This article originally ran in the February 2018 issue; click here to see the digital edition. Photo courtesy NakedSword.
Viktor Belmont has arrived to a place of comfort and peace. But it hasn’t always been a fun ride for the determined performer, whose path to success has been paved with challenges.
“I was raised where the Cascade mountains met the Siskiyou. That upbringing shaped my character in ways I can’t begin to describe, but it carved out a kind heart and deep sense of empathy for me,” he says. “I was a small-town queer who came into my own through experience and survival. I started doing sex work so I wouldn’t starve. I gave everything up in my life to pursue my truth. Now I’m trying my best to not just survive, but thrive and help others as best I can.”
With NakedSword’s The Devil’s Deal & Other Sordid Tales, released in October, he becomes the first trans man to be featured in a major gay studio film since Buck Angel in Titan’s 2005 smash Cirque Noir.
“I’ve been escorting since my early teens for survival. I then came back to it over and over again due to discrimination in the workplace and not having the same opportunities my cis counterparts had. I had spent most of my late teens and early twenties on the edge of homelessness, transient and living hand to mouth,” he recalls. “I learned to work for myself, to come into my own power, and this wonderful studio [Bonus Hole Boys] run by Cyd St. Vincent offered me a chance to shoot with them. I hadn’t seen too much gay porn featuring trans men, and I was delighted to work for them.”
Belmont then got nominated for a 2015 Hookie Award, and that’s when he started seeing a piqued interest with mainstream gay productions, publications and spaces in featuring trans men.
“My career is everything to me. And to be completely transparent, I wouldn’t have had these same chances if it wasn’t for the amazing support of my online following. The internet has shown up for me, supported me, watched me fall, and cheered me on as I got back up and tried again,” he says.
“Being nominated and then winning a Hookie Award was massive for me. It was a huge deal. Having mainstream porn performers and gay celebrities tell me that they saw me, accepted me and wanted to support me was something I never thought I’d have. Being one of the first trans male go-go boys at circuit parties was a highlight for me. I quickly learned about the power of visibility and the impact I could have by putting my body out there.”
One of his supporters and friends is NakedSword director mr. Pam, who shot him in The Devil’s Deal.
“mr. Pam has seen me grow so much. She’s seen so many evolutions of my career at this point. She’s a part of this amazing queer family that’s in San Francisco. She really does watch out for me and make space for me. To finally have shot with her, I wanted to make her proud, to show her exactly what I could do.”
The director was ecstatic talking about Belmont and the experience, but says the industry—and the world at large—still has a long way to go.
“It just amazes me how far behind so much of the U.S. and the world is on transgender sexuality. I am almost 15 years deep into it. Two of my best friends are married to trans guys, my other best friend constantly fucks trans guys and tells me—in detail,” she says with a laugh. “So that’s my world for over a decade, and I just see a lot of people being judgmental. It just comes out of being misinformed and uneducated. My porn always has a little political aspect to it, so I’m definitely hoping this opens more rights and visibility for trans guys. I’m so thankful to Viktor for trusting me on this, and he’s said all along it’s been a great experience for him, and I hope it continues.”
Belmont notes there has been great progress, and that we are now at a time where there’s a lot more visibility for trans people in media on all platforms and channels.
“Porn is no exception to that rule. Trans male performers who want to shoot gay porn should have the opportunity to work for mainstream gay studios. I’m lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. I don’t think I hold a magic that others do not possess. I don’t think I’m too exceptional. But I do think that I am persistent, patient and proud enough of who I am and what I do to have been given the chance and want to create space for folks. I threw myself at a wall long enough that I got a chance to break part of it down. I now want to get trans folks chances to work, to get the respect we all deserve in all spaces, and to live my life without fear. This is just the start.”
Belmont says the trans community is making big strides in the industry but has to continue to fight for fair treatment.
“We are not a burden, we belong here. In every space. We’ve been here. Now people are seeing us in a way that is more mainstream and advocating for us as well. I feel so lucky to see such changes happening in my lifetime. One thing I’m very adamant about is I’d like us to be paid for our work. I’d like all sex workers to be treated fairly and be paid for our hard work—to be respected, appreciated and treated fairly. The stigma many performers still face is daunting. It’s very easy to point a finger to condemn with one hand and jerk off to the same thing with another. I’d like to see us all to make coin, elevate each other, support each other and continue to make the content that our customers adore to watch.”
But with the good also comes the bad in the form of online trolls, something mr. Pam was all too familiar with—and especially concerned about with Belmont.
“I know he’s very out, but I still feel a little protective. San Francisco is very welcoming—we’re in our own little bubble, and everybody has rights and is supported. But I know the anonymous commenters on blogs can be really, really vicious, and I don’t know if I should have warned Viktor about that.”
To her surprise, the response has been positive. The director says she leaked the story to Str8UpGayPorn (“which probably has one of the more ‘controversial’ comments section, kind of the TMZ of the gay porn sphere”), and that more than half of the comments have been supportive of trans guys and trans rights.
“I believe that what turns people on is different than any political values. In order to be supportive of trans rights, you don’t have to get off to trans guys! What moves your genitals isn’t always what you support in the political sphere. But at the same time, I love that this challenged people’s sexual desires, and the spark that it ignites with the desires that people have already had. I think this is actually opening up a lot for gay guys and trans guys, and girls who like gay porn who have never really seen a naked F2M guy. I think it’s actually just inspiring people sexually.”
Belmont, for one, said the reaction from his fans has been warming.
“My followers are honestly the best. They’re my family. They’re my rock. Without their support, I would have never made it this far. And their reaction to this has been incredible. I can only hope to continue to make them proud and keep pushing forward,” he says.
“Everything in this life I have is a gift. It’s taken me a long time to change my lens that I view the world with. But every interaction I have is a chance to learn about myself and others. To choose love over hate. To flex the privileges I have to support those who need protection the most.”
