November 29, 2017 | The Biz

GayVNs respond to accusation of racial insensivity

Over the weekend, the GayVN Awards released its list of the nominees for the upcoming 2018 ceremony. However, the fact that it created a separate category for “Best Ethnic Scene” did not sit well with some.

The team at AVN offers a heartfelt, unequivocal apology to anyone who felt that the category of Best Ethnic Scene was an attempt to slight performers of color. It truly pains us to have offended any member of our community….

 

… to involve as many companies and performers as possible by including more categories and therefore more winners, the decision was made to add categories that recognize content aimed at certain consumer groups—hence, for example, Best Fetish Scene and Best Bear Scene. Though some nominees are produced by “mainstream” gay adult companies, these categories provide a platform for smaller producers to receive more attention.

 

In the same spirit, the Best Ethnic Scene category was added to recognize producers who work largely with performers of particular ethnic backgrounds. These producers cater to their own group of consumers and are a key component of the gay adult industry, and we hoped to ensure they were well represented in the 2018 nominations. The addition of this category was never intended to restrict performers of any non-European ethnic background from competing fully in ANY other category, whether in the judged categories or the Fan Award categories.