A beautiful woman with plenty of piercings, short curly hair, and tattoos lies on a wooden floor in sunlight. She's wearing a black bikini and scrunching her toes while looking peaceful — Demi Sutra photographed by Jocelyn James, from her insta @succubus_demisutra

A crowd of scantily clad young women in fuzzy boots, jean shorts & red flannel crop tops pose with a bald man in front of a restaurant whose sign reads Twin Peaks — Photo of a Twin Peaks restaurant, a chain Demi worked for as she initially explored her interest in sex work (photo from @twinpeaksrestaurants on insta)

Demi Sutra’s been a breath of fresh air in the industry since she first began in the mid 2010s. Radically queer, polyamorous, and openly neurodivergent, Demi’s work in Adult isn’t the only way her life pushes back against the norm. Even her looks defy social expectations, from her choice not to cover up distinctive birthmarks to \ the body hair she lets grow free. Despite a palpable passion for her work, Demi hasn’t had an easy time building her career in an industry so stubbornly stuck in its ways and saturated with racism. Still, she’s never stopped giving porn second chances as she pursues a career in erotic entertainment. This is the story of how Demi began her rise to fame and her very first day on set.

Like many working in Adult, Demi Sutra was enamored with the erotic from an early age.

“I had always been very attracted to sexually, energetically driven women”

the queer performer recalls of her youth looking up at Beyonce’s photo on her wall and dreaming of an empowered, pleasure-fueled future. She’d grown up with a strict Catholic mother, but that only grew her longing for a sexually liberated life. Still, she didn’t always know that would mean porn. First, she dabbled in “brestaurants” like Twin Peaks and Hooters where servers were encouraged to sit and flirt with guests. While on the blurry boundries of what’s generally considered sex work, this experience helped Demi hone in on her skills and interests and she loved it.

A seductive woman in a highly stylized black bikini with draping fabric and metal cuffs gestures in an ancient, mystical sort of way. She has a crown and dramatic eyeliner that connects to her eyebrows — Aaliyah starring in one of Demi’s favorite movies growing up *Queen Of The Damned* (2002)

At the time, porn didn’t feel like a possibility, and not for the typical reasons stars cite (thinking it’s mysterious, sketchy, counter to family values etc). No, she simply couldn’t imagine someone who looked like her being successful in the industry: “[popular women in Adult] always had these huge tits and long blonde hair at the time, and I thought that was just it” she remembers, despite the fact she was paradoxically inspired by so many beautiful Black women. Her icons like Tyra Banks, Beyonce, and the irresistibly seductive vampire from cult classic Queen Of The Damned (2002) were’t images she found in porn. Still, they gave her a model or confident sensuality she could emulate as she moved from breastaurants to stripping where she shed her old “ugly duckling” identity and felt a rush of power. She still remembers the moment it hit her:

“I remember standing up there on that fucking stage [...] and look[ing] around and everyone’s fucking eyes are on me and at that point I was like ‘YES! This is fucking power!’”

Without that boost, she would have never found the will to try breaking into the then intimidatingly backward landscape of Adult.

Demi’s route into porn wasn’t the most cautious or safe. She knew she needed to try performing and she just couldn’t wait to ‘do it right.’ “I would never suggest anyone to do it how I did it” she says now, remembering late nights scouring sketchy websites like Craigslist for any opportunity to capitalize off this newfound power.

After responding to a listing, it all went very fast. Demi was flown out to Miami by one of the shadiest agents she’s ever encountered and soon she was starring in several scenes for the somewhat unprepared Miami Adult industry.

Demi's dressed in black lace up shorts, thigh high black stockings, and a red plaid crop top. Her makeup is punk, like her hair which is styled in an intense mohawk. She's in a heavily graffitied car with a shirtless man. — Demi in one of her first scenes, in the Bang Bus for Bang Bros

Demi’s very first scene was a boy/girl for Reality Kings. Despite her unconventional appearance at the time, it was just a Reality Kings gonzo so typical of the era. “I looked absolutely clueless” she laughs, “I was terrified.” Despite the nerves, Demi fell in love instantly. “I was absolutely like ‘This is definitely what I want to fucking do.’” She jokes now that “the worst part of the day was paperwork.” Besides that, Demi was entranced by the whole experience. She was pampered with a makeup artist and lit up with the excitement of seeing the world of porn behind the scenes. “I couldn’t believe that I was doing it.”

Demi Sutra with Jill Kassidy for “What Friends Are For” episode 2 for Digital Playground

Unfortunately, her initial love affair with Adult wasn’t a happy one. All Demi wanted to do was shoot more scenes, but the industry just wasn’t ready for her. “They had no idea what to do with me” she states bluntly, remembering her hairstyle at the time: a tall, stiff mohawk jutting from the top of her head. “There was one specific type of Black woman that was shooting porn” and Demi’s alternative style and then twiggy build didn’t fit the bill. She couldn’t even slip under the radar into more mainstream (white) markets because of her unconventional hair and the fact she’s not particularly light skinned. She sighs, thinking back to the outrageous insistence companies had on trying to obfuscate her Blackness and label her with a fictitious Latina identity. Without succumbing to her own sanitization and racist type casting, Demi just couldn’t continue working. She remembers the time well:

“I got slapped in the face with racism pretty hard and I quit immediately,”

a deeply disheartening experience for someone so clearly suited to sex work.

It’s hard to remember for some onlookers now, but Demi’s current success didn’t come easy. Even after giving Adult a second chance in LA, she had an upsettingly demoralizing time.

Demi Sutra in *Wet Pussy Training* for Brazzers with Valentina Nappi & James Angel

“This industry puts everyone through the ringer, but being a Black woman in a white dominant industry where they can be very outwards with their racism kind of broke me down.”

She was paid a much lower rate than her co-stars, given limited scenes, and even told she wasn’t allowed to have a ‘No List’ and therefore had to work with people even after upsetting and violating experiences with them.

It was only after Demi fully gave up and said ‘fuck it’ that things took a dramatic shift for the better. After calling out unsafe working conditions and industry abuse, being blacklisted for it, and shifting only to independent work, Demi got a call she’ll never forget: Brazzers offering her a contract position out of nowhere. Throughout her career, she’d always dreamed of being a contract star for the company, but “everyone told me they would just never sign me, including my agency” Somehow, the universe was finally rewarding her talent, drive, tenacity, and honesty.

She’s had to weather a lot of bullshit, but now Demi’s here for good and we’re all better off for it. Her erotic passion and unwillingness to be silenced are a guiding star in the evolving, imperfect world of Adult Film. Now, she’s committed to a happily polyamorous relationship with fellow industry icon Kira Noir and working hard as a contract star for Brazzers in addition to her independent content creation. Check out her work here!

Demi smiles wide on the AVN red carpet. She's dressed in an elegant red velvet sleeveless dress that shows off her tattoos. Her hair is up in a curly purple mohawk — Demi on the 2024 AVN Awards red carpet, photographed by Jose Ortiz for FOB Productions

Author

Jude D. Grey is a sex nerd, fetishist, artist and porn enthusiast currently based in New York. Their writing is informed by an academic background in Sociology and Sexuality Studies as well as a personal investment in sexual liberation for all.