Andre can’t remember a time when people thought he was straight. Raised as a girl by an independent single mom who took a “tough love” approach to parenting, Andre grew up with a rich inner life but had few friends. “Lesbean” was the preferred insult in grade school, so Andre made up a fictional boyfriend in order to avoid talking about sex. 

Even after entering college and coming out as trans, Andre identified as asexual until he met his first girlfriend when they were the only ones who showed up to a sober vegan pride after party. 

It wasn’t until he moved to Chicago and lived alone that Andre realized he was free to explore sex on his own terms. He informed himself about kink, explored bathhouses for the first time and his first experience bottoming came from an unexpected guide.

Now that he has more experience under his belt, Andre has decided to stop being the token “first trans male experience” for sex partners and has dedicated himself to being a sex-positive advocate for trans rights.

Andre is Producing Desire Lines, an expansive portrait of a trans-inclusive gay community across several generations, artfully weaving together never-before seen archival footage, historical fiction, contemporary interviews, and re-enactments. The bathhouse is the central hub of the film, where past and present meet, where fantasies unfold, and where the archives spring to life through historical fiction. The diverse participants share their fantasies and fears about sex, bodies, relationships, and power through intimate conversations shot in their own domestic spaces. The same contemporary interview participants are also invited to write, embody, and perform their own bathhouse-related fantasies in moments that cleave open a space between fiction and reality, emphasizing fantasy as a powerful tool for seeing ourselves else wise. Learn more at: http://www.julesrosskam.com/desire-lines

Partial funding for this episode provided by Scruff Dating App.

FRUITBOWL is produced independently by creator Dave Quantic without corporate media support. Each interview is recorded in-person, on location in each interviewee’s home. Scruff’s support currently pays for a post-production assistant editor; however, there is still need for additional financial support for production expenses including travel, accommodations and equipment rental. 

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