Photos: Hans Rosemond
Buck Angel is a trailblazer.
With an already established legacy in the LGBT community, he recently ventured with Perfect Fit Brand to create the first sex toy ever designed specifically for trans men. The trans porn star, activist, and motivational speaker is also about to appear as one of the 11 figures in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' new HBO documentary "The Trans List" - premiering tonight at 8:00 pm ET.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Angel at Blue Stockings Bookstore. During our conversation, we tackled topics such as The Trans List, rejection, the current political climate and Caitlyn Jenner.
You are one of the figures featured in the HBO documentary The Trans List premiering on HBO on December 5. Can you talk about that?
It's part of a series of documentaries that are all about marginalized minority communities. We have 11 people in it. I have seen it like four times now. They are all of these mini documentaries comprised of interviews showing a little bit about our backgrounds, our childhood photos, talking about our childhoods. I think you are going to love it. Everyone who walks out of it has loved it. The great thing about the 11 voices in the film, we all come from completely different places.
Janet Mock interviews each of us. I love her. She is amazing, beautiful, such a big part of our community. Her and Laverne are two of my favorite people. So smart, no ego at all. Very focused. Good people to have in our community. Even Caitlyn Jenner. I don't dislike her at all.
She is also part of the film. What else do you think about her?
That woman could have walked away. She is not the only voice of the movement. She even states that in The Trans List. She says, "I only know my story. This is just my story. I am not a representation." It's awesome that she gets this gigantic platform to finally say it. She is only one voice. She transitioned. To me - it's so powerful that she is part of our community and has a voice. She reaches people that I never could reach. That nobody on that "trans list" could reach except her. That is people like my parents, white middle America, people who are Bruce Jenner fans. We need to thank her for that instead of just ripping her apart.
There is this idea in our community that you can speak shitty to people or assume what they are doing is dangerous. We need to start loving each other. And give each other platforms and hugs and support and acknowledge, "Your opinion is different. But that's okay."
Tell our readers about The Buck-Off.
That came about after years, at least five years, of knowing a lot of trans men are disconnected from their genitals after they transition. They aren't like me. They aren't very embracing of it. They are very disconnected from it. I am a big believer that sex is a big part of transitioning. Loving your body and yourself is very important and understanding your body. If you choose not to have bottom surgery, how are you going to continue to function in life?
And bottom surgery for trans men is also much more experimental and intense and expensive.
Yes. Functioning may not happen, too. Fast forward to today, it has advanced a lot more. but it is still nothing compared to what a cis-gendered man's penis is. So that is why a lot of guy's opt out of that. But then they are not sexually connected to the bottom half of their body.
I thought of this idea many years ago to create a product that will enable trans men to connect with their genitals that is very masculine. So I invented The Buck-Off which is basically like a cis-man stroker. That you stick over your penis and you stroke. This you stick over your enlarged clitoris (our penis) and jack-off with it.
I invented it by using other toys made for men and cutting them down. Other trans men would do that. I went to every single manufacture, pretty much every top sex toy manufacture and every single one of them was like, "No. We can't do that. There is no market for this. Show us numbers. You have to prove this will sell."
How can I prove it when it doesn't exist? I would respond, "But you are going to take a chance and it will pay off. We will invent the market." But I still was rejected for about five years.
What shifted?
Someone introduced me to Steve Callow of Perfect Fit Brand. I called him and asked for a five-minute meeting. I just brought my prototype and two minutes into my pitch and I told him it doesn't exist in the whole word. He said, "Buck, that is a no brainer. Lets do it."
How has it been doing?
The first run sold out in less than a month! That is unheard of in this industry. I can pretty much guarantee that. Steve was amazed. We ordered boat loads more because I proved that there is a market here. Actually, some cis men are using our toy too. They are calling it a "knob polisher." But without Steve, I would never been able to do this. I am forever in debt to that man. So now we are doing a whole line of toys.
Wow! That is incredible. What did it feel to be validated after this struggle for so many years?
It feels like a dream come true which is a weird thing to say honestly but I am use to it. I started my work in 2002 and I had to fight to get where I am today. Especially in the pornographic world. They did not want to have my movies. They didn't think I was valid. They didn't think anybody would buy it. They didn't like what I bringing to the table because it didn't exist. They thought I was freaky because they didn't see it. Until I started to show that people are interested, it changed. That's just what it is. When you are an inventor or a pioneer, you are always pushing against no. I am use to pushing against no. But I am not the guy you say no to. I will continue to push. I know my idea is real and I just proved it.
It's not just the sex world. Even with my speaking around the world, people wouldn't bring me to speak because I was a porn star. Nobody. Until I realized all I needed to do was to re-brand myself as motivational speaker, the doors started to open. As "Tranpa" of the community, I transitioned 22 years ago so I really have a different understanding.
What advice would you give to young trans men who may want to get into the porn industry?
There is more visibility now but not what I would like to see. I can count the number of trans men on one hand who do porn. That is ridiculous. In a whole genre? That's it? But there is no money in porn. People think there is all of this money. Lately, I have actually been discouraging people to get into porn.
Why is that?
It was hindering for me. I wasn't allowed to become or do what I wanted to do because people would always go back to the porn star thing. And until I understood how to reinvent myself, I didn't figure it out. I am not anti-porn or anti-sex, clearly. But I am anti-ruining somebody's life. If you do a porn, that porn will be with you for the rest of your life. I am just an honest person. Now you can make the choice. I can tell you right now in five years if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer or a nanny, someone will Google you and it can go away like that.
There is also so much hypocrisy as well within the LGBTQ community because at times we praise people or fetishize them for doing these things. And then the second they try to do something else, we bring it up and we do it in a very sex shaming way.
Our community tends to be very vile towards each other. Especially to the people who have achieved or who have a bigger voice. I get trolled constantly that I am not a representation. That I shouldn't talk about my vagina. That I am a toxic example of masculinity. You should see some of the things that people say about me. Just because I am out there and speaking and they don't like what I have to say. but I think there is enough room for all of us.
And now with Donald Trump's looming presidency and the people he is appointing, we see the real enemy.
Exactly. That is the problem. We became too complacent. We have been too busy beating each other up inside the community and not looking to the outside at the real world. Hopefully, this will stop us. It is horrible this is happening but we have to stop tearing each other down. We are destroying our own community.
