We were curious about transgender escorts, so we looked up Amanda Coxx, an escort and adult film actress who says she's 26. The following is our conversation.

Metro Times: So, what is it that you do?

Amanda Coxx: I do a little bit of escorting, and I do porn. A little bit of modeling. I do adult movies.

MT: What exactly are you selling?

Coxx: I'm selling to dudes who like the best of both worlds. Having tits, ass, looking like a girl, and then a cock.

MT: What kind of guys are your typical customers?

Coxx: I guess you could call it "down-low" guys. Most of them are married, with families, and things like that. Older guys. A lot of younger guys as well. White, black — it all depends. A lot of businessmen. Most of the guys who come see me are like, I guess you'd call it bisexual. They pretty much still like females as well.

MT: Sure. How long have you been doing this?

Coxx: A long time! [laughs.] First, I started working on Woodward, the 6 Mile and Woodward area. Then I went to escorting, placing ads. It's cold out — you don't want to be cold in the wintertime. The streets are very dangerous. I know girls who got shot, who get robbed out there. A lot of guys target those girls, and rob them. I had a girl who was real close to me, she got killed out there. So I'd rather work the ads. It's pretty funny because the 6 Mile and Woodward girls, the younger girls, they didn't know about the ads. Now everyone's trying to work an ad. It's really just made the industry go down. They're charging $20, $30 — charging street prices for escort prices. A lot of them get fake pictures, they call it "catfishing."

MT: Is it dangerous to use a real photo, though?

Coxx: I don't feel like it's a danger. I'm open with myself — I'm not in the closet or anything like that. My family accepts me, and they know everything that I do. I'd rather use my real picture than a fake picture. At least then when the guy sees you in the [ad] he's going to get what he sees.

MT: Was your family initially accepting of your lifestyle, or did it take some warming up?

Coxx: It took a lot of warming up. But after a while they just pretty much came around. A lot of girls, when they first come out, their family disowns them. That's why a lot of people get families out in the streets — like calling an older person their "mother" or "father." They form their own little family. I guess you could call it like a gang, but not really a gang. They form their own family out on the streets.

MT: Do you work for someone?

Coxx: When I first did start off, it was like an escort service. It was this lady, her name was Candy. I worked under her. She would book the dates and place the ads and work the phone, and you would give her a certain percentage off of the date. She had transsexuals, she had guys, she had females. A lot of times, prostitutes work out of the same hotels. Everyone gets close from being in the room all day, and smoke weed or hang out or whatever with each other.

This one girl that I knew, her boyfriend was just pimping her. She'd [go on] dates and he'd take all of her money and then give her what he wanted her to have for food, or buy her some different clothes. He was really in control. I was never really the type to give anyone my cash. I've always been independent. I'm my own boss. I place my own ads. I answer my own phone. Other girls, the guy places their ad, or you call and there's a guy who runs everything. That's pretty much the younger girls, who don't really know about anything.

A lot of girls use prostitution to get drugs and to get high. It's pretty dangerous because I know a lot of girls who are infected with HIV and stuff like that, and they still choose to work in the industry. I knew one guy who called my phone and he said he just wanted to relax and talk a little bit. He came over and brought some weed. He said that he was infected. I asked him where he got it from, and he said, "From ya'll." And I was like, "Don't say from me, because I'm not infected!" But he said from people in the industry. He said he was a [down-low] guy, and he was a [versatile]. So he liked getting fucked, and fucking, and he chose to do it unprotected.

Myself, I don't do anything unprotected. I don't suck dick without a condom, I don't get fucked [without a condom]. I take normal tests. It's really a dangerous job, dealing with diseases. You never know what people might have. And then condoms aren't always 100 percent. It kind of confuses me, because a lot of guys are married, and they still want to come and see you and not use a condom. They're putting their family at risk. It's pretty crazy to me that they're living that kind of life.

I had women that have called my phone and say that they have seen my number in their guy's phone, and [ask] why my number keeps appearing weekly on their guy's phone. This one time, this guy was a regular client, a guy who I would see once a week. A nice business guy — he worked, had a family. And then she ended up calling me. She had called restricted, and I usually don't accept restricted calls, but she kept on calling me. She said that she just wanted to know what was going on. So I asked her, "Are you standing up? Well, maybe you need to sit down for this one." I told her I was a prostitute, I told her he probably got my number off of Backpage. Then I told her she really gotta hold her socks on for this one, because I was transgender. She said she just couldn't believe it. She kind of figured it because she would go after he got off the computer and she would go and look at things that he searched on and he had looked at transgender movies and things like that. She said she didn't really have no idea that he was taking a prostitute. She said, "Please don't tell him that I called you" — she just wanted to keep it a secret. I think they got divorced, and he couldn't afford to keep seeing me.

MT: Do you have clients who are open with their partners?

Coxx: I do have couples clientele, like I’ll see a guy and his wife. They’ll try and act like it’s for the ladies, like we both want to pleasure her. But I’m not attracted to females — I’m attracted to males. A lot of times I’ll have open couples and we all just have a nice time together. There's a lot of people out there that just like weird stuff. One guy likes me to shit in his mouth, which is pretty disgusting, but that's how he gets off.

MT: Do you charge more for that?

Coxx: Of course, because that's just ... ugh. A lot of clientele, you say, "Hey, it's the money." A lot of guys are stinky, a lot of guys are old. They ain't always a nice session. You get your old guys who need help coming up the stairs. You gotta go out there and get them and bring them on in the room. My regular price is $100 for the half, $150 for the hour. Some guys have a tip, some guys are cheapies and can't really afford it, so you go down to $75.

MT: Have you ever had situations where you had to say no, where you wouldn't do something that they wanted you to do?

Coxx: A lot of guys really just want unprotected sex — I draw the line when it comes to unprotected sex. I don't see the shit date anymore because after I shitted, he spits it out in the toilet and I guess he didn't make it to the toilet and he ends up throwing up in my sink in my hotel room. I said, "You like that nasty shit, clean this shit up!" I think he kind of took offense to it. He calls around and everyone shits in his mouth, and that is nasty to me. It just grosses me out.

MT: Have you ever formed relationships with your customers? Or do you keep it professional?

Coxx: It's pretty crazy, because they all think we're in a relationship. They think we're friends. And that's how you want to keep it. You want to feel comfortable. They want to feel like they can talk to you, and I want to feel like I know them. I'd rather have regular clientele. At least I know the guy, or I feel like I know them because I've been seeing them for a while. A lot of dates call and check on me just to see how I'm doing. It's not about the cash, it's about the companionship — just being there as a friend, just being someone who you can talk to. They know you're not judging them, and I'm not nagging them about anything. They feel like they can relax with me.

I just play the roles. It's a role you got to play — like you like them, like you're there for them, like you guys are cool. This one guy he comes in town to see me, and then afterwards he texts my phone all day, every day, talking about my cock. I have to stop him. I have to tell him to only call when he's ready to hook up. I'm not your girlfriend! I hate to be mean, because I don't want to mess up my clientele, but sometimes you have to let them know that they're a customer and this is a business.

Some guys want to keep seeing you, and they think that it gets cheaper. They want to spend less on you. This is a crazy one that I've heard — "I'll give it to you next time." Or, this one kills me too: "Let me owe you one." It's like, no! This is how I make my money, this is how I pay my bills.

MT: Do you only work locally?