Tasha Reign Reaches Out to Harassed Duke Univ. Porn Star

CYBERSPACE—No sooner did AVN post an article comparing out porn star Tasha Reign with the unnamed adult performer attending Duke University (and catching crap for it) than Reign herself, through her new blog for Huffington Post, has reached out to the woman to share some of Reign's own on- and off-campus experiences. "In an ideal world, you would be able to openly and fearlessly state your stage name, or even your birth name; however, it seems you are not as lucky as me to have gone to a school which celebrates your diversity and sexuality," Reign begins, adding later, "I want to apologize for all the ignorant, fearful comments your schoolmates at Duke are unloading on you...  Your peers have degraded you, misrepresented you, judged you, and made you feel unwelcome at an institution at which you seek a higher education." But while the Duke student has faced vilification from classmates, Reign's main problems with "coming out" have been more family-related, she says. "Though people in LA seem to be more understanding about my career choice, my own family has disowned me," Reign wrote. "My younger sister did not invite me to her own wedding this December, and I am shunned from ever meeting my nephew, her husband, and their family. Plenty of people I went to high school with have also stopped being my friend." Even Reign's ex-stepfather, a former district attorney for Orange County, wrote to her that she was "destroying [her] life," while another unnamed person (presumably a relative) had problems with the fact that "my brothers and nephews have seen your twat," which the writer deemed "more than nauseating." Reign used the remainder of the post to campaign for better societal treatment of those who choose the porn path, noting that while schools claim to support individuality and female empowerment, society itself draws the line at acting in an adult movie. "We have to fight to provide a strong, positive voice for sex workers worldwide," Reign declares. "Knowledge is power, and while sexuality is controversial, we need to fight for our freedoms as women to express ourselves and put slut-shame to an end." To prove her point, Reign signs the blog with both her stage and real names—still a daring move even though her classmates already know them. But maybe it will be actions like this, not to mention the Duke student's well-written post on xojane.com, that finally begin to bring some of the strong, intelligent, confident, competent women who make up a large segment of the adult acting pool up to the same societal/cultural level as other strong, intelligent, confident, competent women in society. Pictured: Tasha Reign as she appears on her new blog on Huffington Post.