Christian entered the industry in 2000 through his porn star girlfriend Lovette. He performed with her in an amateur production, and in 2003 he worked for Chi Chi LaRue who also directs on the gay side of the industry. LaRue asked Christian if he would be interested in performing with other men and since the paycheck was much bigger than straight work, he agreed.
Due to his 6-foot-5 physique, the former college basketball player was offered an exclusive contract for five movies with Falcon Studios, one of the largest gay adult producers. Christian performed under the name Maxx Diesel for Falcon.
After his foray into the gay side of the business, Christian decided he wanted to work exclusively with girls and made the transition to the straight side where he has worked regularly — and somewhat controversially — since 2003.
“[Christian] continued to push the envelope within the straight industry, appearing in transsexual movies, doing strap-on scenes, and playing the submissive role in female domination scenes,” Taormino said. “People began to criticize his choices, and what they said about him highlights one double standard at work in porn. When women fuck men and women, or do gangbangs, bukkakes, and other ‘non-traditional’ acts on film, they’re usually applauded as super-sluts. They are encouraged to push their limits, do freaky things, and indulge their wild child. But men are held to a different standard. There are no such rewards for fucking outside the box.”
Going from gay to straight performing is not unheard of. Peter North, Jamie Gillis, Byron Long, Frank Towers and John Holmes all have done gay scenes before making their marks in straight porn.
Christian has engendered some recent controversy over his sexual proclivities, and some female performers have refused to work with him. The debate has simmered on adult industry message boards and Internet radio stations.
Taormino said the controversy and public statements are “Also fascinating for what it reveals about double standards for performers, ideas about bisexuality, the instability of sexual identity, and hopefully, some changing attitudes within porn.”
Christian is very comfortable about his gay porn past and openly discusses it with Taormino in the articles. While he considers himself straight because he only dates women, he confesses to enjoying both genders sexually.
“I am a guy who likes to do whatever he wants to get laid and get paid for it,” he said. “I don’t have any hang-ups about it. I'll try anything. I am a sexual chameleon.”
Addressing some female performers concerns over the safety of working with someone who’s also had sex with men, Taormino said, “Christian's dangerous all right, but not in the way his ignorant detractors think he is. He’s dangerous because he's so open about, well, his sexual openness, and as a result has become a target. He illustrates the instability of sexual identity and the split between on- and off-camera personas, identities, and behaviors.”
At the end of the two-part series, Taormino expresses her admiration for Christian, saying, “My hope is that he represents the next generation of porn performers, a group of people who refuse to be pinned down by labels, who are conscious about how their work and identities relate to one another, who use sex work as a transformative tool, and who set an example for viewers to step outside their boxes and try something new.”
Taormino herself has appeared in a few adult movies, most notably Evil Angel’s “Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women 1 & 2.” She also is a director for the new Vivid-Ed label, which focuses on sexual instructional videos. Taormino has taught sex education workshops all over the world for the past eight years.
