Buck Angel

Earlier years

Angel was born in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California, assigned female gender, and named Susan. 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. At school, his peers began teasing his physical appearance because he was dressed as a boy, but was a girl in their eyes. Those words wore down Angel’s mental stability as he became more isolated and shy making it harder for him to communicate with others. To cope with his distress, he turned to alcohol and marijuana as a means of escape.

After a suicidal gesture in high school, his 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 me in a mental institution." Unaware of the existence of treatments for gender dysphoria such as hormone replacement therapy, he lived for years as female, 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". His only saving grace was running as it was a better form of isolating himself yet giving him recognition as an excellent runner too.

Gender transition

Angel was never able to find the appropriate help that he needed during his adolescent years despite living a “normal” childhood. The peace didn’t last long, because it began rapidly concaving into darkness and confusion from the constant bickering that society directed upon him.

The numerous psychiatric therapies that followed his fall eventually brought him back into society after encountering the first therapist, out of many, that stated he was a man. This concurrence was one of the first discussions that didn’t ostracize and generalize him as being a “gay woman.” Rather, he was embraced by his therapist, who shared the same view point of him identifying as a male. Thus, Angel began researching various methods of transitioning into a man—a process that he began at the age of 28.

Then, Angel and his therapist got in contact with a hormone doctor who worked primarily with transgender women as opposed to transgender men. This was because Angel was one of the earliest—but more modern—cases of female-to-male patients, because there was limited data on prior cases like his. He was, as his doctor stated, “going to be my guinea pig,” where experimentation was the main course of action in helping him. Angel was willing to go through with these challenges because, if this could not be a solution to his dysphoria, he would have committed suicide. 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 obtain a biological penis to fit the male schema. However, he quickly realized that there was not any sufficient technology to create what he desired. Angel gradually concluded that he did not need a penis because it is not what defined him as a man. He learned to love his body, and he came to be satisfied with what he was given. Now—following his new ideology of the male physique—he began a vigorous regimen that consisted of five-days-a-week workouts and of generally eating healthy.

Adult film career

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 any genital surgery and still had a vulva, so he promoted these works describing himself as "The Man With a Pussy".

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 transsexual Gia Darling), which featured the first filmed sex scene between a trans woman (Allanah Starr) and a trans man. The performance was nominated for the AVN Awards' "Most Outrageous Sex Scene". 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 appeared 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, produced by mainstream photographer Justin Lubin.

Educational work

Angel’s pornographic content was one of the building blocks that set the foundation for his future educational demonstrations. He broadened the industries, along with its viewers, perception of sexuality and gender by popularizing transsexual male porn. He was unaware of the positive effects that he had on the community until after a few years into his work. With passing time, his work in porn evolved into advocacy rather than it starting out as the same entities.

Nevertheless, the conversion of porn into an educational form was a tough task because of the stigma behind sexual content. Angel’s porn star identity made it difficult for him to express his ideas as he couldn’t speak on behalf of himself and that the industry did not know what to do with him either. Additionally, the hostility from the transsexual community did not contribute positively to his image as they believed he was fetishizing them.

In time, Angel had the opportunity to be a guest speaker for Ideacity in 2010—Canada’s “premier meeting of the minds”—where he talked about his physical changes and emotional adaptation. During this presentation, he challenged the ideas of what specifies a man through his own narrative and struggles. In short, he illustrates how the societal construct of masculinity is strict and unwavering; because of this, he is not considered to be under this category simply because he has a vagina.

In 2012, Angel began to transition from the porn industry to sex education and began touring the world speaking about human sexuality. He coined the catchphrase "it's not what's between your legs that defines you" and his presentation "Bucking the System" re-defines traditional notions of gender by educating his audience about gender fluidity and identity politics. Angel also tours to do Q & A sessions about his documentary, "Sexing the Transman " and the autobiographical film "Mr. Angel". He has made appearances at many universities around the world, as well as Pride events and film festivals. He has spoken at Sex Week at Yale University and at IdeaCity10 in Toronto.

In October 2010, Angel contributed to Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" project by uploading his own personal coming out story to YouTube. He has also produced multiple public service announcements on the topics of positive body image, LGBTQ family acceptance, queer people of colour and transgender health and well-being. Angel also engages in education about safe sex for trans men.

In 2012, Angel became a contributor to "The Feminist Porn Book", an anthology by feminist scholars and workers about understanding pornography and how feminists direct, act in, produce and consume porn.

Between 2010 and 2015, he created an award-winning series about trans male sexuality called "Sexing The Transman XXX", which is now in its fourth installment. This film won "Most Tantalizing Trans Film" at the "Feminist Porn Awards" in 2012.

Altogether, Angel had three main objectives in which he wanted individuals to:

1. "Comprehend the fact that one’s genitals do not define your gender, nor who you are as a person.”
2. “Learn how to acknowledge, affirm, and deal with your own individual gender and sexuality, regardless of identity.”
3. “Have the ability to let go of social constructs in order to become more comfortable and self-accepting.”

Other activities

Angel has appeared on various talk shows including those of Howard Stern, Tyra Banks, and Maury Povich; as well as Secret Lives of Women in the US, the Morning Show in the UK, and the Jensen Show in the Netherlands.

British artist Marc Quinn included a life-size sculpture of Angel in his global tour. Angel posed for Quinn's sculpture series on human transformations in 2010; the series was revealed at London's White Cube gallery. He was featured in four different bronze sculptures including two solo pieces, and two with Allanah Starr. The life-sized sculpture of Angel is now a permanent fixture at the Adelaide Museum of Art.

In 2012 he created a dating website for transgender men called BuckAngelDating.com, because "there was still no special dating site catering to the unique needs of transmen."

Angel created "Trantastic Storytelling" in 2015, a service which offers opportunities for transgender people to share their life experiences for educational purposes.

In 2016, Angel partnered with Perfect Fit Brand to create a sex toy specifically for the FTM trans people. The product is meant to reduce gender dysphoria and help transmen connect with their bodies and their sexuality.

Personal life

Angel was married to Karin Winslow (also known as Ilsa Strix), a San Francisco dominatrix. Angel filed for divorce when Winslow left him for her client, Lana Wachowski.

Angel met his second wife, body piercer Elayne Angel, on a dating website and the two married in New Orleans on November 17, 2003. Elayne filed for divorce in May 2014. Angel claimed that she had moved $500,000 out of their joint bank account and requested $2000 in monthly spousal support. In an effort to avoid alimony payments, Elayne claimed that their marriage should not have been legally recognized because Louisiana did not recognize same-sex marriage in 2003 and Buck has never had his genitals surgically altered and his birth certificate was not updated to male until after they were married. In August 2014, the California Superior Court ruled that their marriage was valid due to the ambiguity in Louisiana's statute regarding sex reassignment surgery, which could include the "top-surgery" that Angel has received.

Awards and nominations

Adult films

Documentaries

Mainstream media