Duke Porn Star Belle Knox: ‘I’ve Really Become Passionate about Libertarian Issues’

In an extensive interview with Business Insider, Miriam Weeks, better known as Duke University porn star Belle Knox, outlined the work she’s doing for her campus’s libertarian movement, as well as how her own political ideology has helped her career in adult entertainment.

“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,” Weeks told BI. “So I think that I’ve really become passionate about libertarian issues because of the intersection.”

Weeks now serves as the campus coordinator for Students for Liberty at Duke, one of the largest libertarian student organizations in the world. Her duties include attending libertarian conferences and seminars and inviting speakers to come visit the school.

Weeks said her “dream list” of speakers to invite to the school would include Ron Paul and his son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), who is currently weighing a 2016 presidential bid.

“I totally endorse him,” Weeks said of Paul’s probable presidential run. “He actually graduated from Duke, so that’s just another reason for me to love him.”

Weeks first opened up about her work in porn in March of last year, revealing her identity as Belle Knox in a series of interviews. She told Playboy that she turned to porn to help pay her $60,000 per-year Duke tuition. After the interviews, Weeks said she received backlash from her classmates, the porn industry, and even the general public.

“I think that America has really deep-seated kind of Christian puritanical values against sex,” Weeks explained, noting that she was raised a conservative Catholic. “Our values really place the family unit at the center of our culture. 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.”

Weeks told Business Insider she would like to get involved in politics and advocacy when she graduates Duke in a few years.

“People always laugh at me when I say this, because everyone always thinks I can’t do it, but I want to be a lawyer for women,” Weeks told BI. “Gloria Allred, she’s like my idol and I want to be her. Once I have my law degree and I kind of have that background… I would love to be somebody who could testify in front of Congress or somebody who does advocacy.”

Read the rest of Weeks’ interview here.