Our Trip to the Bushwick Queer Porn Film Festival

“These are gluten-free, vegan pancakes,” Jacqueline Mary called out as she brought out a new stack of flapjacks, against the backdrop of a transexual man masturbating. “If you are not vegan or gluten free, don’t fuckin’ eat them. Because we don’t have that many. More will be coming out.”

On Sunday April 19, the first annual Bushwick Queer Porn Film Festival turned the Spectrum into a gathering place for a community that’s based around sex-positivity, inclusiveness, and shared politics. The attendees were diverse in age, gender and style. The organizers were thorough when it came to accessibility and support, including trigger warnings for the porn shown in the event program, having counselors from Persist on site, asking everyone to be conscious of others’ personal space and saying that attendance was kept in check purposefully with that in mind. During the “Darkroom Dirty” event – where public sex had been encouraged – a game of Red Rover was cut short when Mary decided it was fucked up toward those with disabilities.

The speakers on the performer panel talked about a shift toward diversity that’s happened in porn in the past five years and how porn literacy and improved sex education for kids was a solution to having more accessibility to socially conscious porn. Panelist Chelsea Poe talked about a petition she is promoting to push for mainstream porn sites to stop using the term “Shemale.” There were panels on play parties (where public sex is encouraged), accessibility in porn, sexual dominance, the politics of hooking up, and how to produce your own porn.

Politics and discussion were encouraged just as much as watching people have sex on a screen. Cinnamon Maxxine, who performed in one of the festival’s two live porn shoots, also spoke on a panel about people of color in queer porn. They (Cinnamon goes by gender neutral pronouns) talked about how hard it is to be invisible, especially within non-mainstream porn communities. Cinnamon wants to run a porn production company called Soft Serve, but feels like the porn would have to look good to be taken seriously, “especially if it’s a porn full of brown bodies.”

An audience member echoed a question asked throughout the festival: other than purchasing queer porn online, what could they do to help support Cinnamon? And so at that moment Courtney Trouble (who goes by gender neutral pronouns), one of three festival organizers, who paid to fly Cinnamon from San Francisco out to the event, took off their shoe and passed it around to collect money to fund one Soft Serve scene.

Trouble chimed in from the sidelines, saying that “do it yourself” cannot be the solution to a lack of diversity in the porn industry. Trouble pointed to the Feminist Porn Awards, which places a heavy importance on porn with high production value, which in turn affects who gets cast because that money needs to be made back. A few minutes later the shoe had circled and Trouble counted out one hundred dollars. Cinnamon held back tears and shook their head as they accepted the cash. “Goddamit, you guys, thank you,” they said. “I really appreciate it, a lot. I’m not gonna cry in front of you all. Not because I’m ashamed to cry but because I don’t want to mess up my makeup.”

The QPFF often served as a showcase for the organizers’ work, though this was perhaps unavoidable given the small size of the queer porn community and a short planning timeline that began after the NYC Porn Film Festival in February and coincided with the Feminist Porn Awards that were held in mid-April in Toronto. The work shown was well received, often causing the audience to break out into cheers or laughter.

Trouble’s film “We Cum in Peace” was a particular hit. If the concept of alien porn intrigues you, I’ll retain the mystery and leave you to buy the scene. A “mumblecore porn” by Stephen Boyer, a Brooklyn writer who bartends at The Spectrum, stood out among the DIY porn shown at the end of the night. The clip involved Boyer wearing a blond wig and lipstick, explaining the best sorts of cucumbers to use as dildos in a steady mumblecore monotone, followed by an inventive and speedy climax.

The highlight of the festival was a gutsy live porn shoot starring Courtney Trouble and Tobi Hill-Meyer (the third event organizer). They took down the large white sheet that had been used as a projector screen all day, exposing a small black stage with a chain link fence behind it. The lights were up. There was no music. Earlier in the day Courtney had mentioned the shoot, sounding slightly nervous, saying, “We’re professionals, but we’re also friends who have never fucked before.” The performers made it clear that they consented to be filmed and photographed and then began to have sex in front of a full room, with about ten people up close filming with smart phones.

“They can all see me,” Courtney said at one point. Throughout the performance both they and Tobi would occasionally burst out into giggles. Jacqueline Mary watched from the back with a director’s eye: “There’s a really good shot that no one is getting. Someone should really get in there.”

Courtney came and the crowd cheered. They were slipping together on the stage. Courtney laughed, “What happens on porn sets when I come first is it gets really hard because the floor’s all wet.” The room filled with cheers again a minute later when Tobi’s ass was bared to them. “Harder? Softer?” Courtney asked as they guided her toward climax. “Deeper,” Tobi choked out, winning more applause. And then they stopped talking, held each other, kissing into a fading ending and a quiet awe from the audience.