19th
Buck Angel, A Man With a Pussy: LGB Without the T,” by Michael Lavers, Village Voice
As the undisputed king of transgender porn, Buck Angel thrives on his ability to deconstruct traditional notions of masculinity. He unabashedly promotes himself as a man with a pussy. Headlining the 2006 Black Party was a career high: “It was super-awesome—the audience was amazing,” Angel says. “Everything was really positive.” That was, however, far from the universal view among the thousands of hyper-masculine attendees. The Black Party—the mega dance-and-flesh fest held every March at Roseland—reflects the hyper-masculine ideal that dominates gayborhoods like Hell’s Kitchen, South Beach, and the Castro. Joe Jervis, live-blogging during the party, summed up the sentiments of many attendees: “Men who have been fucked, fisted, shackled, flogged, and pissed upon have finally crossed a lurid and yet rarely discussed carnal threshold. They have seen, in person, a pussy.” Angel himself concedes that his unconventional plumbing causes discomfort among gay men: “I don’t conform to what you tell me I should do,” he says. “The world is not black and white. Sexuality is not black and white. Gender is not black and white. And I’m putting that out there in your face.”
