Tristan Taormino talks to Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen about the recent HIV scare in the adult industry and her decision to go condom only. Check out the video piece here and the longer written article here.
Recently, three adult industry performers tested positive for HIV, and there are unconfirmed, conflicting reports that there may be other performers who’ve tested positive. My heart goes out to all of them because it’s a life-changing diagnosis. I’m not interested in debating whether they contracted it on or off set, and I’m dismayed that people within the industry continue to engage in assumptions and finger-pointing about the now HIV positive performers. The important thing is that in the (albeit short) window of time between contracting the virus and receiving a positive test, they could have exposed other performers. These revelations—along with the recent syphilis scare and rumors that a male performer with Hepatitis C has been working without disclosing his status—have once again stimulated the public discussion about condoms in porn. These events, along with feedback from performers who said they’ve felt pressured not to use condoms in the past out of fear of losing work, have caused me to rethink my position.
From now on, I will require all performers I work with to test for STIs according to industry standards[1] and to use condoms in their scenes. Until now, I have adhered to industry standard STI testing and my sets have been condom optional, which, for me means that performers truly can choose to use condoms or not and I always have condoms available. I’ve shot several scenes with condoms (and other safer sex barriers), but the majority of the scenes have been condom-free. Because I want to empower performers to make decisions about all aspects of the work they do, I have respected their decisions in the past not to use condoms. I still want performers to have choices, and they can choose not to work with me if they don’t want to use condoms.
As a feminist pornographer, part of my mission is to support fair labor practices and create a positive work environment on my sets. The health, well being, and safety of the performers is my priority, and I believe that using condoms in addition to rigorous testing is the best way to prevent STI transmission. In the past, I have publicly spoken out against Measure B (as in this piece for The Huffington Post). I am still against mandatory condoms and government regulation of the adult industry. I still believe that the current fight is all about politics, not workers’ safety and rights. But my position on the use of condoms in my own productions has changed. I am not leveling judgment against producers, directors, or performers who choose not to use condoms. I am making the best decision I can based on my dedication to feminist and ethical production practices.
Condoms are not the only answer and not without issues. Performer, registered nurse, and activist Nina Hartley gives a compelling argument about why she believes that condoms can do more harm than good (briefly: she argues that condom use on porn sets causes “condom rash” leading to internal tissue damage that could increase the chances of STI transmission). Condoms don’t protect against every STI including herpes, chlamydia, and HPV, but they are an effective barrier for others STIs including HIV. Some people have latex allergies or sensitivities, and some can develop an allergy after repeated exposure to latex. There are several non-latex condoms, which many people report don’t have the same abrasive qualities as latex. Unfortunately, these alternatives don’t come in the range of sizes that latex condoms do, and, let’s face it, one-size-fits-most doesn’t apply to porn guys. I have always consulted with performers about what I can do to make their job safer and better. I will do the same when it comes to working with condoms. I will strive to find creative ways to decrease the amount of intercourse they have, thus decreasing wear and tear on their bodies (especially the bodies of female performers). I will consider requests by fluid-bonded couples who don’t want to use condoms. I will be a part of an open and ongoing dialogue and adapt as testing technology changes and safer sex practices evolve.
Safer sex issues have been a part of my professional life since I became a sex educator. But the news of HIV in the industry has a very personal dimension for me. My father, a gay man, was diagnosed with AIDS in 1993, and he died in 1995. That was before the good drugs, the cocktail, when AIDS was a death sentence. This hits far too close to home for me, and I’ve got to make a change as a result. Plenty of people say that no one wants to see condoms in porn. That no one cares about the safety of the people who make the images they masturbate to. I hope to prove them wrong, and I hope you, my audience, will help me do it.
P.S. On this subject, I’m quoted in this piece by Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen on CNN.
* * * * *
Because this is ultimately about the sex workers, their bodies, and their labor, I think it’s important to feature their voices in this discussion. This week, I publicly asked performers to anonymously respond to this question: If the choice was entirely yours—not a mandate, not law, not what viewers want, just completely up to you—would you use condoms when you perform? Why or why not? Here are some of their responses. Some of them have been edited and excerpted for length.
“Perhaps I was delusional, but there was a time where I really trusted everyone in porn. I thought we all had this secret handshake, like none of us would ever jeopardize each other’s health and we all agreed to the same code of conduct off camera. I will admit I was pretty sexually irresponsible before porn; I had a lot of partners and I rarely used condoms. Once I started doing porn, all of that behavior stopped. I knew I couldn’t do that anymore because I didn’t just have to think about myself anymore. For some reason, I assumed everyone else was the same way. I felt really safe in the industry for a long time and if anyone were to ask me about using a condom on set I would have laughed, and said they would be uncomfortable and unnecessary. Condoms to me were things that you used if you were having a one night stand with someone you didn’t know—not things you used with people you knew and trusted. Unfortunately, I don’t feel that way anymore. I think condoms are necessary now. I wish it wasn’t that way but it is. I blame a lot of this on piracy. All the tube sites and the torrent sites have made all the studios make less money. A lot of people feel less inclined to adhere to a certain code of conduct, because they just aren’t working that much or they are working for less than what they want, etc. It’s a bad domino effect. I don’t love the state that porn is in at the moment and perhaps these HIV outbreaks were a good wake up call to anyone who is irresponsible, but I think we have to adapt with the times, and now, I think condoms are necessary.”
“I don’t think this question can be answered in a vacuum. If you were to ask me whether I prefer to have sex with condoms in general, the answer would be, ‘No.’ It’s not even the sensation. I don’t like the smell. That said, I’ve had plenty of condom sex. Prior to porn becoming a significant part of my life, I always used condoms. They were never a deterrent from sex. I feel like porn has allowed for condom-less sex as a sort of privilege. I’ve gotten used to it. It’s been over three years since I’ve had sex with someone who wasn’t a recently tested, industry performer. As a man who has sex almost exclusively as a top (at least in regards to who is penetrating who) at this point in his life, I’m honestly not too worried about contracting STIs like HIV or Hepatitis. However, I understand that my partners may feel differently. Women who do boy/girl scenes in straight porn (and men who bottom in gay porn) are at a higher risk of contracting non-curable, potentially life-threatening STIs like HIV. So I have to ask myself whether using condoms is going to benefit the industry as a whole. I don’t honestly know the answer to that question. The industry is in flux and many things have yet to play out. All I can say is that I’m happy to use condoms when it is an option and my partner feels safer with them. I don’t believe hot sex and barrier protection are mutually exclusive. However, I don’t see a direct correlation between a lack of barrier protection and the current problems plaguing the adult industry. STI exposure incidents will continue to put a hold on production regardless of whether condoms are used or not. It is my opinion that economic disruption of adult media is driving many performers to unregulated forms of sex work that put them at higher risk for contracting STIs. The testing system is doing its job to keep these performers—once infected—from re-entering the talent pool. It just so happens that major flaws were discovered in the system over the past six months. As a result, testing protocol has become increasingly strict. While the kinks are being worked out, I commend producers who will allow performers the option to use condoms.”
“I’m not interested in performing with condoms, though I occasionally do so, whether it’s my scene partner’s preference, the producer’s rule, or (rarely) because I don’t trust my partner’s lifestyle choices. In that case, or if she doesn’t seem well, or depending on the freshness of her test, I have requested condoms, and I have never experienced pushback from a director on my choice. All-natural sex on camera is more intimate, exciting and trust-based. That’s what I look for in a scene as a viewer and that’s what I try to create as an artist. I want to be a safe place for my scene partner to let her sexual instincts express themselves. With condoms there is literally something between us, and the instinctual fantasies are dulled. HIV is not a major concern for me. In 500-plus scenes, I have never contracted an STI, though I tend to shoot with established and/or professional, safety-conscious scene partners…We need standards. Agents and producers are betraying their talent when they promote performers who don’t respect the work we’re doing. I think performers doing privates/prostitution and heavy drug use is a far bigger issue than this current condom debate.”
“If the choice were completely mine, I would use a condom for EVERY scene/performance. I believe that it is safer for performers to use condoms, period. I do not accept the arguments put forth by FSC and other industry leaders/lawyers that condoms are more dangerous to a performer’s health. I do not accept that condoms being used in our industry would significantly hurt sales, in fact I believe it would benefit our industry’s image. The only reason I do not request condoms, outside of Kink.com or Wicked (who support condom use), is because I know I will not be rehired IF they even honor the request at the time. I have witnessed talent blacklisted by companies because the girl has asked to use a condom. I think it would be more responsible for our industry and our industry’s reputation to promote safe sex practices to the general public. Personally, I don’t feel that the anti-condom sentiment expressed by the industry reflects the true feelings of the performers, especially female performers.”
“If the choice was mine and when the choice is mine, I choose to use condoms. I still think testing is critical and that testing should be much more frequent. An STI test that was taken the week of the production coupled with condoms and gloves would be ideal and would be closer to mirroring what I want from a new partner in my personal life. I think condoms can be sexy. Safer sex can be sexy. I want condoms and a test when I’m having sex with a partner on or off screen. A couple of reasons play into this including greatly reducing risk of STI transmission, doing what I feel is necessary to protect my body, feeling confident and turned on by the fact that we are being healthy and aware of our bodies, feeling turned on by communicating, stating boundaries, and sticking to boundaries and limits that are set to protect both myself and my partners, and lastly feeling a certain obligation knowing that the sex I’m having will be viewed by others and that if I can make safer sex sexy then I can encourage the use of gloves and condoms (on cocks and toys) for the general viewing/porn consuming public.”
“My ideal situation is presenting a clear, basic STI test of 14 days, being able to communicate with my co-star about any other known sexual health concerns, AND the use of safer sex barriers such as condoms and gloves. I prefer testing AND condoms, and I want this preference to not only be the choice made by me and my co-star, but also be a choice that is fully supported by the production team. My experience with the majority of productions that were “okay” with condom use for heterosexual scenes have demonstrated to me that condom use is uncommon in porn at best, and discouraged/prevented at worse. I’ve shown up on sets where no condoms were available, and once a crew member offered one of his own, stored in the hot glove compartment of his car. (For obvious reasons, I immediately started bringing my own safer sex kit to shoots.) In queer/feminist-minded (what I’ll simply call “GOOD”) porn environments, condoms were not only allowed, not only encouraged, but actually SUPPLIED…Ultimately, how I shoot is up to me, yet I often have to compromise safer sex practices due to perceived marketability. It has always been a disappointment. I would appreciate the opportunity for myself—and anyone else—to work the way I want.”
“Most mainstream companies are not willing to allow performers to chose whether or not they use condoms in their scenes. Burning Angel has decided with all of the recent unfortunate happenings in the industry, that it should be at performers’ discretion as to whether or not they want to use condoms in their scenes…I am super appreciative that they have made this choice to benefit their performers’ health and safety at any cost. I feel that this choice demonstrates a lot of what I stand for in this industry, which is to promote boundaries, consent, and healthy sexual choices.”
“If the choice was entirely mine, I would not use condoms when I perform. Condoms and my vagina don’t get along so well. I always get very irritated internally after shooting a scene with a condom. From what I understand, this makes me more, not less, susceptible to STDs and infection. Also, I don’t completely trust condoms to prevent STDs. Condoms break and fail. I would never have sex with someone, on or off camera, with just a condom and no test.”
“To me, the idea of using condoms—or not—is a very personal choice. When used correctly, condoms do lessen the spread of HIV and certain STIs, but they don’t protect against everything. While there are a select number of companies that will “allow” talent to use condoms (and one company that has been 100% condom ONLY for 14 years) many companies discourage the use of condoms because their sales will suffer. I also think it is VERY important to realize that no one entity can possibly be the voice for all performers and say that ALL talent wishes they were condom only. For example, even on a condom-only set, performers complain about having to use condoms and try to remove them during the softcore portion of the filming, citing discomfort for both players, as well as a struggle for the male performer to stay erect. I would like the choice to use condoms without the government mandating what I must do with my body while I am engaged in a very intimate act. I think that educating performers will be the key to enabling them to make informed decisions about their personal safety.”
“If the choice was completely up to me, I’d use condoms in porn with almost everyone, and use my discretion with the partner I’m fluid bonded to. Frankly, I’d *still* want to get tested, and have any sexual partners get tested (condoms break, after all); but hormonal birth control messes my body up and I’d rather use condoms as a form of barrier. Plus, I like to be an example to others and prove that safer sex can and is hot in the context of sexual experiences! I honestly find it sexy and want to demonstrate why on film so others can see that for themselves. I wouldn’t want to be forced to wear condoms without testing being required, which is what could happen, or have porn companies not hire me because I prefer to use condoms, which is what happens now. I’d prefer to make my own decisions.”
[1]Industry standards for testing are constantly evolving. Currently, a performer must test negative every 14 days or less for gonorrhea, chlamydia, Hepatitis A and B, syphilis, trichomoniasis, and HIV. The testing period was decreased from 30 days to 14 days just this week.
The newest TROUBLEfilms release is here! Shipping out to stores by January 11th and officially for sale on January 15th, Lesbian Curves is a full-length vignette-style feature that showcases curvaceous women getting each other off with bountiful body worship and hardcore sex.
On the shelf next to your best-selling Lesbian or BBW porn titles, Lesbian Curves fits right in with either, while also standing out on it’s own as a premier title that blends the two genres with perfect cohesion. This title will be easy to sell to your avid BBW fans as well as your lesbian porn aficionados. Lesbian Curves is a film that your customers will want to own on DVD, as it’s high definition content, gorgeous cover art, and fantastic bonus videos add special value to the hard copy.
This gorgeous film stars Courtney Trouble, Kelly Shibari, Betty Blac, Sophia St James, Sandy Bottoms, Kitty Stryker, Peppermint Fatty, and Eden Alexander and was shot in full HD.
Hard copy DVDs as well as digital screeners are also available to press for coverage or review. Request via email at info@troublefilms.com
To Order Lesbian Curves for your retail establishment:
Send Purchase Order to info@troublefilms.com
Lesbian Curves is $12/unit. We offer a 10% discount for over 15 dvds. There is a 10 dvd minimum. We can mix and match with any other dvds in the catalog: http://troublefilms.com/
http://troublefilms.com/
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About TROUBLEfilms
Lesbian Curves is TROUBLEfilms 3rd DVD release. TROUBLEfilms garnered 3 AVN award nominations this year for thier film and web projects Live Sex Show on DVD, queerporntube.com, and indiepornrevolution.com. TROUBLEfilms is a porn production company that focuses on sex-positive, diverse, and authentic representation headed by award-winning pornographer Courtney Trouble. TROUBLEfilms also serves as a distribution point for other great porn projects, like James Darling’s FTMFuckers.Com website and the films of Handbasket Productions/Tobi Hill-Meyer.
Established in 2011.
TROUBLEfilms’ newest project is lesbiancurves.com. It is a full website about the film, with an affiliate-loaded blog with extra content and curated links to other fantastic lesbian and BBW porn titles and websites. The entire project is produced, directed, edited, and released by Courtney Trouble.
About Courtney Trouble
Courtney Trouble is a film-maker, adult performer, photographer, queer rights activist, DIY genius, and an award-winning feminist pornographer. Courtney is the founder of TROUBLEfilms, IndiePornRevolution.Com, and QueerPorn.TV, as well of the director of 14 full-length films, including the Reel Queer Production line through Good Releasing and 3 films through their own line at TROUBLEfilms. For current releases, please see TROUBLEfilms.Com
Queer Porn Icon Courtney Trouble has been producing, directing, and performing in Queer Porn since 2002, and is responsible for coining the term “Queer Porn” as a genre in the mainstream industry. Nominated for 7 AVN Awards, and winner of 5 Feminist Porn Awards, Courtney Trouble’s films speak to an extremely fluid, authentic, and hardcore version of graphic sexual imagery.
Sept 7: Courtney Trouble and Dylan Ryan on Queer Porn, Sexual Fluidity, and Subverting Porn Formulas
This Friday, September 7th at 5pm PT / 8pm ET on Sex Out Loud, I spend the hour talking with two queer porn icons, Courtney Trouble and Dylan Ryan. These award-winning queer porn innovators will discuss their work together as well as share experiences from their individual careers, both behind and in front of the cameras. We’ll discuss queer porn – what is means and what it looks like – plus, sexual fluidity and how subverting expectations of porn is broadening their audience and fan base, bringing new queer viewers to the porn-watching table.
Courtney Trouble
Courtney Trouble is a film-maker, published and celebrated photographer, queer rights activist, DIY genius, and an award-winning feminist pornographer. Courtney is the founder of IndiePornRevolution.com. and QueerPorn.TV, as well of the director of 12 full-length films.
Queer Porn Icon Courtney Trouble has been producing, directing, and performing in Queer Porn since 2002, and is responsible for coining the term “Queer Porn” as a genre in the mainstream industry. Nominated for 3 AVN Awards, and winner of 4 Feminist Porn Awards, Courtney Trouble’s films speak to an extremely fluid, authentic, and hardcore version of graphic sexual imagery.
Courtney Trouble’s films, like Seven Minutes In Heaven: Coming Out!, Billy Castro Does The Mission, and the Roulette series, have become the new standard in queer porn. They feature performers that run the gamut of fame, gender, and sexual orientation, such as Jiz Lee, Wolf Hudson, Dylan Ryan, Lorelei Lee, Syd Blakovich and Madison Young.
No Fauxxx
NoFauxxx.Com (now IndiePornRevolution.com) was created in 2002 as a space to explore sex beyond straight, gay, lesbian, and gender binaries. This site led to the creation of the “Queer Porn” genre, with it’s all-inclusive casting and production standards. By all means an obscure, self-funded under-dog, No Fauxxx remains the longest-running porn site of it’s kind. No Fauxxx’s genre and gender -less navigation structure encourages the audience to think outside their own boxes and find something new and exciting to get off to
In 2002, Trouble created NoFauxxx.Com, the largest and longest-running queer porn site in history. It features the “No Fauxxx Foxes” – performers and models both amateur, professional, and famous – of all genders and sexual orientations.
NoFauxxx.Com and Courtney Trouble are major players in the expansion of the FTM (female-to-male) porn niche from 2002 forward, introducing many new FTM models and performers to the industry. “I wanted to do things that the mainstream adult industry wouldn’t do, and one of those things was working with trans men and expanding the near-non-existent genre. In a way, we have collaboratively been able to create a niche of pornography that is far, far less stereotyping or generalising by building it from nearly nothing, and inviting trans men to come into the niche and define it themselves.”
She has successfully mixed her lo-fi “do-it-yourself” indie-art aesthetic with an accessible, understandable, yet female-forward porn formula that the average porn consumer (whoever that is!) as well as the subversive, political, and inquisitive crowd can enjoy.
She started NoFauxxx.Com as a 19 year old photographer and web designer, with the purpose of creating an indie porn site that was authentic, empowering, and all-inclusive. She wanted it to break stereotypes in the adult industry, and act as a tool for ladies, queers, and artists, to explore the erotic and sexual side of creativity. She soon found herself as one of the founders of the queer porn movement, setting the stage for all that was to come.
Queer Porn TV
Launched in November 2010 with co-director Tina Horn, Courtney Trouble’s second porn site QueerPorn.TV features exclusive hard core content available for direct download, VOD, or from within the VIP Lounge (member’s area.) Stars on the site include Jiz Lee, Wolf Hudson, Dylan Ryan, Madison Young, Billy Castro, James Darling, Maggie Mayhem, Sophia St. James, and many more.
There is an incredible amount of free content on QueerPorn.TV – including in-depth video interviews with Queer Porn Stars already adored by QueerPorn.TV’s early fans. These intimate interviews delve into topics ranging from performing in porn, exhibitionism, kink, gender fluidity, and sexual appetite, allowing the user to access the stars of their favorite porn in a whole new way.
The freedom with which our stars express their own sexuality and appetites has resulted in content that can only be called genre defining.
QueerPornTV teamed up with woman-owned, woman-run sex toy boutique Smitten Kitten to produce sex educational videos on topics such as strap on sex, dildos, rope bondage, rough sex, female ejaculation, watching porn as a couple, and sex with vibrators.
Live Sex Show
Courtney Trouble’s 12th film, entitled Live Sex Show, was shot in front of a live audience of 200 people at 2010’s San Francisco’s Masturbate-a-Thon. Starring Nina Hartley and Jiz Lee in an educational yet filthy scene, April Flores and the Matador in a dramatically-lit, sexy love story, and Courtney herself in a climactic surprise 5-on-1 porn-star-on-director gang bang! This film marks her very first independent release under her new company TROUBLEfilms, which will umbrella all of her films, video projects, and porn web sites. Live Sex Show was filmed with major help from Carol Queen and Robert from the Center for Sex and Culture, and will partially benefit their Center financially through DVD sales and screenings.
Reel Queer Productions
Courtney Trouble has directed and edited 11 films for Reel Queer Productions, a video house she helped build with Good Releasing that documents authentic, edgy, queer sex and culture with relevant, intelligent films inclusive of the many sexualities that identify as queer. Among these titles are 4 plot-based hardcore films and the award-winning Roulette and Seven Minute In Heaven series. These films are available for sale and streaming VOD around the world, most notable from Courtney Trouble herself at her website CourtneyTrouble.Com.
Performances
Courtney Trouble is a fearless, feisty, and lust-worthy hardcore porn star. She’s fucked on film for Shine Louise Houston, Carlos Batts, Madison Young, PaddedKink, Kink.Com, Crash Pad Series, QueerPorn.TV, Cocksexual, Good Dyke Porn, and much much more.
“Being on both ends of the camera is important to me,” says Trouble. “Having sex on film is an extremely intimate act, and it’s something that I take seriously for many reasons. First of all, I find it insanely arousing fucking friends and sometimes strangers on film, it’s a high I can’t find anywhere else. Also, It’s a political act for me – my body deserves to be seen and publicly acknowledged as insanely sexy – and the way I fuck as a queer femme switch is enlightening and inspirational to people of all sexualities. And, logistically, it tremendously helps me direct. I think knowing what it’s like in front of the lights and the crew makes me a better director, I’m more prepared for the emotional, technical, and social aspects of shooting a hardcore scene.”
Photographer
The recipient of a Polaroid instant camera at age 8, Courtney Trouble’s life has been dedicated to photography. She spent high school and college in a dark room, and began shoot intimate, erotic portraits of her friends and lovers at 18 years old. She is known for her bright, high saturation, bold, and abusively honest straight-forward compositions, and has been published everywhere from On Our Backs to Bend Over magazine.
QueerPornTube.Com
QueerPornTube.Com is the very first user-generated, amateur and professional adult Tube Site catered directly towards the queer and sex-positive community, and of course their friends, lovers, and fans. This project was born from a desire to create a truly accessibly porn community, something entirely free so that adults of all class categories could participate in the queer porn movement. The clips on the site are uploaded by amateurs as well as indie porn companies, and comments, community building, and embedding videos is welcome. QueerPornTube is a free, universal porn site created by the community. This site is anti-piracy and does not allow the uploading of copyrighted videos.
Film Shorts, Music Videos
Courtney Trouble most recently directed Chapter One of Michelle Tea’s “Valencia: The Movie/s,” a film that consists of 21 director’s unique takes on each chapter of the legendary queer memoir. Her chapter, the introduction to the film, features a lifelike fisting scene and boasts a soundtrack of Bikini Kill! Courtney has also directed music videos for pop star Jenna Riot and indie rock band French Quarter.
Dylan Ryan
After working at the Lusty Lady and Good Vibrations in San Francisco, Dylan Ryan started her porn career in 2003 with Shine Lousie Houston’s The Crash Pad. Since then, this porn superhero has starred in over 45 films, including Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Pegging, Expert Guide to Female Orgasms, and Rough Sex 2. She’s collaborated with Courtney Trouble and was voted Heartthrob of the Year in 2009 at the Feminist Porn Awards. Follow her on Twitter (@thedylanryan) and see more of her work on her Tumblr.
James Darling has starting a new transsexual porn site called FTMFucker.com under the TROUBLEfilms network – Watch the trailer and read more about it below!
Oakland, CA – FTMFucker.Com launched recently, featuring exclusive content directed by FTM porn star and up and coming director James Darling. Darling won Heartthrob of the Year at 2012’s Feminist Porn Awards in Toronto, and has appeared in dozens of adult releases this year alone.
FTMFUCKER.Com is one of the first porn sites of it’s kind – featuring gay porn, straight porn, and queer porn starring at least one trans man in every scene. FTM Fucker updates with fresh, exclusive new content once a week, including hardcore video shot in HD, and high resolution photo galleries you can download.
“Trans men being seen as erotic beings is relatively new phenomenon and I’m proud to be a part. This is only the beginning!” – James Darling said in his FPA 2012 Heartthrob acceptance speech. He adds, “Trans men have a special chance to define our own language and terms, how we are spoken about and marketed in porn, because it is a blossoming, exciting new niche in the adult industry. This launch marks an exciting new era – there has been a lack of porn featuring trans men for a long time, and now there’s FTM Fucker!”
FTMFucker is hosted by TROUBLEfilms, led by queer porn icon Courtney Trouble. TROUBLEfilms hosts the pay sites QueerPorn.TV, Indie Porn Revolution, the amateur submission-based Queer Porn Tube, a VOD store at CourtneyTrouble.Com/Store, plus distributed films by up and coming porn directors such as Tobi Hill-Meyer (Doing It Ourselves, Genderfellator) and Courtney Trouble (Live Sex Show, Fuckstyles) – with much more to come in the following year. Darling states, “Joining up with TROUBLEfilms was the obvious best fit, as they are known for their longstanding reputation for ethical production practices and a dedicated cult following that’s excited for this kind of porn.”
“Bringing James Darling and FTMFucker.Com into the TROUBLEfilms family solidifys TROUBLEfilms as the go-to spot for ethically made, interesting, high quality indie porn,” says Courtney Trouble. “With IndiePornRevolution.Com being one of the first porn sites to feature trans men ten years ago, branching out into a site that specifically highlights FTM performers is the logical next step.
FTM Porn may be the first genre of its kind to be defined by and for the performers highlighted. Giving trans men the opportunity to film their own sex lives, define their sexualities, and work in the adult industry on their own terms sets a standard for other genres to follow suit. James Darling is an incredible porn director and will take this industry by storm – TROUBLEfilms is just lucky to be on board!”
James Darling is a FTM porn performer and sex educator based in the Bay Area. He won Sex Performer of the Year by Transguys.com in 2010 and Feminist Porn Awards Heartthrob of the Year 2012 for his work across multiple porn genres.
CALL FOR ENTRIES
San Francisco Transgender Film Festival
Deadline: September 5, 2012
Festival: November 8-11, 2012 (San Francisco, USA)
INFO:www.sftff.org
SFTFF accepts narrative, documentary, experimental, animated films and music videos. All work should be created by transgender/gender variant people. All work submitted must be 20 minutes or under. Please only submit one film.
The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival was founded in 1997 as North America’s first transgender film festival. We exhibit groundbreaking, provocative, outrageous, courageous, moving and innovative works that show the complexity of lives lived on the transgender spectrum. The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival is co-presented by Fresh Meat Productions.
DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: September 5, 2011
Early submissions are encouraged.
There is no entry fee.
FORMAT
Please send your submissions on DVD only (North American format).
Please note: If your film is accepted, you may be asked to send us your film in Quicktime format.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR FILM
- Download and complete the Entry Form and print a copy.
- Send your Entry Form and one copy of your work (DVD only) to:
SF Transgender Film Festival
c/o Fresh Meat Productions
P.O. Box 460670
San Francisco, CA
94146-0670
USA
- Email a 300-dpi (high resolution) JPG image for your film to sftransfilm@gmail.com.
- We will email you notification when your submission has been received.
GUIDELINES
- Please include all required materials when submitting your entry – don’t forget to email us a JPG for press purposes (All work must be 20 minutes or less! No exceptions).
- We cannot return any submitted materials.
- We will notify you if your work is accepted by September 10th.
- Once a film is submitted, it may not be withdrawn for any reason.
- For questions or more information, contact: sftransfilm@gmail.com.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
The Festival will take place at CounterPulse in San Francisco, November 8-11. For venue, program and schedule information, visit our Calendar page in September. In the meantime, Join our email list to receive updates.
For more information on how to submit your film, please visit our Submissions Page.
Tonight I’m excited that The Mayhems are able to join us on Sex Out Loud! Here’s some info about them before we go live at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT. (Don’t forget you can listen here.)
Maggie Mayhem
When Maggie Mayhem started volunteering as an HIV test counselor at UC Santa Cruz in 2003, she had no idea how radically it would change the direction of her entire life. Before long, she became a vocal activist for harm reduction and sex positivity. She has served as the coordinator of the UC Santa Cruz Anonymous HIV testing program, HIV Senior Specialist of Larkin Street Youth Services, and grant recipient for HIV prevention and care work in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Maggie Mayhem is also a writer, speaker, and performance artist as well as a queer porn performer who has appeared on Kink.Com, Crashpad Series, Madison Bound, Girlfriends Films, QueerPorn.TV, and on the website she built with her partner Ned, MeetTheMayhems.Com
Ned Mayhem
Ned Mayhem is a physics graduate student who has been a performer in straight, gay, and queer pornography since 2010. He has appeared in films that have been recognized at Cinekink, AVN, and Feminist Porn Awards. With his partner Maggie Mayhem, Ned runs the independent “DIY” porn site MeetTheMayhems.com showcasing the couple’s own brand of perversely heartwarming queer sexuality. Ned also uses the software he has developed for MeetTheMayhems to empower other adult performers and independent studios to control their own web presence and monetize their own content. In addition to MeetTheMayhems.com, Ned’s software runs such sites as Femifist.com, QueerlySF.com, and KittyStryker.com. Ned loves to share his pornographics enthusiasm with crowds, and he’s spoken at MomentumCon 2012, Sex Week at Harvard, Arse Elektronika, Hackmeet, Nerd Nite SF, and OpenSF.