SAN FRANCISCO—Coming Out Like A Porn Star is a definitive anthology by performer and industry veteran Jiz Lee with personal stories by over 50 porn professionals who “came out”—or chose not to—to family, friends, and lovers. Contributors represent a wide range of sexualities, ethnicities, and genders, with stories intersecting topics such as coming out as trans and queer, and stories where performers’ own voices push back against media that further stigmatizes the people—particularly women—who choose to do porn.
The collection is a reflection of society’s view of sex as experienced first-hand by its workers, and its stories are unique as they are unifying. As Lee writes in the Introduction, “I struggled with the reality of telling my family about my increasing involvement in the adult industry. Were others out to their parents? How did they talk about it to their siblings? What could I learn from their experiences? In asking the questions, I’d hit a nerve. Everyone had a story to tell.”
The book is receiving international applause. Copies have been shipped to several countries from Europe to Russia to Japan. Germany sold its first books during the PorYes European Feminist Porn Awards. In Australia, a book launch during the Perv Queer Film Festival will honor contributors Gala Vanting and Zahra Stardust on November 29. More book tours are in the works. Online, excerpts have been published on major sites: VICE posted Stoya's essay and interviews with contributors Vanting, Milcah Halili, Dale Cooper, and Annie Sprinkle, and Lorelei Lee's essay on Buzzfeed breached a record 150,000 views. At press time, the book ranked as the #1 Best Seller on Amazon for books on pornography.
The volume has a Foreword by Dr. Mireille Miller-Young, author of A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women in Pornography, an Introduction by Jiz Lee and Essays by AliceinBondageLand, Anna Cherry, Annie Sprinkle, Andre Shakti, Bella Vendetta, Betty Blac, Candida Royalle, Casey Calvert, Chelsea Poe, Chris Lowrance, Christopher Zeischegg, Cindy Gallop, Cinnamon Maxxine, Colin Rowntree, Conner Habib, Courtney Trouble, Cyd Nova, Dale Cooper, Denali Winter, Drew DeVeaux, D.R., Edward Lapple, Emma Claire, Erika Lust, Gala Vanting, Harley Hex, Hayley Fingersmith, Ignacio Rivera AKA Papí Coxxx, Jack Hammer XL, Jackie Strano, Jaffe Ryder, James Darling, Jesse Jackman, Joanna Angel, Kitty Stryker, Lily Cade, Loree Erickson, Lorelei Lee, Lyric Seal, Madison Young, Milcah Halili Orbacedo, Ms Naughty, Nina Hartley, Nikki Silver, Orianna Small AKA Ashley Blue, Phoenix Askani, Shar Rednour, Stoya, Tina Horn, Tobi Hill-Meyer, Verta, Zahra Stardust, and Zak Sabbath. Book cover design by Jamee Baiser. See ComingOutLikeaPornStar.com for more info.
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