Julia Epiphany Opens Up on Being Trans in the Porn Industry

Julia has made her way as an indie model, making an impact on the industry that is worthy of recognition beyond awards. She’s been nominated for several Cam Model of the Year and Best Cam Model awards at shows like the Trans Erotica Awards. In 2021, Julia was a trans Creator of the Year award nominee for the YNOT Cam Awards. She also has been featured in Hustler and was crowned CAM4’s August 2019 cover girl, the first trans woman to be honored with that distinction. She also has been featured on podcasts like Adult Site Broker Talk, Licked and Loaded with Laura Desiree on CAM4 Radio and the Phone Sex with Lily Show.

Julia is considered one of the most popular trans broadcasters currently active online and posts content regularly through sites like ManyVids. She also has a world-class background in information technology and nanotechnology. She resides in Canada, with dual citizenship in Spain. Julia recently sat down with YNOT to talk about her background, the adult industry’s  evolving approach to creating and marketing trans content and some of the challenges facing adult performers and creators.

YNOT: Julia, thanks for speaking with us. How do you engage with adult entertainment and stand out as an industry competitor? What is your niche specifically and what can be done in your view to promoting trans models as mainstream elements and points of positive change?

Julia: Having worked in the tech sector as an entrepreneur for decades, that knowledge and experience together with my languages, allows me to engage with the adult industry in many unique ways. Trans models as mainstream elements are quite a complex topic, so let’s unpack that. When we use the term “mainstream” in my opinion it can be conflated between the wider “mainstream media” meaning beyond adult entertainment, and “mainstream porn” which is, by comparison, a much narrower audience.

YNOT: Could you explain more about the complexity you mentioned?

Julia: In the porn industry, trans elements have developed substantially in the last few years, even a decade or so ago it was still considered a branch of “gay male” erotica. We in the porn industry now know more about trans sexuality, for example, that it works well as its own category adjacent to female and male. However, I don’t think that means we should promote trans elements across the larger mainstream media. Why? Because lots of trans people are very “passable” and live peaceful lives as either women or men.

If we specifically promote trans elements to mainstream media then we may inadvertently be suggesting that trans people out themselves. Nobody should feel obligated to reveal personal information to the public, whether it be about our sexuality, our favorite colors, or any elements about our private life. We have the luxury in porn to play with different sexually charged themes, but mainstream media doesn’t typically discuss genitals openly as we do. I wouldn’t say it’s “censorship” as that would be a misuse of the term, but since mainstream media is both permanent AND includes an all-ages audience, media professionals can probably all agree that mature themes should NOT be mixed with mass media for those reasons. The same could be said about any graphic content, medical procedures for example, or other high-risk activities that could result in injury.

YNOT: That’s a unique take on whether trans content has mainstream status. How do you see positive change in the future based on this component of the conversation we are having now?

Julia: I believe it’s all about understanding where we’ve been as a culture and industry and exploring our horizons in search of a brighter future. We all have our strengths, which vary over time, and to lead into the future is itself a complex endeavor. But it is our duty as adults, among adults. Everyone is at different stages of their life, so in that sense, trans performers can be perceived as the embodiment of an effort to connect the past to a better future for ourselves: flexing our self-determination.

YNOT: Let’s go back in time for a little bit. What got you interested in the adult entertainment industry? Why do you perform and do this work?

Julia: I’ve been involved in the adult industry in one way or another for many years. Prior to starting professionally in 2019, I had been an amateur model on occasion for about a decade, and before that, I had attended many fetish and BDSM events since my early twenties.

On the one hand, I could say that becoming an adult entertainer is like a dream come true, while on the other I couldn’t say I ever fathomed it might one day happen. How I arrived at professional adult entertainment I suppose can be described as a milestone of a lifelong spiritual journey, and so I perform for my fans to continue that exploration.

YNOT: What drives you?

Julia: Performing as an adult entertainer is an incredible privilege and honor, our industry helps shape the very evolution of human sexuality. The porn we make teaches people what sex is all about and making quality entertainment is in turn about our ability to harness our business and creative talents together. As adult entertainers, we should be mindful that the world is not exclusively about pornography, and that we as entertainers need to be able to interact with the public in ways that aren’t always deliberately for arousal. That is a big part of my motivation, my professional drive. Having worked in tech for so long I would be doing myself a tremendous disservice by ignoring that experience, and conversely, my sexuality is equally integral to my past. Therefore, my drive is a fusion of both those elements of my life: tech and sex.

YNOT: What is next for you? What are your long-term goals?

Julia: Long term I would like to continue to perform, as a solo performer or with other performers, for as long as I’m able to. As I’m only in my late 40s now, hopefully, I still have a few years of performance ahead of me.

During that time or after I retire from performance, I’d also like to work with organizations in the adult industry, as well as tech, and mainstream media. I am cognizant of having a rare combination of talents and expertise, and I’d be honored to work with as many businesses and organizations as I can in the hopes that together we showcase the beauty of humanity, peacefully in our communities, throughout the Americas, Europe, and beyond.

YNOT: What are your current concerns associated with the adult entertainment industry and how do you approach these viewpoints as a trans performer?

Julia: Having worked in adult entertainment for a few years now, I’d say among my biggest concerns is how few adult performers are themselves concerned with having children. I realize not everyone wants to have children, and that’s true and respectable, but many of us might want children and for an industry that is built around fornication and copulation, having children should certainly be among the central topics. Lots of performers work in porn to support their families, child, or children. Those performers we should herald as champions. But the industry relegates having and raising children to an afterthought and that’s a big concern to me. That goes double for trans performers who are almost always prescribed hormone replacement therapy which can complicate our reproductive process.

Even if the individual performer might not want children, our industry should also nonetheless be responsible about raising children safely, as much as we are adept at defusing emotionally caustic relationships.

YNOT: What advice would you give to someone who is new to the industry or is a part of the external forces that demonize, or simply misunderstand how adult entertainment works as an industry and art form?

Julia: The adult industry is a business like any other, and making good pornography means behaving professionally as often and whenever appropriate. By this, I mean performers should be prepared to interact with other professionals (including other performers) in a respectable way as often as possible. Even if someone wrongs you, the response should not be driven by emotion, it should be rational, measured, and with empathy. That’s easier said than done, I know, but because passion and emotion are a core part of our business it is incredibly important performers learn to avoid volatile emotional landscapes as an integral part of their career.

YNOT:  What about behind the camera — you know, the writers, the camera crew and techs, the production assistants, the publicists, and technology folks?

Julia: The same goes for journalists and camera crew, whomever: learn how and when to be as objective and respectful as possible because the more we exercise that ability, the stronger our business will be and the more we are likely to encourage others to be respectful toward us. The performance for the camera is exactly that, a performance that should be fun and genuine. In parallel to that, the complimentary production behind the scenes should be coordinated with utmost care.

Follow Julia Epiphany on Twitter @msjuliaepiphany and visit her website at www.JuliaEpiphany.ca.