Buck Angel

Buck Angel (born June 5, 1962) is an American sex educator and a former pornographic film actor and producer.

He founded the media production company Buck Angel Entertainment.

A transgender man, he currently works as an advocate and educator.

Angel was born in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles on June 5, 1962.

He was born female.

Growing up as a tomboy, his gender-atypical behavior during childhood was generally accepted at home, but as his secondary sex characteristics continued to develop around age 16, his home and school life became increasingly tense.

He was subjected to bullying in school, due to gender non-conforming behavior and clothing.

Angel described the bullying as harming his communication skills as a result of psychological distress.

To cope with his distress, he used alcohol and marijuana as a means of self-medication.

After a suicidal gesture in high school, Angel's parents sent him to therapy.

They thought that he needed help because he claimed to have reached a point of "total disconnection" from society.

This was not well received by his family, and according to Angel, "They were going to put [him] in a mental institution."

Unaware of the existence of treatments for gender dysphoria such as hormone replacement therapy, he lived for years trying to conform to expectations of femininity, 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".

He turned to running as a means of isolation and source of validation.

Angel was unable to find appropriate help for completing his gender transition during his adolescent years.

He eventually met a therapist who affirmed his gender instead of viewing him as a "gay woman".

Angel began researching various methods of medical transition, and began this process at the age of 28.

Angel and his therapist got in contact with an endocrinologist who worked primarily with transgender women as opposed to transgender men.

This was because Angel was one of the earliest trans men to be allowed hormonal transition, due to which there was limited data on prior cases like his.

Angel was, as his doctor stated, "going to be my guinea pig" (for human subject research), where experimentation was the main course of action in helping him.

From then on, Angel's doctor began prescribing him test dosages of testosterone throughout a six-month period until a value solidified to fit his needs.

Eventually, he was taking 1-cc doses of testosterone every 10 days.

Afterward, Angel began focusing on his physical appearance and searched for a surgeon that dealt with upper-body modifications to remove his breasts.

Bottom surgery was another aspect he was looking to change, because he wanted to have a penis to fit the male schema.

He later realized that there was no sufficient technology at the time to create what he desired.

He chose not to undergo genital surgery and currently considers his medical transition complete.

Later on, however, Buck chose to undergo a hysterectomy.

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 genital surgery; he thus promoted these works describing himself as "the Man with a Pussy", which became his trademark.

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.

The same year he performed in Allanah Starr's Big Boob Adventures (directed by transgender woman Gia Darling), which featured the first filmed sex scene between a trans woman (Allanah Starr) and a trans man.

The performance was nominated for "Most Outrageous Sex Scene" at the AVN Awards.

In 2007 Angel became the first and only trans man to win Transsexual Performer of the Year at the AVN Awards.

His 2008 performance in Buckback Mountain received nominations for "Best Alternative Release" and "Best Specialty Release" at the GayVN Awards.

Angel also appears 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, which was produced by mainstream photographer Justin Lubin.

Angel's pornographic content is credited as broadening the perceptions of sexuality and gender in both the industry and the minds of consumers, an effect he was unaware of until a few years into his work.

With passing time, his work in porn evolved into advocacy and future endeavours in sex education.

Angel served on the board of directors of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation from 2010 to 2016; the foundation works to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right through advocacy and education.