Uncertainty ripples through the adult entertainment industry—even after a monumental triumph. Victorious in their defeat of Prop 60, which would have required condom use statewide and financially incentivized California citizens to sue anyone involved in the creation or distribution of a XXX scene without visible latex, Donald Trump’s ascension to power may signal bigger issues for the adult industry—especially if the GOP follows through with their party platform.
Despite the new president-elect’s obvious familiarity with porn stars, the Republican Party platform has branded pornography a “public health crisis” and a “public menace” that has ruined millions of lives. Adult agent Tee Reel of Ideal Image Models notes that sex workers have only recently begun to emerge as individuals, gaining momentum with social campaigns that offer the public an understanding of their humanity and workplace validity. He’s now concerned about the future of censorship and regulations in the industry with Trump at the helm.
“I deal with models who are fighting battles on a consistent basis, whether it’s vicious cyberbullying or threats they feel they have no legal defense against or nationalized banks that cancel their accounts based solely on their line of work,” says Tee Reel. “ There was hope that we’d elect a president who would spearhead and support legislation to change this… but Trump is a man who has isolated millions of people based on race, gender, religion, and economics.”
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Nina Hartley sums up Trump’s win in one word: disaster. The legendary adult actress calls it a huge setback to social progress and says it’s the “worst thing I can think of since the Depression.” Her hope is that civil service will prevail. “Trump may be president, but we still have the Constitution.”
Those constitutional protections are sometimes all that stands between a pornographic artist and jail time. Selling and creating porn isn’t as simple as filming sex—it also means complying with the law. In April 2008, under the Bush administration, iconic pornographer John Stagliano, head of Evil Angel, faced an obscenity charge—the first porn obscenity charge to hit Washington D.C.’s U.S. District Court in over 20 years. Stagliano was acquitted in four days due to insufficient evidence two years later under Obama, but the message came in loud and clear.
“There are limits to what [Trump] can do. We are not electing a dictator. I hope we somehow return to a constitutional government with the separation of powers between Congress and the judiciary,” says Stagliano. “My hope is that they will realize this guy’s crazy and we have to rein him in. Congress will realize we have to control this person properly, and we just might move in that direction.”
A prominent figure in the adult industry since the second Bush administration, Vice President of the Adult Performers Actors Guild (APAG) Alana Evans says her biggest fear is seeing a Republican administration target the adult industry again. “A Republican administration goes after porn based on their public morals, but we all know what they’re doing behind closed doors,” she says. “They watch porn, they buy porn, and half of them that rally as anti-gay are gay.” Evans also speculates about how the industry and the new administration can find common ground and support. “Free porn is the biggest contributor to what makes it readily available, so if that’s where the Republicans go they will find a lot of industry support because we also want free porn gone,” says Evans. “It’s killed our industry.”
In the past, Trump has come across as more accepting of the LGBTQ community than his constituents, supporting Caitlyn Jenner while expressing happiness for the marriage of Elton John and his partner. Unfortunately his vice presidential pick, Mike Pence, has been consistently known for his anti-LGBTQ beliefs—fighting to reallocate AIDS funds towards conversion therapy, signing into law Indiana’s Religious Freedom Bill that allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people on the basis of religion, and referring to himself as a “born again, evangelical Catholic.” Pence is also known for sponsoring and supporting extreme legislation regarding women’s health, so some feel Pence might be the devil on Trump’s shoulder pulling him further to the right.
Indiana native and adult actress Sydney Leathers is all too familiar with Pence’s anti-women legislation. “It disgusts me that someone who clearly has no respect for women is now in such a powerful position. It’s even scarier that Pence will be vice president,” says Leathers. “To think that we have to continue fighting for our reproductive rights is disheartening.”
Excitement over the defeat of Prop 60 has been overshadowed by the election of Trump-Pence, with many in the adult industry worrying that the victory may be meaningless in the coming years. Porn star Ela Darling fears for her friends and people she doesn’t know. “Trump is a symptom of a greater problem. He’s also like the tingling in your arm that indicates you’re having a heart attack,” says Darling. “A lot of bad choices led up to this. I have a sad confidence that trans rights will regress in this new presidency. I am afraid marriage equality will be overturned. Trump will appoint Supreme Court justices that will stay with us for decades, haunting our country long after he’s gone. I’d rather have lost Prop 60 than be where we are right now, and I spent the last year working on that!”
Venus Lux, a porn star who confesses to being “part-Republican,” admits the situation is complicated and hesitates to jump on either party’s bandwagon. Worried about Trump’s true ability to lead—fearing he’s more puppet than master—Venus feels particularly vulnerable. “As a sex worker, as a woman of color, as a transgender, I don’t have as many options as another person,” says Lux. “There’s so much misogyny already when it comes to women but its double for trans women. Can I survive as a transgender woman of color who is also a sex worker, and how much harder is it going to be now?”
