the leather scenes and the bears. They just got me! It was crazy because some men wrote me to tell me that they have always fantasied about a man with a pussy and they just could not believe that I was here. For sure the straight guys were the ones who really hated me the most. I think that because they are so attached to their penis and I am saying “ You don’t need a penis to be a man.” It messes with their idea of what it means to be a man.

The idea of a queer community is old, the term itself, however, is still fairly new. What are your thoughts on it?

It’s great! I do remember also when that word was a negative one in our community. It’s awesome to see the reclaiming of this word. But we should be able to reclaim all words, not just words that some people in our community deem appropriate. For example the word “tranny”. Now this is a bad word in the USA, why? Makes no sense to reclaim queer but not tranny.

Do you consider yourself a role model or mentor for the trans* community? 

It is a weird question for me to answer. I do know that I am a role model, I did not choose to be but I am. So now I have started to work more closely with the younger trans community. I love it so much that I have been crowned #tranpa!

Why is being sex-positive so important?

Sex changed my life. It made me learn to love my body. I hated my body for pretty much my whole life, then in transition I still was having a hard time. Then I discovered jacking off and that changed my life. So I really want to share this with others. It is why I love myself. When you love yourself then others can love you back.

What words of wisdom do you have to share with the young people that need positive quality support and information to assist them with moving forward with their lives?

These two things are the most important things that I learned and can share, number one have patience. Number two, go to a mental health care professional. A therapist. You must take care of your brain in this transition or you will only be working on the outside and not the inside too.

Looking back at your life and with the knowledge that you have today, is there anything you would now have done differently?

Ohhhhh this question is not possible to answer.  I feel like I am this guy today because of my past and the mistakes I made. 

What are your plans for the future?

Books, documentaries, speaking engagements, conferences and being #tranpa to all my new trans kids!

You can meet Buck Angel at PorYes Award, 17th – 19th October in Berlin.