Devon Hunter

OHHHH, SHIT! I woke up today feeling so freaking energized and amazing that I can hardly stand myself… Okay, yes I can stand myself (but only just barely). I put some adjustments into place in the last few months and weeks, and I am so glad I did. I feel utterly fabulous right now. Haters be damned (see previous blog entry). I simplified my diet, adjusted my workout strategy, started napping (HUGELY important, I am finding), and decided to grow my hair out to the length I had in college. I’m sorry, but I can’t help being this fucking fabulous…

All this in time for the Chinese New Year, and this is MY year. The Chinese zodiac is a cycle of 12, just as the European, but rather than a 12-month cycle, it’s a 12-year cycle. So 2012, 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, etc. are dragon years. Within that 12-year animal cycle there is also a 5-year elemental cycle (earth, water, fire, metal, wood), so each animal/element combination comes around only once every 60 years… My birth year was a Fire Dragon year, and how appropriate is that for a flaming flamer of fiery burning energy such as moi?

What I love about being a Dragon is that we’re the only people symbolized by a mythological animal on the Chinese zodiac: There simply isn’t an animal in the physical world that can truly encapsulate the marvelous creatures Dragons are. MWAHAHAHA! But I’m biased, so you should probably dismiss that part. Anyway, I’m feeling energized and ferocious. I attribute it to the simple, but consistent diet I’m eating (and the napping). Really, if you don’t nap… honestly… you need to. Find a way. I promise you, it helps whatever ails you. That and water. And being a Dragon.

Okay, I would write more, but I have to go be awesome somewhere. Muah. xoxoxo

RAWR!

“Question devon:

What does it take to be a male prostitute? Is there a college degree needed? Do your parents know that their gay child sells his scummy body with receding hair or were your parents of the same venue? These are questions that you need to answer yourself. Hopefully you will connect with the HIV virus sooner than later to eliminate your ugly scummy body mass from this earth.

How does it feel not paying any taxes; NO contribution of any kind to society ? Knowing that your future is about to end sooner than later?

Ever wonder about these items or do you justify being a sociopath? From one of your fans!!

”

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Answer smiley face:

I do not recognize your email address, so I’m not certain that we know one another; however, if we are acquainted and I have wronged you in some way, I apologize for that. Generally, it isn’t my intention to hurt people, particularly not to the point that they would choose to write me a note like this. If, however, we are not acquainted, I want you to know that although I haven’t hurt you, I am sorry that someone else has. It isn’t my place to apologize on behalf of the mistakes of other people, but I want you to know that you haven’t affected me, and that I hope you are able to work through whatever has been done to you. Whatever that was, you didn’t deserve it, but the only way to stop cycles like these is to consciously choose to break them. For this reason I am not going to reply to you again, no matter how/if you choose to address me after this. I have specifically created a beautiful and happy life for myself, and I hope you will also choose happiness.

I wish you peace,
Devon

Hello, Devon! Just wanted to quickly offer some overdue thanks to you! I’m not sure if you remember our couple email exchanges–it’s been a while. You offered some great advice to me on accepting myself and allowing people to know me fully and authentically. And getting to know myself at that level as well. Well, that really, really stuck with me! Like really! Long story short–I’m gay. I’ve accepted and embraced that it’s part of who I am. And, very recently, I’ve told some friends and, most importantly, my mom and dad. I’m still on this new journey. I’ve sorta met someone. Life is good! Authenticity is a beautiful thing! You played a part with your kind, encouraging and wisdom-filled email and I just wanted to take this opportunity express my sincere thanks and gratitude. I very much appreciate you taking a bit of time those months back and offering your thoughts. In many ways your words were life-changing! Thank you! And best of luck in this upcoming endeavor. I’m looking forward to reading about it and seeing it succeed! Take care! Joey

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Hello Joey! I am really glad that you are in such a happy place, and I think this is a great example of how honesty is liberating. Sure, you have to own the consequences of putting yourself “out there,” but at least you’re finally “out there” instead of trapped “in here.” You didn’t specify how people (especially your parents) are handling your truth, but I hope that even if they aren’t bursting with enthusiasm for you, that they are at least not being destructive or cold. In any event, it sounds like you have taken a brave step, and that you are being rewarded with a fulfilling journey. I don’t want to put too much weight in absolute terms (e.g. all, none, always, never, etc.), but it certainly seems that self-acceptance is generally going to be the healthier, happier road. I wish you continued success and happiness! Take Care! Devon

Rather spontaneously I have shelved and abandoned my trip to Chicago for this weekend. I need to be alone right now. Just the idea of being at the Grabbys completely poisoned something in me, and I have to run away for a day and be by myself with no cell phone reception or access to the intrawebzes. Reading on Twitter these last 36 hours about all the different people bringing all their various self-esteem issues into one place makes me feel panicked (one person is doing nothing but running and eating cabbage soup, so he can “show everyone up;” another was offended that he was predicted to have a meltdown, and all but said that he now intended to do so; and then there’s the politicking that will be rampant everywhere… VOMIT!). I know myself, and I will magnify and reflect the mood around me. I would end up being grossly unfit for public consumption. I just decided I don’t need to be in a room with hundreds of porn stars all suffering from the same self-conflicting delusions of grandeur that I am. I’m driving from Charlotte up to Blowing Rock, taking the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville, then coming home tonight. Maybe. I need the top to be down my convertible. I haven’t rested enough. I need to go lay down in the grass and just breathe. Big crowds of unruly partiers hasn’t been my scene since before I stopped working in clubs, so I’m going to go hide and suckle my budding social anxiety issues in peace. LOL

Jack Ryan has been involved in modeling and/or video projects since 1998, so far as I can tell. He started modeling the same time I started dancing. We’ve had extraordinarily different paths in the same industry, but we’re both still here. Also, we’ve both been called role models recently. And that is something I want to address, because although I agree with that sentiment, it is with a sense of reluctance.

About a week ago Jack Ryan wrote an important article for The Advocate that you can see here. In it he talks about his experience with bareback porn and drug abuse. He also talks about his renaissance as a person who wants to own his past, take responsibility for his actions, and grow toward wisdom and happiness. Jack has had to tolerate a great deal of cynicism from cynical people who cynically (and naïvely) scoff at the notion that adult entertainers could be role models (and that it is, in fact, a sign of the degeneration of people in general that this notion would even be expressed). Well, I’m here to express support for Jack Ryan.

I was a little put off at first when I read that someone would call Jack a role model; however, after reading his story and conversing with him just a tad, I have to admit that I embrace completely what he is trying to do. And although he has already agreed to do an interview for this blog, I wanted to take a moment to weigh in on WHY he needs his story to be discussed.

There is no denying that media informs our behaviors. It is the reason that corporations are willing to spend $1M/minute during the Super Bowl for commercials. It’s the reason there are ads EVERYWHERE. It’s the reason celebrity brands are so important. We are a herd species that needs to belong, and we learn by example as we go along. And that need to learn, belong, and emulate is very often manipulated or exploited.

Is anyone going to deny my assertion in this? Is anyone going to deny that people blamed Marylin Mason for the Columbine High School Massacre; or that people blamed Sarah Palin for the shooting in Arizona; or that Elizabeth Taylor sells hundreds of millions of dollars in perfume every year; or that the news media apply spin to stories to meld public opinion (or artfully exclude information they deem “unimportant”); or that Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired an entire paradigm shift in the United States by way of his speeches on TV, radio, and newsprint?

Bear with me, I have a reason for taking my time here.

This morning on the cover of USA Today, there was a story about a series of studies that show that amongst 18- to 24-year-old college students that committed relationships are down, hooking up is common, and that premarital virginity is on the rise. I invite you to read this before you go on. Okay, did you get all that?

What is the resource people turn to when they don’t feel like bothering to hook up? What is the resource virgins are using? Because virgins aren’t learning with partners, what is teaching them what they know about fucking? What has become so common that young people are “blasé toward sex?”

Pornography.

Whether the fine, upstanding people who have been trashing Jack Ryan on Queerty like it or not, Jack and I are definitely role models. Whether we are modeling behavior worth emulating is the question at hand, not whether or not we have an audience that we influence. Have you ever heard someone make the claim that anyone subject to any degree of public scrutiny is a role model? Well, that applies to adult entertainers, too (for better or worse).

It is inconsistent to blame Marylin Manson or Sarah Palin for mass shootings (or to empower Barney the Dinorsaur to raise polite children) and then say that porn models are “just” porn models and that pornography is “just” pornography. When Jack Ryan admits an error and seeks to reverse it; when I do or say whatever it is I do or say to make @MayckoTheGenius call me “an inspirational person for so many youth;” when @RoccoGiovanni does his annual activities to raise funds for sick kids; when David-SF (my partner from “Morning Wood”) takes his annual bike ride to raise money for HIV/AIDS charities; when your local female impersonators give shows at local bars to raise money for local charities… all of that represents moments when we as adult entertainers are modeling positive behavior and seeking to influence our audiences to join in.

Does it mean we’re always perfect? No. But it doesn’t change the fact that pornography and the people in it, just like any other form of media, influence consumers, and that we have a responsibility to that audience to nudge them toward happiness, not destruction.