A retired priest from North Carolina, Norm Self starred in his first gay porno when he was 83. Now eighty-five, Mr. Self told The Sun that after having appeared in four adult films now he’s feeling

“more vibrant than ever”

He wasn’t paid for any of his performances, but he says that’s fine with him because,

“It’s been like having a party.”

He entered the priesthood at the age of 18 and later left to pursue ministry as a layperson and to get married. But, after twenty-one years of marriage, while working as a campus  minister in the late nineties, he realized,

“Guess what, I’m a gay man!”

Still spiritual today (but less religious) Self now works as a teacher who helps people of all genders explore the healing power of pleasure, he told HuffPo he’s a

“minister of erotic education and the sacred intimate….

sex-negative norms [should be] removed from our society’s vocabulary and replaced with the implicit message that our birthright is to enjoy erotic joy and bliss.”

His roommate approached him about appearing in a gay porn film with two younger men, he thought,

“We are going to have sex anyway so why not make it a liberating and bonding experience instead of hiding it away in the shadows?

For those who have grown up in a sex-suppressive society where everything outside conventional norms/mores is labeled ‘porn’ in order to suppress it and who, therefore, find a kind of titillation in being ‘outside the norm’ of suppression—I’m happy to wear the label.”

His advice ton the younger generation advice about sex?

“Learn to pay attention and look for those subtleties. Learn to notice, to enjoy, and to give thanks for those subtler things in life that make it more enjoyable… And learn that there are many other ‘erogenous zones’ than just your genitals. Get really acquainted with and train your mind—that’s your greatest sex organ!”

(Photo, screen grab; via YNot)