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February 15, 2008
My appearance at Stanford
First let me tell you that I had a wonderful time speaking at Stanford. It was a paid engagement, and I was honored to be hired by such an prestigious institution. They gave me the best reception, from accommodations at the best hotel in town to an enjoyable dinner with the organizers of the event—about 10 students—who were absolutely marvelous to talk with.
In my speech I addressed the controversy, talked about my life and business, discussed my stance on safe sex, and made clear my political views. It was followed by a Q&A session, where I answered over 30 questions in over an hour, but just like my engagements at Yale, NYU, and Rutgers, there wasn't time to answer all the questions. The students appreciated my straight talk and honest approach.
The only one controversial moment that I can recall in the two hours on stage was when one of the students asked me why the gay adult industry "segregates" African-American models. I answered that he probably has never seen my films, as my movies are all interracial. I've personally performed with African-American actors at least 20 times in my career, and numerous African-American actors are constantly featured in my films. That's why one of my very first awards at the GAYVNs was for Best Ethnic-Themed Video, as I've always used actors from all over the world, from South America to the Middle East. The student, however, tried to provoke me and kept asking about the issue, wondering why other studios don't use more African-American actors. I gave him a very straightforward and a very truthful answer, stating the fact that though we would all love to see more African-American actors applying to work in our films, we don't have as many of them doing so. And the reason is simple: homophobia in the African-American community, which prevents them from applying. This one particular student started arguing, and I repeated my statement and told him that the truth does not always stay in the middle... sometimes it's either on the right or the left, sometimes the truth can be unpleasant. But homophobia in the African-American community is a well-known fact. It's not even a subject for argument. Homophobia something that we should all be working on in every community, regardless of race.
I thanked the students for coming in such a large number, especially on the evening of Valentine's Day. I received a round of applause and spent about 20 minutes signing autographs. The entire event was filmed by my friend, cameraman Mr. Pam. I will release it in a couple of weeks. It will also be included in a documentary about my life which will be out sometime this Fall.
Below are three articles that appear in the Stanford Daily today. One is a report on the event, one is an editorial, and the third is my response to yesterday's Stanford Daily article about me, which I appreciate that they reprinted in full.
Report: "Lucas talks safe-sex, AIDS and controversy"
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/15/lucasTalksSafesexAidsAndControversy
Editorial: "Silencing speakers"
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/15/silencingSpeakers
Op-Ed: "Racism and intolerance: disappointing at liberal university"
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/15/opedRacismAndIntoleranceDisappointingAtALiberalUniversity
And in case you missed it, here's the article the Daily printed yesterday, "Adult film star's remarks spark debate"
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/2/14/adultFilmStarsRemarksSparkDebate
XXX,
Michael
Posted by Michael at February 15, 2008 01:47 PM
Comments
Hi Michael, Sounds like you were a big hit Can't wait to see the video.
Hugs,
Anthony
Posted by: Anthony at February 16, 2008 11:35 AM
Michael,
I respect and honor a lot of the work you do for our community and the world as a whole. However, I can't agree with your stance on the lack of African-Americans in porn.
Being a black male I can speak only for myself, but just like I'm sure you have better insight on the life of a pornstar I think I have a better grasp on the plight of a black male.
It really has nothing to do with homophobia. There are tons of openly gay/bisexual men of color. Your company is successfulm but there are also companies that only film men of color and they are susscessful as well so where do they find their "actors"? The men are there; the work is't. Maybe some companies methods of hiring performers is too limited.
I think the answer you gave was very safe to say the least. The reality is most producers are in the business to make money and for an industry that is dominated by white males ( a lot of whom do not engage in interracial sex simply based on preference) it is hard to convey the chemistry on flim when paired with certain on screen partners and you know as well as I do that it's chemistry you guys are going after. So while homphobia may be an issue lets not try to make it seem as though it's the biggest issue.
Again, I respect you and for the most part agree with you on most subjects but on this one. I think you gave a PC answer and didn't really get to the heart of the matter.
Posted by: Rod at February 16, 2008 12:23 PM
I commend your op-ed regarding Islam and the intellectual bankruptcy of the Leftist thugs. Their remarks were inconsistent with your character and reasoning.
Best wishes for continued success.
Posted by: Chris at February 16, 2008 12:34 PM
Sounds like a great time at Stanford. I'm really glad it went well. It is an honour. Congrats!
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff at February 16, 2008 03:56 PM
Michael:
I find it astonishing that I'm writing a comment on your blog due to your truth-telling about Islam, but alas, it's still a rare thing for someone to tell the truth about Islam without compromise. And so i write to let you know I support your efforts (and your hot porn)
I'm a gay guy in America, and after underestimating the threat of Bin Ladin before the 98 bombings , i began my now almost 10 year self-education about Islam.. and what a crazy ride that has been.
What disturbs me is how our political leadership has shown so little evidence of doing their own education about it. Republicans and Democrats , remain almost completely clueless... well , one correction, the Democrats are beyond clueless. The Administration is a failure of leadership, strategy and educating the public.
It's up to us individuals to inform those around us of the profound danger our society is in.. and to get past the fierce defence of Islam the Left has invested itself in undertaking.
Your article "Racism and intolerance: disappointing at a liberal university" is probably the best written rebuttal to the totally idiotic tactics that truth-tellers of Islam usually encounter. I made a a few comments under "Vince P"
I'm glad to see someone from your part of our society sounding the alarm bells.. i hope your words are heard by many gays of all different backgrounds and I hope that we can move the disccusion about the war that Islam has declared on us away from irrelevent American political nonsense and towards the objective reality of the threat we face.
Vince.
Posted by: Vince P at February 17, 2008 05:30 AM