Buck Angel

Buck Angel
Born San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, United States
Nationality American
Occupation Adult film producer, actor, motivational speaker

Buck Angel is an American trans man, adult film producer, and motivational speaker. He is the founder of Buck Angel Entertainment, a media production company. He received the 2007 AVN Award as Transsexual Performer of the Year, and works as an advocate, educator, lecturer, and writer. Angel has served on the Board of Directors of the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance[1][2][3][4] since 2010; the foundation works to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right through advocacy and education.[5]

Earlier years

Angel was born in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California,[6] assigned female, and named Susan.[7] Growing up as a tomboy, his gender-atypical behavior during childhood was generally accepted at home, but once his secondary sex characteristics began to develop at around age 16, his home life became increasingly tense.[8]

After a suicidal gesture in high school, his parents sent him to therapy, where he first stated that he felt like a man. This was not well received by his family, and according to Angel, "They were going to put me in a mental institution." Unaware of the existence of treatments for gender dysphoria such as hormone replacement therapy, he lived for years as female, during which time he took drugs and drank alcohol. Though he was employed as a female professional model, he was generally dissatisfied with his identity and existence, and "was not loving life".[9]

Adult film career

Angel began to produce and star in his own line of adult films under the imprint Buck Angel Entertainment. By this time he identified and presented as male, but had not had any genital surgery and still had a vulva, so he promoted these works describing himself as "The Man With a Pussy".

In 2005, he appeared in the Titan Media release Cirque Noir, becoming the first trans man to be featured in an all-male film produced by a company specializing in gay male porn.[10][11] The same year he performed in Allanah Starr's Big Boob Adventures (directed by transsexual Gia Darling), which featured the first filmed sex scene between a trans woman (Allanah Starr) and a trans man.[12] The performance was nominated for the AVN Awards' "Most Outrageous Sex Scene". In 2007 Angel became the first and only trans man to win Transsexual Performer of the Year at the AVN Awards.[13] His 2008 performance in Buckback Mountain received nominations for "Best Alternative Release" and "Best Specialty Release" at the GayVN Awards.

Angel appeared in Naked, a 2008 documentary book and film about the adult film industry, by director Ed Powers. In the film he appears in a sex scene with porn star Wolf Hudson, produced by mainstream photographer Justin Lubin.[14]

Educational work

In 2012, Angel began to transition from the porn industry to sex education[15] and began touring the world speaking about human sexuality. He coined the catchphrase "it's not what's between your legs that defines you"[16] and his presentation "Bucking the System"[17] re-defines traditional notions of gender by educating his audience about gender fluidity and identity politics. Angel also tours to do Q & A sessions about his documentary, "Sexing the Transman[18]" and the autobiographical film " Mr. Angel".[19] He has made appearances at many universities around the world, as well as Pride events[20] and film festivals.[21] He has spoken at Sex Week at Yale University[22] and at IdeaCity10 in Toronto.[23]

In October of 2010, Angel contributed to Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" project by uploading his own personal coming out story to YouTube.[24] He has also produced multiple public service announcements on the topics of positive body image, LGBTQ family acceptance, queer people of colour and transgender health and well-being[25] Angel also engages in education about safe sex for trans men.

Between 2010–15 he created an award-winning series about trans male sexuality called "Sexing The Transman XXX", which is now in its fourth instalment.[26] This film won at the "Feminist Porn Awards" in 2012 for "Most Tantalizing Trans Film".[27]

Buck Angel Sculpture by Marc Quinn

Other activities

Angel has appeared on various talk shows including those of Howard Stern, Tyra Banks, and Maury Povich; as well as Secret Lives of Women in the US, the Morning Show in the UK, and the Jensen Show in the Netherlands.

British artist Marc Quinn included a life-size sculpture of Angel in his global tour.[28][29] Angel posed for Quinn's sculpture series on human transformations in 2010; the series was revealed at London's White Cube gallery. He was featured in four different bronze sculptures including two solo pieces, and two with Allanah Starr.[30] The life-sized sculpture of Angel is now a permanent fixture at the Adelaide Museum of Art.[31]

In 2012 he created a dating website for transgender men called BuckAngelDating.com,[32] because "there was still no special dating site catering to the unique needs of transmen."[33]

Angel created Trantastic Storytelling in 2015, a service which offers opportunities for transgender people to share their life experiences for educational purposes.[34]

Awards and nominations

Personal life

Angel was married to Karin Winslow (also known as Ilsa Strix), a San Francisco dominatrix. Angel filed for divorce when Winslow left him for her client, Lana Wachowski.[37][38][39]

Angel met his second wife, body piercer Elayne Angel, on a dating website[40] and the two married in New Orleans on November 17, 2003.[41][42] Elayne filed for divorce in May 2014.[43] Buck Angel claimed that she had moved $500,000 out of their joint bank account and requested $2000 in monthly spousal support.[43] In an effort to avoid alimony payments, Elayne claimed that their marriage should not have been legally recognized because Louisiana did not recognize same-sex marriage in 2003 and Buck has never had his genitals surgically altered and his birth certificate was not updated to male until after they were married.[42][43][44] In August 2014, the California Superior Court ruled that their marriage was valid due to the ambiguity in Louisiana's statute regarding sex reassignment surgery, which could include the "top-surgery" that Angel has received.[42][43][44]

Partial filmography

Adult films

Documentaries

Mainstream media

References

  1. ↑ Visco, Gerry (March 29, 2006). "Porn star Buck Angel is a woman or a man or a transexual". New York Press. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Eros.Com: Eros Guide Escort directory with escort photo listings and contacts for Eros female escorts, massage, bdsm, fetish, transsexuals, shemales and more". Eros-zine.com. October 20, 2011. Archived from the original on July 8, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Porn Star XXXposure – Buck Angel". Good Vibrations Magazine. May 23, 2007. Archived from the original on November 15, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  4. ↑ Trifle, Cherry (November 16, 2010). "More Bang For Your Buck: It Gets Better « Acceptance « Society". Edenfantasys.com. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  5. ↑ "About Us | Woodhull Freedom Foundation". www.woodhullfoundation.org. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  6. ↑ Matthew, Kirsten (2011). "Buck Wild". Dirty. No. 3 (3). Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Buck Angel talks about life as a transsexual porn star". SBS Two. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  8. ↑ Nichols, Jerome Stuart. "An Interview with Buck Angel – Let's Talk About Sex #2". LTASEX. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ Angel, Buck. "About Buck Angel". Archived from the original on March 24, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  10. ↑ "Susie Bright's Journal : Buck Angel and the 100% Man Clit". Susiebright.blogs.com. September 11, 2006. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  11. ↑ Banana Guide
  12. ↑ Taormino, Tristan (August 30, 2005). "Havin' Buck for Breakfast". The Village Voice. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  13. ↑ "Buck Angel". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  14. ↑ Buck Angel, Ed Powers directed documentary "NAKED". Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  15. ↑ Hess, Amanda (2012-09-19). "Buck Angel, Porn's Most Famous Trans Man, Transitions to Sex Ed". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  16. ↑ Padva, Gilad (2014). Sensational Pleasures in Cinema, Literature and Visual Culture: The Phallic Eye. United States of America: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 99. ISBN 9781137363640.
  17. ↑ "Transgender motivational Speaker Buck Angel". Buck Angel® Pioneering Filmmaker, Speaker, and Advocate The Official Fan Site!. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  18. ↑ "Buck Angel's Sexing The Transman Sex Education". FTM Transman Documentary Film Sexing The Transman-A Film by Buck Angel. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  19. ↑ "Mr. Angel". Brooklyn Film Festival. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  20. ↑ "The Buck Angel Experience". Stockholm Pride. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  21. ↑ "'Sexing The Transman' to Screen at San Francisco Film Festival". business.avn.com. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  22. ↑ "Transgender porn star shares story". Yale Daily News. February 15, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Buck Angel ideaCity10". YouTube. July 26, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  24. ↑ It Gets Better–Buck Angel, retrieved 2015-11-22
  25. ↑ "Public Service Announcements – Buck Angel LGBTQ Motivational Speaker, Filmmaker and Advocate". buckangelentertainment.com. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
  26. ↑ "Sexing The Transman XXX". Sexingthetransman.com. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Sexing the Transman XXX - Feminist Porn Awards". Feminist Porn Awards. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  28. ↑ Edward Mostyn (November 8, 2009). "Marc Quinn article". The Guardian (London). Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  29. ↑ "Photo from Getty Images". Daylife. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Body alteration". marcquinn.com. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  31. ↑ "Buck Angel - interview". Time Out Sydney. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
  32. ↑ "Buck Angel Launches Dating Site For Transgender Men". On Top Magazine. September 1, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
  33. ↑ "Buck Angel: Dating Technology for the FTM". The Huffington Post. August 31, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
  34. ↑ "Trantastic".
  35. ↑ "AVN Awards Past Winners". Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  36. ↑ "FPA 2008". Good For Her. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  37. ↑ Can Larry Wachowski really have changed sex between pictures? Damon Wise investigates The Guardian. May 3, 2008.
  38. ↑ El Misterio de Larry Wachowski RollingStone Argentina. January 3, 2006.
  39. ↑ Elliott, Stephen (January 13, 2006). "Rolling Stone Slanders The Transgender S&M Community". Huffington Post.
  40. ↑ Buck Angel, I met my amazing wife Elayne Angel on a site 10 2013.
  41. ↑ "Elayne Angel". Skin Deep 152. October 1, 2007. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  42. 1 2 3 "Former French Quarter Body Piercing Pro at Center of FTM Divorce Case". Nola Defender. August 13, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  43. 1 2 3 4 "Divorce and Transgender Spouses". The Hite Law Group. June 26, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  44. 1 2 Two Trans Men Come Away With Major Court Victories The Advocate. August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.

External links

Interviews

Documentaries

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