♪
There is no feeling like having two hundred pairs of eyes
wrapped on you and what you're doing.
I really like how I could expose myself like that
and then people cheering me to expose myself.
You are a man, you are a woman, you are in-between,
I don't care.
Strippers do get a lot of sex.
That's what you want to do? Do it!
You have people who are natural voyeurs and exhibitionists.
It's been thirteen days since showed a random person my dick.
That's way too long for me.
For the cross-dresser or the transsexual,
it gets a little murky.
I like being onstage. I like dressing up.
He's addicted to that drug, whether he admits it or not.
What Mom doesn't know won't hurt her.
♪
I am The King! Everybody look at me!
I'm Bronco. I'm thirty years old. And I'm a stripper.
I like being onstage. I like dressing up. I like dancing.
I like putting smiles on people's faces.
You're entertaining.
So, it is pretty cool.
Is he a stripper for women or men?
This texter wants to know.
Right now it's just for men.
It's a gay club?
It's a gay club.
So, I've danced for women, I've danced for men,
I've danced for both.
Which do you like better?
Uhhhh.... well, it varies. I like variety.
My name is Gabriel. I'm twenty-six years old.
And I'm a stripper.
Onstage I give all I have, you know.
Each dance is like my last.
I'll do pole tricks, I'll, you know, really move around,
let the music, you know, make me move, you know?
Penetrate you.
Yeah! Penetrate me... yeah, good term!
I've been dancing for almost six... seven years.
And I've got three titles. Like, I'm a seasoned veteran almost.
Damian, Jeremy, The King and Andre:
the five best guys around.
Like, we're really, really good.
Our shows are tight. Our shapes are tight.
Everything's perfect.
I think we're going to have a great night.
Yeah.
Should we get a Whoa, Bundy?
You guys didn't watch "Married With Children" as kids?
EVERYONE: Whoa, Bundy!
Andre's Jamaican.
He brings in his American and Jamaican style.
Jeremy's going to put in his hip-hop and bad boy style.
Damian is a big, big muscle guy.
And then... I'm actually bringing a surprise.
Did you know we could smoke joints back then?
They showed me a room with a fan.
I've been to strip clubs where it's for women.
So males for women. And I find that the women are wild.
(women screaming)
All those girls, they all want me.
I've done a show for all women.
You just walked inside the bar and they started screaming.
And they would steal our clothes.
So, yeah, women are insane!
Strippers do get a lot of sex.
A corporal or a sergeant has stripes or chevrons
on their blazer or jacket...
y'know, a stripper gets a "stripe".
If you make a hundred dollars onstage, that's a stripe.
Getting a (beep) in the corner.
Having sex with someone in the corner.
That's a stripe.
How many stripes do I have, you ask?
I have a lot.
She's like, "No, no, no."
I'm like, "Oh, relax, babe."
You know, this and that. Relax.
Any time a guy tells you to relax, run!
Yeah, your underwear and your pants are gone!
I remember seeing girl on a barstool masturbating.
I've seen this!
I think women go nuts with male strippers
because they feel free to do so.
I don't know if it's the same thing
in the gay male strip clubs.
They're not ripping your clothes off.
Well, some of them are.
I tend to think that wome enjoy strip clubs more in a fun,
night-out-with-the-girls kind of thing,
whereas men are in it for sexual release.
I think I would agree with that.
I agree, women are ther for fun--the girls that I know.
But it's not always about sexual release for men. I've got lots
of regular clients that would just love the affection.
I would sit on their lap and kind of play in their hair.
And those were the highest paying clients.
They want to be held. They want to be loved.
When I'm stripping, I'm Bronco. I put on a mask.
I'm that badass that girls... everyone...
everyone wants and, you know, I'm that dude.
The moment I leave that bar, I'm Brendan again.
I'm just me. I'm a small town guy.
You're not going to see Bronco for another week.
I grew up in a traditional Canadian home.
Hockey being the biggest sport around,
my dad is a goalie, my grandfather's a goalie,
my uncle's a goalie. I remember, though, we were so, so poor
we couldn't afford hockey equipment. The first time I
got hockey equipment we got it all at The Salvation Army.
I was so excited. I was going to the
gym and on the ice in the mornings before school.
My goal was to just get better and better and better.
I made a Triple A team in the city and at the age of fifteen
I started teaching ice hockey.
Um, power skating, goalie schools...
You wonder if any of these kids will grow up to be strippers
instead of hockey players when they grow up.
♪
When I first met Laila, I thought she was gorgeous and
she would wear these really, really revealing outfits.
I was her stripper. I was dancing, she was a client,
but just like, I wanted to have her, you know?
I remember one day she came in,
she was dressed like a gothic vampire.
I found that so attractive.
I met Gabriel, at first, he was working as a stripper.
He's the one who came to me and it was kind of surprising.
For the first year that I knew her she was a client.
She would come by and
I'd dance for her and we'd do things. Like we'd go have
a meal together or something, you know?
But nothing much was happening.
Have you noticed that sometimes people are just,
you know, uncomfortable with the fact that I'm...
I'm your girlfriend?
At the beginning of our relationship
it was very fragile.
All my friends like her. They all think she's great.
Fans, on the other hand, tend to misunderstand.
When I was a stripper, people used to be openly aggressive.
Sometimes people say that famous guys or girls
are supposed to be with, you know, some people like,
You know, like... not like me.
When they tell I'm with a woman, they picture this 18 year old
hundred pound blonde cheerleader of some kind, you know?
And then they see her and like, well, "What the hell?
She's not.." you know, "She's not a Top Model."
I'm chubby. I' taller than you.
I'm a little bit stronger like ah... for a girl.
You're not stronger than me.
No, no, no no... I know.
I (beep) many 18 year old cheerleaders, you know?
And I don't feel like spendin more than that night with them.
While her, I can spend the entire day doing nothing.
And it feels great.
You've seen me chained up. You've seen me...
Yeah but--but in the show-- it was a--
...doing my show with the goddam handcuffs. (laughs)
...it was a show. (laughs)
Yeah, and then I'm shy around certain people.
"Call Me Maybe"? Here's my number...
(both sing) so call me, maybe. (laughter)
Miles. He was asking if we were still together.
That's hard... hard to hear.
But, you know, as long as you know that the other person loves
you for who you are, you can face anything.
I got a hard time to know you like as you are, exactly.
Well, you were my client at first, remember?
And I told you, "I don't want to know the dancer.
I just want to know the man behind."
When I met her and she told me she that was an escort,
ahhmmm... I mean, I couldn't care less.
I do run an escort agency, so I take care of a couple of girls
and also we have customers and everything.
Laila runs the best escort agency for both clients and
escorts themselves cuz there are lots of bad escort agencies
and pimps, like we call them.
She's worked with people that had lots of problems
and gave them a chance.
So I find that she's very honourable.
I was trying to run away cuz I didn't know
what was your intention after that.
I think you dumped me about ten times.
There's no love without romance.
There's no romance without true emotion.
So you grabbed my hand, and you say, "Stay."
And that's the day, you gave me the ring to say
The promise ring.
Yeah.
♪
Stop flexing the...
That comes naturally.
You are a man. You are a woman. You are in between.
I don't care.
You're holding the power of this whole audience.
It's intoxicating.
Like, I also did porn videos.
You're... you're a porn star.
♪
(women screaming)
When I first started dancing in 2006 I was entered into
a Mr. C.H.I.N. contest. There was, like, 26 contestants.
It's about physique, personality--
it's the whole package. And I won that.
I entered The Ultimate Trojan Man Search and I won that.
And then, I was in Jamaica and I competed for the Mr. Hedonism
and I'm competing against America's Most Wanted--
it's a tour that travels in the States.
They're probably the best strippers I've ever seen.
Like, these guys are big, black, muscular...
they've got (laughs) huge dicks.
Like, but they're amazing showmen. So, the fact that
I won against them, it says a lot about my skills.
So, you're 26 years old. Are you married? Are you single?
Are you gay? Are you straight?
Who's Gabriel?
Well, first of all, I'm bisexual.
People are thinking, "Okay, bisexual...
that means you chose. You made a choice."
I don't think it's a choice.
Oh, you don't do it like that? No?
No. I'm attracted to men and women.
I've had a boyfriend in the past. Now I have a girlfriend.
There's no such thing as "in the middle" and I think when people
think "bisexual", they think, "It's half of this
and half of that.", you know.
But orientation is not straight or gay. Or bi.
It doesn't work like that.
When did you know you were bisexual?
Ever since I was a teenager I knew I was bisexual.
I mean, I didn't explore it until I got nineteen...
Just cuz I didn't want to be judged,
you know, and I thought people would label me or something.
Especially bisexuality, right?
It's one of those orientations that the gay world tells you,
"Ah, you're just not out of the closet!"
And the straight world says, "Oh no,
you really just haven't actually come out."
I think it's still quite misunderstood, right?
Oh yeah, and especially as a stripper you get a lot of people
that will think that I'm "gay for pay".
Well, that's a straight guy --straight stripper--
--who will work in a gay club--
--so he'll only, you know, perform, gay performer...
but he's not actually gay so he's "gay for pay".
So I've been called either "gay for pay" or "in the closet".
And I say, No, I'm neither!
You know, I'm right in between. I'll prefer certain aspects in
men, I'll prefer certain aspects in women.
♪
Um, my Mum's been involved with the little theatre
for as long as I can remember.
I am currently the President of Georgetown Little Theatre.
Brendan comes from a long line, on my Mom's side, of...
entertainers.
It's almost like it's in our genetic pool, where...
My grandfather played the traps and I have aunties who are
currently entertaining in, um, old folks' homes.
They certainly weren't stripping.
They do a Dolly Parton thing and the tears come streaming.
One old gentleman wanted Dolly Parton's autograph.
But the theatre's there. They like performing. And so do I.
He's a dancer. He likes music.
He danced at The Electric Circus.
Do you remember The Electric Circus?
You would see him, little bits of Brendon on TV.
When, actually, did you start dancing?
Brendan told us that he started stripping
years after he had started stripping.
I have never seen Brendan strip.
You could use some constructive criticism.
No! (laughs)
For instance, I'll try to tell you to stop flexing the--
That comes naturally.
The girls like that.
I don't think he'd be comfortable having me in
the audience. And it's too bad, cuz you would like to see your
child do their chosen line of work.
Gabriel, I want to talk to you about your family.
How did your family react to your choice of career?
The easiest story to tell is my father.
When I told him about that he was super excited.
Not everybody can brag about that.
So to me it's a little pride.
He was excited for you?!
Yeah. He was, like, "I wanna go check it out!"
Like... are you sure?
He's, "Yeah, definitely!" (laughs)
Really!
I work in construction. That's what I do for a living.
Because I love my job, I became one of the best.
Gabriel has a passion too. Just be happy.
That's what you want to do? Do it!
What about your Mom. How, ah...
Ah, my mother is a different story.
It didn't matter if I was a astronaut or a hooker.
It was same to her.
Like, she just has negative points of view about everything.
That must be really difficult.
So are your parents not together?
No. Not any more.
He lived only with his mother and
she was his most present parent.
He felt he had to please her and couldn't please her.
I don't give a hoot what is your sexual orientation.
I don't give a hoot, it's who you are.
The mother... it's a different story.
Everything I would do, it was a performance.
You couldn't play sports without her,
you know, criticizing what I was doing.
So it gave me that boost, I guess you could say.
It gave me that special talent to perform under pressure.
And also to please, right?
You... you... when we grow up with a parent
who's so hard to please we work really hard.
He's not afraid of that performance and of putting all
of it, his whole heart and soul, into something.
And he's getting the accolades.
It's almost like what he didn't get at home he's...
he has a whole fan base. He's got a whole group
of people who can validate his being, in a sense.
♪
Ehhh, hey, hey, hey, heyyyy!
(Greeting in French.)
It has been quite a while since the last time I've seen you.
Yeah. I did a special event, well, yesterday, actually, um.
Me and my father have always been close.
If I have something, stress or something going on in my life,
he's good support to have.
The most common thing that I hear when I'm dancing,
it's always like, what am I, gay or straight?
Bisexuality is confusion. You don't know what you are
and you're just trying both until you pick a side.
To me, to be bisexual is... you like both sides.
You like the both sides of the world.
As a bisexual you can find pleasure in,
you know, in any kind of human touch. (laughs)
No preference!
Yeah.
I like you as much as I like you.
You are a man. You are a woman. You are in between.
I don't care. It's who you are. I will not judge.
But I will ask questions.
So tell me, how is it going with Leila?
Things now are really good.
You know, we were kind of, we had, like, a promise...
I gave her a promise ring.
And it's now turned to more like an engagement.
Ho-ho-ho-ho!
So now I could say that you are engaged.
Yeah! Yeah.
All right!
Hey, cheers!
When it comes to the male revues and shows and stuff like that,
like... I think, all in all, we are the best all around.
We go on on-time. We do fifteen minute shows with costumes.
We get completely nude.
We're the cat's ass.
I've been doing it for so long there's no real nerves.
I don't get nervous, I just kind of... show up.
Breakfast: six raw eggs, a cup of oatmeal,
some flax seed, protein, some frozen berries.
That goes in a shake. Put it in a blender and drink it.
That's my breakfast. It's pretty boring, but, again,
that's a trade-off for looking like this.
You gonna be there for 8, or...?
This guy i never on time.
What time's the show at? 9?
I'm going to be there at 8:59, that's okay.
I'm on Jamaica time.
back so I'll get one of the guys to shave my back.
Life in the industry-- gotta do it. No girl likes a sweater.
Tonight is going to be a busy night
and what I want to talk about... Everything is perfect.
The only thing that we lack as a group is
what I want to call "schmoozing".
What I want to see tonight is an effort from everybody to go out
and say, "Hey ladies, where you from?
We're happy you guys came. We're going to be back in February."
♪
It's a love for the instant gratification.
You're holding the power of this whole audience and to
actually whip them into a whole frenzy... it's intoxicating.
♪
Jeremy says he's going to be the oldest stripper in the world.
I'm gonna be walking around
with just the trench coat on. I'll get arrested for sure.
Women want a firefighter. Women want a cop.
You wanna man in uniform that can't get it up?
Our fantasy is to try and suck a guy together, like...
Yeah, we did.
I'll go out, pick up somebody, go to a hotel room...
I love him and I hope to be monogamous.
♪
The highlight of my relation with Leila is that,
first of all we're an open couple. If I'm missing time...
special time with a man, then she completely understands it.
I'll go out, pick up somebody, go to a hotel room,
go to their place...
And this is okay with her.
Oh yeah.
So this... you live in an open relationship
where it's basically sanctioned non-monogamy.
So it's not cheating because you're not betraying
because she knows about it.
Yeah. Like, nights I'll go out and I'll tell her,
well, I need to go out and... you know, find a male partner.
And then, say the next morning, I'll tell her all about it.
I don't have to choose and let go of my sexuality with men.
When I first met him he told me, "I have this thing that I need
to go around and, you know... have fun with other people.
So I said okay, I don't mind. Like I told to everybody,
I don't have what he needs down there so...
If you're with me, what's going to happen?
You're going to really want a penis, at some point.
You're gonna leave me for a penis,
I can't fulfill that because I don't have one.
For him, it's natural to go on the side
even if he is in a couple or not.
But for me, ah... I'm someone who does love him, and ahh...
I believe that you can make love to the one you love
but not with other people.
So, sometimes it's kind of challenging, yeah.
It's that kind of openness that we have that
she's happy for me if I'm having a good time.
Love is freedom.
When you have a bird in a cage, it's not a good thing.
So, when he has fun, I'm happy.
Remember when we went to the club?
(laughs) Yeah, you were licking that girl's (beep)...
(laughter)
And I fell in love with you. (laughs)
(laughter)
You know what else was fun, at the, ah... kink in the woods.
You know, we were both playing with this one guy.
Remember that?
Yeah. I told him that our fantasy was to
try and suck a guy together, like...
Yeah.
We did.
I know.
He liked it.
A healthy relation is one plus one equals three.
You have you, you have her-- or him-- and you have together.
So I can have sex on my side, you know, and even,
I guess, tell her about it and... and find your fetishes.
Find your things to explore with her.
If I want to have a quickie I'd rather have it with somebody
I picked up or somebody in a bar, you know?
When I met David, we had an instant connection.
He came, one time, in my bar. He just heard me singing.
And he said, "Ho, my god!" You know, "What is that voice?"
We exchanged many conversations during the night.
And, uh... we go together.
My relation with David has been, you know,
friends with benefits. We could see each other just to
have fun or just to have sex. He's a man of multi-talents.
Like, he can sing, he can cook...
I love how he gives off this very positive energy.
What I found sexy about Gabriel is...everything.
He has, like, this balance of feminine and masculine energy.
Like, he places his hair very feminine...
Funny guy. (laughs)
Yeah, I'm bisexual too, but I prefer men.
I never saw Gabriel like a boyfriend. Never, never.
I never felt love for Gabriel. But attractive...
Now he has a boyfriend so we're not sleeping together any more.
Although, we might just have a threesome. (laughs)
I'll tell you a story about Brendan's friend, BJ.
She's the beautiful girl next-door.
BJ and I have known each other since Grade 1, all the way up.
I kind of had a crush on her. Um...
So, when they were sixteen years old he goes
to the florist and buys, like a pound, of rose petals.
And he's got a birthday cake.
He sprinkles rose petals up the stairs to her bedroom...
It's a romantic thing do to.
Who would think of doing something like that?
The attraction that I had with her wasn't even sexual.
It was just like a boyish attraction.
I can't look at her that way. It's just... we're friends.
Brendan may have come on too strong,
too suave, too professional. I think that was the
turning point that BJ said, "No, no, no, no, no." (laughs)
It's a little ridiculous, male strippers...
Why?
I think it's entertainment. Like, we work our asses off.
We put on costumes, we make our own music.
Those are ridiculous, yes.
The one and only time that I went to see Brendan strip
was about eight years ago.
He said it was his last time stripping.
So I thought, okay, he really wanted me to go.
Oh man, it was very awkward.
As far as the whole getup and the costumes and the parading
around it's not sexually attractive to me at all.
Men do this cheesy-ass act...
No, no, no. Women are...
...and you're supposed to be, like,
grovelling at their feet...
No! They want the fantasy...
...They're some cheesy-ass fantasies...
It's not! Women want a firefighter. Women want a cop.
Women want a cowboy.
Do you want a man in uniform that can't
get it up cause there's times when we've had that issue?
Who, me?
I got to see his life,
which was nice. But I was happy that I thought he was
getting out of the business.
I liked being onstage. I like dressing up. I like dancing.
You know, that, to me, is entertainment.
You're not going to be a stripper forever, right?
There's some of the guys I'm dancing with,
they're in their forties.
Oh, really!
Yeah. Jeremy says he's going to be
the oldest stripper in the world.
That's his goal. He wants to break the world record
and be the oldest stripper.
I'm scared that when I'm 60 I'm going to be
that guy walking around with just the trench coat on,
"Look at my dick! Come look at my dick!"
I'm gonna get arrested.
But, no, I'm not going to be that forty-five year old
stripper still hanging on to that dream. No.
This is probably the best I've ever been.
Older, more mature, bigger, better dancer.
Like, everything is better about me.
But the industry has changed.
We're not making as much money as we used to.
Speak for yourself. I had my best year ever.
Like, you have your fans but, right now man,
I'm just killing it And you know what?
If you said, "Oh, I'm quitting cold turkey.",
it's going to go six months and then you're going to go,
"Hey, Jer, have you got any shows coming up?"
I'm not allowing it.
I've considered different venues of entertainment.
For example, the guys from Thunder From Down Under
in Vegas. Like, they're really, really good.
They do a show, it's choreographed,
they work really hard an that's their end-all and be-all.
That's what they're doing.
I'm living on my own, I'm thirty years old, I can barely support
myself, let alone, you know, two children and a wife.
So I've owned a hockey school for years. I'm doing my acting.
I finally got an agent about six months ago.
And then I started to produce boat cruises.
One job is never enough. If I'm just doing one thing
then I go... I go crazy.
How much money does a male stripper make?
A regular week it was about fifteen hundred to two thousand.
I can make, in one night,
a regular person's salary for a week.
I wish I could get a job like that!
Well, tell me one thing, though.
How do things going to be with your relationship?
We're still in an open relation but only with the opposite sex.
And the way we are now, like, we'll mostly do, um...
parties, like, together. We'll have an orgy, a threesome,
So, we're less, like, I'm less going on my side on my own.
We keep our relationship healthy. Always with trust.
Things'll probably change a bit,
like, you know, progressively change.
But I don't, I don't see any, like, radical changes.
What I hope is that one day he's going to be able
to be with me only, together as a couple.
But I'm never going to ask him to... to do it.
That doesn't frighten you, that, um...
she might say, "Okay, now you're mine, "I'm married to ya."
(laughs) No, I trust her. I would not think of marrying her
if I thought she would do such a thing.
Well, you know, some people do change when they get married.
I just hope that whenever there's a problem
I hope you are talking to each other.
Yeah.
I love him and I hope that one day
we're going to be able to be monogamous.
I have charm.
You could charm your way into giving someone gonorrhoea.
I don't have it.
What do I need a girl for?
I've seen many strippers on drugs. Some of them,
they just need a certain drug just to keep them cool.
Are you going to have a party on your birthday
or is that going to be the last time?
Is there someone that you're seeing right now?
There's always girls. They keep on coming and coming.
Take a number.
Do you remember your first show?
You came. Don't you remember that?
No.
You did.
Was I drunk?
No!
We have this passionate relationship.
You know, we've known each other for so long
that I think we're better off being friends. I think
it's good that I can provide a different view for him.
I have charm and, like, they just see that I'm like...
That's great. That's a great selling feature
that you have charm. But you could also charm your way
into giving someone gonorrhoea.
But I don't have it!
Well, that's great.
You make good money and you're in the right facility
to have the lifestyle you want.
The relationship with her and I, like, we're just honest.
If she feels something, she'll tell me.
If I feel something, I'll tell her.
I think I've always wanted
to see him on the straight and narrow.
Coming from a small town, he's tried to find himself in
other things that weren't really known here.
He's just tried to be a rebel in that sense.
You know, when it comes to a relationship,
really, like what do I need a woman for?
It's maybe been revisited once or twice.
Do you ever think, "What if?"
-- if we would have had that one night or one something
would it have changed our opinions?
I still love him and want the best for him
but I'm not romantically involved.
I cook. I clean. I'm independent.
I make my own money. I do my own laundry.
Aside from sex, really, what do I need a girl for?
I read an interesting article -- it was rather,
sad, really -- where a number of male strippers
had died due to the use of steroids.
And the article really talked about the pressure to--
you know, the six pack and... you have to look good.
There is a certain pressure, ah, to look hot.
Of course there's some things that I don't tell my Mom.
I do some steroids once in a while.
I've got an injured shoulder.
So that shot, it's just making my tissue repair so much faster.
Some people say, "Oh, he's doing drugs.
Oh, he's doing something illegal."
Yeah, well... look at the way people drink.
When I take a steroid, it's body-enhancing.
Really, what am I doing wrong? Nothing.
Do I have any side-effects?
At one point I develope gynecomastia. When that happens
the male will start to have an enlarged breast tissue.
Pretty easy, it's like day surgery.
All they do is, kind of, slice it open, take out some of that
fatty tissue and sew me back up. You can't even tell I had it.
What Mom doesn't know won't hurt her.
I've seen many strippers on drugs.
Some of them, it's not about looking good.
They just need a certain drug just to keep them cool.
I work out, I listen to my body, and I eat well.
I'm always having the time of my life,
so I'm excited to be there...
Have you ever used Viagra or anything like that?
I've tried. I don't need it and I don't like it.
Viagra makes your head rush, you feel like you're semi-drunk
all the time. And Levitra just makes me way too horny.
Gabriel's sex appetite is intensive.
He is a really, really amazing lover.
My sex sessions are quite long.
Because I'll take a lot of time with foreplay, first of all.
It's not all about genital activities or penetration.
There's a lot... you know, I kiss a lot, I'll massage.
I love starting sex with a nice massage.
It's all about feeling and, you know,
exploring different sensations.
I know from my own experience he's
really, really a good lover.
I remember one time we get in my room during eight hours and...
he never stopped!
It was... he's incredible.
Gabriel lives in an open relationship.
You have to find somebody who wants the same thing you do
and who values that.
But if not... you choose.
Now how I feel it's very important for me
to have both male and female partners.
Um, there was a time I didn't believe marriage was a good idea
because if you're always wit the same partner then you will,
you know, get tired of that and passion might go away.
So to have both, like...
it always brings me back between making love and raw sexuality.
♪
The thing that differentiates me
from the other guys is my showmanship.
I love to be extravagant with my shows. I like to be different.
I actually remember the first time I wanted to go to a strip
club because I didn't know, like,
do these guys have big dicks? Do they take Viagra?
Do they stick a dildo dow their pants or their underwear?
Like, I really didn't know.
Girls don't want to come to a strip club and see a guy
strip down to his pants or his boxers.
They want to see a guy get naked.
When I started dancing I
fell in love with the attention.
I really like how I could expose myself like that and people were
cheering me to expose myself.
So I became an exhibitionist.
I almost, like, promised myself by the time
I turn thirty I want to be done.
Brendan says that he's quitting for good.
Really?
I mean, Brendan could have grown up five years ago.
But he's still growing up. I think lots of men
take a while to grow up.
Are you gonna have a party on your birthday
and is that gonna be the last time?
That's actually a good idea.
Done. That's it.
For real.
Yeah.
Like, right now I just eat, sleep,
breathe stripping and you don't care as much as I do.
Who me?
Yeah, about stripping...
Like I said, if I can start doing the boat cruises more,
if I can do some more modeling and acting, then I'm happy.
I'm tired of stripping.
I started partying in Toronto boat cruises.
Partying during the day. Listening to music.
Checking out super hot girls.
The guys are all muscular and jacked.
Listening to house music...
So I took it upon myself to do boat cruises.
It's crazy, there's 450 people on a boat,
in the sunlight, on Lake Ontario. It's really fun.
So my last cruise I actually had BSOD,
which is Steve Duda from California and Joel Zimmerman.
He's also known as Dead Maus. The best performance
I've ever seen at such a small, intimate little setting.
And it was all mine.
♪
A mother wants to know. Are you gay?
What?!
I do sometimes think that he could be gay...
Okay, son. It's time to show you something.
Yeah, I have to make contact with the other side.
Good magic. Bad magic.
I also did porn videos.
You... you're a porn star.
Yeah.
♪
A mother wants to know.
Yeah.
About the relationships. Are you gay?
What?!
I do sometimes think that he could be gay or bisexual just
because of the nature of how he presents himself.
No.
Oh my god! I said to dad, I lean him down, I'm like,
"I got something to tell you." He's, like, "What?"
I'm, like, "You won't be happy about this."
And he's, like, "You're not gay, are you?"
I'm, like, "No!"
If he was then he'd tell me eventually, I'm sure.
I was going to say that, "I started dancing.
I'm taking my clothes off for money."
I've tried stripping for men once
but it's something that I wouldn't want to do.
You can't have a man dancing for a man that's not...
in any way, shape or form gay.
Again, I don't care if they are or not. But you cannot
say, wholeheartedly, "Oh, I'm straight but I dance for men."
That's (beep).
I'll give you $500 for your g-string.
It's $1000 for the next thing.
And the next thing-- how the (beep) did this happen?!
If you're tempted with the right kind of money, the right
hurdles start to get dropped and eventually... people change.
The moment anything feels like work
is the moment when I run away.
And that, to me, would feel like work so I just wouldn't do it.
Some people think, "You're a stripper, it's disgusting."
I can't imagine people thought he's a...
like a... a small whore. And they can't understand.
For me, it's a small mind.
I want him to be happy. That's definitely it.
As long as he does nothing wrong... just be happy.
That's what you want to do? Do it!
I also did some porn videos.
You... you're a porn star.
Yeah. So when I...
You get more and more exciting as we go on here!
For me, stripping was definitely a gateway into doing porn.
Do you find people are judging you?
Like, when people say, "What do you do, Gabriel?"
Like, you're going out somewhere and you're...
If I sense that the person is more closed-minded I'll say,
well, you know, "I work in entertainment."
I can kind of censor it for them.
Sure.
Porn -- "entertainment"! Okay. (laughter)
You have to have your own identity.
And Gabriel does that really well.
♪
I think Gabriel is a really spiritual person.
He really knows who he is.
We have, eh.... esoteric practices of wicca.
He's doing a lot of rituals so, some people would say
'religion', some people would say 'meditation'.
Also, he can read your energy
to tell you who you are in the past.
You have to project yourself somewhere.
You know, make contact with the other side.
Depending on what you want to do,
if it's good magic or bad magic.
♪
If I had to stop and consider all the
interesting aspects of my life... it's crazy.
And that's just the way I like it.
♪
Well, the forest still looks nice.
So, ah, when Gabriel told me he was bisexual and I could
detect he was not totally at ease, then I said, "Oh god...
Okay, son, it's time I show you something."
Eh... we sat in front of my computer.
Check this out.
(popping sound)
And I put it on preview.
(camera clicking sounds)
All pictures of Lulu. In all kinds of different fashion.
Some is classy, some i slutty, some just plain sexy...
I look at Gabriel beside me, watching the screen...
(camera clicking sounds)
...and I'm waiting. And he goes, "Wow... you're cute!"
And I said, "Okay. We're on the same place here.
We're on the same place."
It was surprising, like ah...
because I always saw him as a strong male figure.
Oh, he didn't feel bad any more about bisexuality.
Son, I am also bisexual. He goes, "I knew it!"
(laughs)
I always knew he was a womanizer in a way but he would
sometimes have that same attitude towards men.
His orientation is fluid
and his gender is fluid too a little bit.
Even though he identifies as male...
You know what? I can put on the female role
every once in a while and be perfectly comfortable with it.
When he told me and showed me pictures, I asked him, "Well,
why don't you, tonight, you know, do what you always do?"
And he did and I said I would call him Lulu.
The first time he saw me as Lulu we did a photo shoot together.
The crash course.
I am Lulu and, yay, I'm bisexual!
It was awkward in the sense I wasn't used to it.
But it wasn't uncomfortable.
Every now and then when he pays a visit,
I won't even ask anymore, "Do you mind if I am Lulu?"
Just be yourself. Just be yourself!
Leila was asking earlier on, "What's the difference
between Lucas and Lulu?"
And I remember you told me
you were way more submissive as a woman.
Yeah, definitely. As Lulu I'm definitely a submissive.
Big time sub. I don't want to call the shots.
You have to call the shots. Because all my life
I'm giving orders, all my life I'm leading everybody
and as Lulu I don't want to lead.
I must say, had some dirty thoughts about it
and was hoping to have a threesome.
People understanding changing genders.
They don't really understand
I'm perfectly comfortable with my manhood and...
Every time I meet somebody legitimate,
they're like, "(Beep), he's a stripper.
I'm not going to take him seriously."
I've never wanted a relationship while I was stripping.
I couldn't do that to someone. I couldn't do that to myself.
Um... because there's so many temptations already.
I mean, it's attention, right? Like, ladies are on you.
You have a sea of women to pick from every night.
Of course it would be difficult to walk away.
It's an attractive choice.
Am I looking for a girlfriend? Yes.
Have I found one that meets my standards? No.
Every time I meet someone legitimate,
they're like, "(Beep), he's a stripper.
I'm not going to take him seriously."
If I was to be not stripping right now it's till kind of
difficult to find someone who can accept the past.
Let it go and just accept that that was a part of me.
It doesn't mean it is me, but it's a part of me.
And is that something yo tell them right off the bat?
Yeah.
She knew. I told her. Straight up.
And she still want to have sex with you?
Yeah.
She's dumb.
Why?
In your line of work it's risky business.
As much as you look good on the outside,
you don't know what you're carrying on the inside.
Yeah, I do. I'm clean.
You know. You totally could lie.
You know how many people don't tell the truth?
In order to have an open relationship,
you have to have a pretty darn good relationship to begin with.
The relation, it's open on both sides.
Like, she finds she's completely satisfied with me,
so... I want her to be happy.
You know, I don't want to possess her.
It's important for me to present Leila to David so that he could
meet, you know, the woman that I chose to live my life with.
I must say I had some, ah, dirty thoughts about it.
Like, I was hoping, kinda...
have a threesome and ah... but it never happened.
Like, David had fraternal love for her.
Leila, she also, like, found that he was someone
that was very loving, tha wasn't... didn't give off, like
a raw sexual energy but more like a good friend to have.
At the beginning when I started to dress up,
yeah, there was a kind of a ritual...
it was sexual at first, big time.
It's hard for people around to understand what this is about.
There's a lot of assumptions.
"Oh, then you must be gay."
Or, "Oh, you must want to become a woman."
People understand changing genders.
They don't necessarily understand, "I enjoy wearing
the role every once in a while but you know what?
I'm perfectly comfortable with my penis and I'm perfectly
comfortable with my manhood and my malehood."
I'm very curious.
I will have sexual intercourse either as Lucas or Lulu.
It, it can get a little complicated.
And even for the cross-dresser or the transsexual.
Sometimes it gets a little murky.
And sometimes you have cross-dressers
that end up going towards transgenderism.
How are your feelings right now?
How are you with, ah, your life and... about me?
At first, it was unusual, you know, it's...
it's kind of like seeing a UFO for the first time.
You're just... you're just, like, "Oh. What is that?"
you know? "I've seen the sky so many times.
I've never seen that before." (laughs)
I was just trying to make you feel even more comfortable.
Because that's the same day...
You were nervous! You were nervous about my reaction.
I had no clue how you would react.
Lulu is part of me.
Lulu has nothing to do as a finish to me any more.
It's just a normal thing to me.
My biggest, biggest support is my wife.
My wife is so used to seeing Lulu...
I'll be in male mode or female mode, to her it's...
the same. It's just another normal day.
There's still quite a bit of intolerance, ah...
especially with transgendered individuals.
They still face a lot of discrimination
and what have you.
Now I think gays and lesbians can do whatever they feel like.
Now we have to do the same thing, us cross-dressers.
We're not there yet. I'm working on it. (laughs)
♪
So, for somebody going into this type of work,
what would you want someone to know?
You know, if you want to be a stripper, great.
Don't let it consume you.
Remain who you are and then be a stripper on the side.
Right now there's no dream tour. The dream, for me, is over.
I'm not gonna keep on doing it.
It's a stepping stone.
Yep.
Uhhh... stripper rehab. Is there a stripper rehab?