May 29 2015

Trans Standards: Michelle Austin on Body Positivity, Beauty Expectations, and Changing the Game

TransEthics: What were you doing before you got into sex work?

Michelle Austin: I was a hair dresser. I spent over eight years working in a high-end salon in Chicago area. It was the best experience I ever had but after eight plus years the owner shut it down. We both went to work for another salon but I fell out of love for the industry. I think it had to do more so with I was depressed with the Chicago weather and having back and hand issues. Which comes from doing that kind of work. I also transitioned in that job. So, part of me misses it because it’s a big part of my life. I ran the salon the last two years which also helped me learn a lot of business skills I carry with me today.

TE: What attracted you to the sex industries? Continue reading →

May 12 2015

Trans Controversial: Kelly Klaymour on the Sex Industry, SJWs, and Ethics in Feminism

TransEthics: What is it that first attracted you to sex work?

Kelly Klaymour: I thought there was way more money in it than there actually is… like enough to pay for SRS kind of scrilla. [But] little did I know… (laughs) Plus, I never have really had issue with being naked, so hey why not get to bone [girls who are] way out of my league and –what I thought would be– a decent living. (laughter)

TE: You mentioned before that you tend to be a bit more conservative than others I’ve interviewed. Would you expand a little on that?

KK: Sure thing. I had considered myself quite far on the left side, until being apart of this community for an extended amount of time. I’ve slowly realized I’m what’s considered a “shitlord” of sorts now (laughs). I guess my main issue that ends up blowing up into debates over social media is my opinion that nobody is entitled to [porn]work, and that I support the industry as a free market capitalistic complex.

TE: Having said that, I’ve noticed there seems to be a very public struggle on social media between independent porn studios, and the established big-name TS porn companies. Do you have any thoughts on that? Continue reading →

May 10 2015

Trans Triumphs: Christy Pierson on Realizing Childhood Dreams, Religion, and Sexuality

TransEthics: When did you come out as transgender?

Christy Pierson: Initially in 1999 when I was living in North Idaho, but there was not enough support there to transition. There had been a trans woman on a local Police Dept who had lost her job because of being trans right around that time too. She later was awarded back pay and her job back. I decided that the time was not correct and headed back into being all the man I could be.

Ten years later in 2009 is when I could no longer keep the door on it’s hinges or patch it up enough and I admited to being Christy. It really was a life or death time… I was drinking myself to death.

TE: There’s a lot of stories in the media regarding trans children. When you hear such stories, are you envious at all?

CP: Yes and No. Yes, because there are things which would not have developed and I now need to correct. Such as trachea, facial hair and voice among other things. Continue reading →

May 4 2015

Trans Erasure: Riley Alejandro on Non-Binary Issues, Genderfucking, and Media

TransEthics: When did you first realize that you’re transgender?

Riley Alejandro: I didn’t know that transgender was a thing until I was at least in my teens, probably around thirteen or fourteen, when I had access to the internet. I first started expressing issues with being told I was a girl around 8 is my first thought of it, telling my parents that I wasn’t a girl, that I was a boy and making up a lie as to why. I was forced to go to therapy. That’s when I also learned that this wasn’t something that people accepted too well. Continue reading →

May 2 2015

Trans Losses: Jules Vilmur on Raising a Trans Teen, and Fixing Society

Editor’s note: Suicide and the loss of a child are discussed in this interview. Appropriate trigger warnings apply.

TransEthics: You are the first cis person to be interviewed by TransEthics. Being the parent of a trans child, I imagine you have a somewhat unique perspective. But first, tell me how you personally feel about the use of the words “cis” and “cisgender”.

Jules Vilmur: I hear people complain about the use of cis and cisgender, but it doesn’t bother me. I get the need for it in conversations about gender and such. There’s a lot of eye-rolling by cis people at the thought of having to qualify their gender but for me it’s a way of understanding that gender sometimes does need qualification. Continue reading →

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Celebrating the badassness that is trans people, from sex work to activism.

Monthly Archives: May 2015