Adult star calls out ‘racism and bigotry’ in the gay porn industry
By Joshua Haigh
Gay porn star Hugh Hunter has called out racism in the adult film industry.
The GayVN Awards first launched in 1998 to honour achievements in the gay porn industry, and will be returning for the first time in January 2018 since 2011.
Hunter, who has been working as a gay porn star for three years, has turned down his nominations in categories including Best Daddy, citing systemic “racism and bigotry” in the adult industry.
The adult film star shared an open letter written to the GayVN Awards on Twitter over the weekend, where he slammed the continued treatment of non-white actors.
His tweet read: “The GayVN Awards announce nominations including a BEST ETHNIC SCENE category for black, Latin, and Asian models. Meanwhile none are nominated as best actor or supporting actor.”
“My response, ‘…I am respectfully declining my nominations in all categories…'”
In the scathing letter, Hunter addressed industry, saying: “The gay porn industry has always been a place of veiled racism and bigotry. It now appears as if the GayVN Awards have chosen to make this racism and bigotry more blatant in their return to the awards arena.”
“As I browsed through the GayVN award nomination categories and its endless list of nominees I noticed a category which immediately struck my sensibilities as wrong and, quite frankly, turned my stomach.”
The @gayvn awards announce nominations including a BEST ETHNIC SCENE category for black, Latin, and Asian models. Meanwhile none are nominated as best actor or supporting actor.
My response, “…I am respectfully declining my nominations in all categories…”
Full letter here. pic.twitter.com/CQPxZFRuZ6
— Hugh Hunter (@theHughHunter) November 25, 2017
Hunter wrote: “Why were these scenes not included in the best scene category?”
“Why would a gay porn company choose to separate minority groups into their own race at an event that is supposed to celebrate the gay industry in its entirety? Why would this category be created in 2017 when the political climate is so thick with racial divide in this country?”
He has now urged members of the gay adult entertainment industry to “stand up against the systemic racism and bigotry” in the industry.
“I want to be remembered for stepping forward and starting a movement to eventually end racism and bigotry in this beleaguered industry,” he writes. “For so many we are the educators of sexuality. Let’s be the best educators we can be.”
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