Before there was Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner, transgender women have quietly enjoyed success in the porn industry for many years. These performers have a unique view on what it means to be transgender, and they — particularly those who are millennials and newer to the industry — are shaping the conversation around the language used to refer to transgender people, in porn and beyond.

Three transgender women who are also porn stars in different stages of their careers spoke to Cosmopolitan.com separately about what it's really like for them to be a trans sex worker.

The performers:

TS Foxxy (middle above), "my porn age is 27," in the industry since 2005.

Morgan Bailey (right above), 32, in the industry since 2008.

Chelsea Poe (left above), 24, in the industry since 2013.

How did you start doing porn?

TS Foxxy: I was a go-go dancer in Las Vegas and during the AVN [porn] awards expo, a lot of the big name companies, photographers and directors come into town. I was being approached about being talent in porn. I was just so naive to it all. I was like, "There's actual porn for transsexuals?" I was very curious so I said, "What the hell. I'm already dancing half naked." I did it and it was very nerve-wracking. I was doing it for the money. I never thought about it as a career. I was just trying to get my breast implants and I wanted braces.

Chelsea Poe: I started out in the Midwest and, being trans, it was extremely hard to get a job. I started doing [web-] camming, then I got introduced to some porn stars like Sasha Grey and Stoya and the first wave of queer porn performers like Courtney Trouble and Jiz Lee. I was living around a college campus at the time and I ended up seeing Jiz Lee speak. I got booked for on of their porn series.

Morgan Bailey: Back when I was 24 I was just getting out of a relationship. I was living in small town Illinois and I was looking for validation for myself, so I submitted some pictures. I went online and talked to a few girls, but because of all my tattoos they told me I would never make it in porn. I was determined to not let that stand in my way. I sent in more pictures and I ended up getting picked up right away. I did a scene and it just kind of snowballed. I was doing it to see if it would work, like, "Do they think I'm as hot as I think I am?" [laughs] I ended up building a really big career because of it. I really didn't have the intention of making a career out of it. I didn't think it was possible.

Labels like "she-male" and "tranny" — that are commonly seen as derogatory in the trans community — are often used to market transgender porn. How do you feel about that?

Morgan: I do accept [those words]. I come from a different time of transition than the younger girls do. I totally respect their feminist views and I do support them as a whole, but I think when it comes to the porn industry, you can't expect the same. These are labels that make things sell. When I first started doing porn I hated the word "she-male." But that's how you market yourself. If that's a tagline you have to throw on to make something sell, then that's what you have to do.

Chelsea: I still have friends who are being attacked and killed and having those same words screamed at them while they're being murdered. [Ed. note: According to an article in The Guardian this past November, over 20 transgender people have been murdered in the U.S. this year, the highest number ever – and that is likely underreported. Suicides in the transgender community are unfortunately also common.] So when people say, "Oh those words just exist in porn," that's bullshit because porn doesn't exist in a vacuum. I'm receiving a lot of backlash from [mainstream porn companies] because I've openly challenged that and called them out. Trans women reclaiming the terms is terrific. Go and make a living and use the terms you want to use. But non-trans people using these terms to make millions of dollars? [They're] essentially exploiting the community.

Foxxy: Everything comes from your own time. In my time, we were called "transsexual." Sometimes I use "transgender" and sometimes I use "transsexual," because that's what I've been calling myself for years. Sometimes [younger transgender women] correct me. I don't get offended by any of it because it's porn. They call people sluts and whores and MILFs. They're just slang words. The only thing I get offended by is "transvestite" or "cross dresser" because I'm not a male that dresses up like a female. There's a difference.

What are the physical challenges of being a transgender person in porn?

Foxxy: When I did my first hardcore, I had never taken Viagra in my life and I was like, "What do I need this for?" And they were like, "To stay hard through the whole scene." I said, "OK, mind you, I'm on estrogen so it's not so easy to stay hard." But I took the pill. I'm a little person — I'm only 5-foot-2. All of a sudden I got flushed and hot and I was like, "Is this normal?" Having to fuck a guy as well as getting fucked was the hardest thing ever.

Chelsea: What ends up happening is a lot of trans women in porn have to go off hormones to perform. And obviously doing that is super harmful to your body. It's like going through puberty again, which for a trans woman is the worst thing ever. It's totally taxing on your endocrine system and mentally it's awful and you go through a lot of depression with it. They are really endangering their own health, but they have to if they want jobs. I [took a medication for] one of the first shoots I did. It wasn't Viagra. They don't tell you what it is, they just give you a pill. It was terrifying.

Transgender porn is often classified as a fetish — "chicks with dicks" or something similar. How do you feel about the fetishization of trans people?

Morgan: I say fetishize me if that's your thing and you're into it, then I'm totally into you. I think it's great that guys fetishize trans women. That being said, though, I don't think that everyone who is attracted to trans women fetishizes them. I was married for almost three years to a really wonderful guy, but it just didn't work out. But this is a man who was really in love with me.

People always want to know, "Why don't you fully transition?" The people who are asking those questions have no clue what the hell they're talking about. I never give them the answer they're looking for. They want to know, "Do you have a vagina?" And I make them say that. If you want to ask me something embarrassing I'm going to make you embarrassed first.

Foxxy: Normally it's hard for a man to let their wife or girlfriend know that they like trans porn. I get a lot of guys asking me how they can introduce their wives to my work. The first thing people think is, "Oh you're gay because you like chicks that have dicks." Everybody is different. You have to accept what other people like.

Chelsea: I'm a woman. If you like my porn, you're liking a woman's porn. Fetishization is about an object. We are not objects — we're women, we're people. I don't deal with any of that shit. I refuse. [Indie porn] is about marketing trans bodies in a non-fetishized way and not necessarily having to address it in the porn. In my everyday life when I'm having sex with my partners we're not having this, "Oh my god, you're trans!" moment, which so much trans porn is based on.

What kind of discrimination or acceptance have you found as a trans sex worker?

Morgan: When you start living authentically as yourself, you're transitioning. I think everyone is transitioning in life, trans or non-trans. Trans people just wear it. You see it. Everyone knows your secrets by looking at you. I think a lot of trans girls get into porn because they want acceptance from the rest of the world. I think it's harder to be trans than it is to be in porn. I'm 6-foot-4 and people really are rude to me. But I don't feel like a victim. I don't feel like I have to hide and I'm certainly not ashamed of who I am.

Foxxy: Sadly it shouldn't have taken Caitlyn Jenner to make a difference for anybody, because there are plenty of transgender women who have done many positive things for us and our community. But because she's a celeb and she came out, it became a big media thing. We've become strong women on our own before Caitlyn came out. I'm just happy that it's finally happened. Gays and lesbians are being accepted, now it's our turn.

Chelsea: It's going to take the next generation after me to do more. You're not going to be rewarded for standing up, as I found out. You're going to be blacklisted, you're going to be called crazy. We're getting more visibility than ever but it's been one of the most violent years for trans women. I don't want trans women to be a niche. I want trans women to be in lesbian porn. I want trans women to be in straight porn. I want trans women to be treated just like any other women in porn.

"Sex Work" is a weekly series that profiles women who have careers in sex-related industries — from porn stars to sex researchers and everyone in between. Check back every week for the latest interview.

Cheryl Wischhover writes about beauty, health, fitness and fashion. Follow her on Twitter.

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