Conversations Book Club is pleased to share one of the most intriguing interviews we have conducted to date! The man who is known in the adult film industry as Bobby Blake is no stranger to attention. Now after retiring from the entertainment world, he has penned a memoir that people of all walks of life will be talking about. MY LIFE IN PORN reveals much more than he could have exposed in any movie, and his story of how his path could not have been any different is one that will resonate with many.This is our conversation:
Bobby, thank you for taking out the time to talk with me about your new memoir MY LIFE IN PORN. There is alot I want to discuss with you about the book, but I first want to ask you why did you decide to write and release it now?
Although I have been retired from the porn industry for seven years now, thanks to the internet my work continues to be available all over the world, and my fan-base has continued to grow as a result of that. My fans have so many questions about my life in the industry, and many of them have no real understanding of the business and how it works. That in part caused me to want to answer their questions about my time in the adult industry and from that came the book. People also saw – and see – me as something of a role model, and come to me for advice and guidance, so I also wanted to share with them the complex human being behind the Bobby Blake facade, and let them know about the experiences I went through in my life that made me who I am today.
Your faith is something that is talked about throughout the book. Like myself, many may not realize that you were a minister before you became involved in the industry and are a minister now. My obvious question to you is how has your faith affected the decisions you have made?
My faith in God is very strong, and has always been with me. But like many gay or bisexual people I felt pulled in many directions by the way the world treats us. On the one hand I was a minister, yes, but on the other there was a journey I needed to go on out into the world, like the Prodigal Son, who has to go and have certain experiences before he learns better and returns, contrite. And I returned, tempered, able to give back to the community in a way I could not otherwise have done. So I believe that, strange as it sounds, my sojourn in the world of porn was all part of God’s plan for me. After I retired from the industry I took time off before reentering the ministry. The power of God is stronger than eyes could see or ears have heard. I believe that and will always believe that.
What about those who attended your church? What was their perspective of your career choice?
When I was a minister my congregation were in fact very tolerant of the fact that I was in partnership with another man. This was because of the way I carried myself. I neither hid nor flaunted my sexuality, and always presented myself in a masculine, respectable way. I stepped down as minister at that church before I became involved in the adult industry: the two roles didn’t seem to me to belong together: they were like oil and water. At the church I work at now, as a counselor with young people troubled by their sexuality, everyone knows about my past and accepts it. They understand that it is because I’ve had the experiences I’ve had that I am able to advise without judging. And for my part, though I often enjoyed it, I would never recommend anyone to become involved in the adult industry. But in the end it’s not about me. It’s about what is right and wrong to God.
Bobby, one of the parts of the book that really touched me was when you were ministering in the hospital to those who were afflicted with HIV/AIDS. You say in the book “Burnt onto my mind is the face of a young woman who had lost her child to AIDS shrieking to God, “Take me and leave her here! It’s not her fault!” She, herself was HIV+, but her daughter had died first, over in another hospital. I had to tell her that her daughter had passed. How can you comfort someone in that situation? But Id did the best I could. (p.109)” How has the disease affected the way you live your life?
For years you know that HIV/AIDS was considered a gay disease, but you have children being born with the disease at no fault of their own. It’s something that affects everyone, born or yet to be born. When I saw that scene my soul cried out to God for understanding. We have situations like this because of lack of knowledge. Because of the lack of knowledge of the parents and the world about HIV/AIDS we have senseless infections and death. You need to know your status. Everyone should. That is why the Bible says that God’s people perish for the lack of knowledge. We have to educate ourselves in order to protect ourselves.
Source: Cyrus Webb Presents
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