DURHAM, N.C. — Belle Knox may be moving from porn to politics.
The Duke University sophomore appears to have her eye on government service, reportedly joining campus libertarian organization “Students for Liberty” that calls itself the largest student libertarian group in the world. She also attended its training programs in Washington D.C.
Knox told Business Insider, “I think that my work and being in the porn industry definitely hits on so many libertarian themes like free speech, and censorship, and, you know, choice and autonomy over our bodies. So I think that I’ve really become passionate about libertarian issues because of the intersection.”
The newbie adult star described herself in typical libertarian terms — economically conservative but very socially liberal.
Knox is not only a member, but the group’s campus coordinator where she’s charged with securing speakers, attending conferences and seminars, posting flyers, and is a face at school events.
Among Knox’s favorite libertarian figures in history are Ayn Rand, economist Milton Friedman, along with porn star Nina Hartley and former call girl Maggie McNeill.
In fact, Knox got Ayn Rand Institute head Yaron Brook to speak at the school. She said she’d also love to bring in Ron Paul, or Rand Paul, the latter of whom she’s ready to support if he’s in the 2016 presidential race.
“I totally endorse him. He actually graduated from Duke, so that’s just another reason for me to love him,” Knox said.
The would-be politico was also recently appointed to the national board of directors for the Sex Workers Outreach Project, and is scheduled to speak at LibertyFest In New York.
Knox’s political agenda centers around college costs and the decriminalization of sex work, feminism, free speech, and censorship.
She recently penned an article for Rolling Stone magazine entitled “Prostitutes Are People, Not Criminals.
While her work in porn helped fuel her political beliefs, Knox said she began developing her ideology earlier in life.
On becoming a libertarian, Knox said, “I grew up Catholic, so I grew up in a very, very, conservative background and that, I think, really was kind of the impetus for why I wanted to become a libertarian. I was always being told to cover up my body and I was always being told to wait until marriage to have sex that my body would go down if I didn’t wait till marriage to have sex. That really made me become a libertarian and become a feminist.”
She explained that Christian puritanical values are what turn people away from porn and sex. “Our values really place the family unit at the center of our culture,” Knox said. “You see it all the time in political rhetoric and people really view porn as a threat to the family unit. They really view porn as a threat to marriage and I really think that’s why some people have an issue.”
But libertarians she believes (for the most part) are different. “I think that it's [her porn career] actually helped me within the libertarian community because I think that people have been able to kind of look past it and they do respect it. And I think they also do respect it that I made it into more of an academic thing and more of an educational thing,” Knox said.
She added, “There’s, of course, been people in the libertarian community who have an issue with me, but it’s been because they have an issue with porn."
But the adult phenom said she’s seeking a law degree and will look to work in politics after graduating — and possibly run for office.
“If someone would want to have me as their campaign assistant I would love to do that. I don’t know if I could ever win if I ran for political office because I’m very radical. I’m kind of very radical or extreme on the spectrum I feel like and, obviously you have to appeal to the average person, but you never know.”
