LONDON – It’s not every day the BBC airs an interview with a transsexual cam model, but on June 4, the BBC-Three series Queer Britain did exactly that. During the episode, entitled “Inside Britain’s Queer Porn Industry,” host Riyadh spoke with British Chaturbate sensation Cookie Cosmos.
Riyadh thoughtful, probing — yet sensitive — questions drew Cosmos into a conversation about her sexual identity, the connection cam performers create with their audiences and her motivation for becoming a Chaturbate broadcaster.
“The reason I do cam porn is as a form of advocacy,” she said. “People can talk to you and get an impression of your personality that is not possible in 20 minutes of videotaped sex.
“I do not market myself as trans,” she continued. “I market myself as a woman who happens to have a penis. I avoid the terms that create conceptions based on porn marketing, which reduce people down to ‘penis’ and ‘boobs.’ I want to provide content that is fun, interesting and respectful.”
The crew also filmed Cosmos during one of her cam shows. Her interaction with a viewer who was considering transitioning typified the intimacy that can be created by the immediacy of live-streaming: Even in the middle of a cam room filled with other people, Cosmos related directly to the viewer in a way that left host Riyadh visibly emotional.
“To have that one-to-one advocacy and help from someone who’s done that journey before you is … it’s incredible,” he said. “She’s using her platform for good.”
“Inside Britain’s Queer Porn Industry,” the fifth episode in the six-part series, explores the relationship between titillation and validation in the world of queer porn. The episode focuses on the producers and performers who bring out-of-the-mainstream sexualities and identities to the adult entertainment audience.
All six episodes have been posted to YouTube, although YouTube had blocked the fifth, at least temporarily, on June 22. Viewers in the U.K. can watch on the BBC’s official site, though.
