LOS ANGELES — Glamorous gowns. Sweatpants. No pants. Kitchens. Cam rooms. Photo backdrops. Several dogs and cats wandering in and out of the shot.
Welcome to the 2020 edition of the Transgender Erotica Awards (TEAs), the first adult industry attempt to re-imagine award season in the age of COVID.
Although unlike last year (aka “The Year of the Natalie”) there was no single winner monopolizing major awards, there was a clear protagonist to this edition of the pioneering awards — conceived by trans powerhouse studio Grooby to celebrate the many contributions of the “T” in LGBTQ+ to the adult industry.
The protagonist: a nasty little troublemaker known by the porn-ready name of "Corona Virus."
Back in March, the organizers of the TEAs, led by the indefatigable Kristel Penn, made the difficult decision to postpone the show and to attempt to replicate some of the spirit of the traditional Hollywood gala in a fully virtual, socially distant format.
The ceremony, presented by ManyVids, was held Sunday night and broadcast on Grooby247.com. The award-giving ritual took less than two hours to unroll, held together by the magic of video editing. There was a host (an at-home Domino Presley in full regalia), there were lifetime achievement awards (including an extremely moving tribute to a Grooby MVP), there were many (many) presenters and pre-recorded acceptance speeches. No red carpet (duh), no musical numbers and zero tipsy faux-pas or shade.
After a couple of introductory videos, including an intro by Grooby's founder, Steven Grooby, the scene cut to Domino Presley, majestic in a gold gown, in a living room featuring both a real fireplace and, above it, a video image of a fireplace. Presley was received by a round of applause of mysterious provenance, which was immediately undercut by the sardonic host busting the illusion by ordering the editor to “insert applause.”
Presley read the introductions between the awards and introduced a couple of outfit changes, trying to mix-up the visuals by repositioning the camera, and herself, for the different segments. A bottle of champagne, loomed over the festivities, a poignant reminder of the party not had.
Referring to the awards as “a literal labor of love,” Presley wished the audience a good show, hoping “you’re being safe and nobody’s coughing on the screen.”
The first presenter, Morgan Bailey, was also the first one to attempt to take advantage of the shot-at-home format to make the show more visually interesting. Bailey introduced the Best DVD award, sponsored by Gamelink, from her bed, co-occupied by a naked, bound and gagged, recently spanked sub.
It was a tie, between Evil Angel’s "TransNasty" and Adult Time’s "Transfixed 3." Both directors were shown in pre-recorded acceptance speeches, which also brought one of the biggest surprises of the evening: before Adult Time’s Bree Mills thanked everyone involved in the Transfixed series, the director of "TransNasty" was announced as "Lena Moon." The performer and creator formerly known as "Lena Kelly" thus unveiled a new name to the TEAs' at-home viewers and the adult entertainment community at large.
And leave it to Mills to eloquently express what everyone has been thinking for the past two months: “Can’t wait to get back to start shooting Season Two as soon as we can.”
Andrea Zhay presented Cam Performer of the Year to Casey Kisses. Kisses, wearing a cheeky T-shirt, gave her thanks from a blue-lit room and mentioned that she had no idea what the win was for at the time of recording. This — besides the constant cameos by pets in the background — was a motif of the COVID-era awards show format: organizers had decided to shoot acceptance videos in advance but without telling the winners the category they had won for (many of the honorees had garnered multiple nominations).
Kisses also thanked Korra del Rio and Kylie Kisses for “being there by my side” during what she described as “a difficult time in my life.”
Veteran director Jim Powers introduced the Gender X Model of the Year award from the comfort of his poolside, aka “my pandemic shelter-in-place lockdown.” Sipping on a stout and being photobombed by his puppy, Powers gave a peek into the Gender X selection process for the award, which went to Khloe Kay.
Alina Wang, from RAX Entertainment, introduced the award for Best Internet Personality, and used her introduction to pitch her company to models and offer her contact info to interested performers. The award went to Lena Moon, the second of three (counting the DVD nod for "TransNasty"), which made her one of the evening’s big winners.
Moon laughed that she “didn’t really expect to win [the Best Internet Personality award] because I’m always throwing tantrums on Twitter!”
TransErotica’s Dan Hogue and his wife Alix Lovell introduced the award for Best Industry Professional, which went to Rabbit’s Reviews. Mantas, the Rabbit’s Review rep, delivered an audio-only acceptance speech on behalf of the site, which he described as the “Consumer’s Report for porn,” a pioneer since the “Wild, Wild West days of the early 2000s” in offering reliable information on adult sites.
“Seeing the evolution of trans support over the years has been nothing short of remarkable,” Mantas said.
Exuberant MILF Alura “TNT” Jenson presented the TranzFans.com award for Best Self-Producer, which she paraphrased as “whoever makes the best shit at home.” The winner was hentai-loving ManyVids sensation Shiri Allwood.
The sponsored awards were all preceded by explicit commercials for the sponsoring sites, lending the format the feel of a network show with commercials, albeit commercials with a lot of gang-bangs and cumshots. The most hypnotic commercial was for TGirlBBW.com, which featured a looped voice over a repetitive techno tracks saying “I’m mostly a bottom — I like giving and receiving oral, mutual masturbation” over and over.
The TGirlBBW award for BBW Performer of the Year was introduced by Emma Rose and awarded to Sophia Presley — Domino's "spiritual daughter" — who made the first, and surprisingly only, reference to the “Tiger King” docuseries with her opener “Hey, all you cool cats and kittens.” Presley was also the first winner to use the vertical video format (the phone standard) beloved by TikTokkers worldwide. The BBW thanked videographers for “creating a safe environment” to show herself to the world.
Los Angeles-area trans party promoter extraordinaire Jamie Jameson introduced the award for Best G/G Scene, which went to Aspen Brooks and Khloe Kay, for TGirls.Porn content released by Grooby. Brooks thanked her “Orange Army” fanbase for her support and snuck in an acknowledgment in German.
Wicked contract star and long-time trans ally Jessica Drake, always impeccable and impeccably shot (it helps when your home doubles as a pro studio), introduced the Best B/G Scene, sponsored by Wicked Sensual Care. The winners were Daisy Taylor and Jordan Taylor, for Gender X’s “Family Transformation.” Daisy Taylor, like Moon and Kisses before, expressed some understandable confusion as to what she had won for.
Ryder Monroe revealed that the Best Producer award had gone to Evil Angel’s Aiden Starr, yet another noted adult performer who has by now successfully transitioned to a stellar behind-the-camera career.
Presenters Nicko Wolfe and Shiri Allwood explained why they passionately championed the next category, Best FTM Amateur, sponsored by their Slutty Wolfe Studio. Wolfe explained that FTM performers were under-represented in previous years, and so Slutty Wolfe decided to spearhead a campaign to raise the money to sponsor this award. In order to raise the profile of FTM performers, who don’t have as many chances to be in studio content, the award was focused on amateurs, which is a thriving sector for successful FTM models.
The award went to Bunnie Hughes, a successful ManyVids and OnlyFans performer, who thanked people for “your approval and appreciation for the type of content that I make and the type of artist that I am” and lamented not being able to meet everyone in person in the IRL show.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Alexander Sinclair, another longtime TEAs supporter, and Jessica Fox introduced the winner of the Transcendence Award, which the good doctor created to honor performers who have made an impact beyond the field of trans entertainment. The award went to Aubrey Kate, who “bridged the transgender industry with the mainstream industry.”
As she accepted the award next to her snoring dog, Kate pointed out how much the adult industry had changed since she made her debut in 2012, and that she valued the acknowledgment because she had “tried to be a good person on- and off-the-stage.”
Fresh from her win for G/G scene, “Orange Doll” Aspen Brooks presented the Ms. Unique award, sponsored by GroobyGirls.com, to Ally Sparkles, the only performer who did not send an acceptance speech.
The next award, for Black-TGirls.com Model of the Year, was the only award presented outdoors, by Buddy Wood from a street corner in Porn Valley. The location, next to the Colony Inn motel, was selected for historical reasons, as Wood explained it was where so many trans scenes have been filmed. The award went to trans rights activist, performer and entrepreneur Jasmine Lotus.
The Pornhub Model of the Year award, introduced by Lindsay Banks, was a tie between Daisy Taylor — who thanked "my family, my friends and my butthole," while being photobombed by her black cat — and Trip Richards, aka "TriplexTransMan," who gave the longest speech of the evening, recapping his six-year-long career in adult from his "filming room" at home.
After an intermission featuring a photomontage of previous TEAs awards (including signage from the gala’s previous name, now discharged due to evolving language), Domino Presley returned to introduce Adam Christopher (aka Tarantino XXX) to present the Best VR Scene award. Christopher had done similar duties last year, and he clearly relishes the chance to write comedy material for the introduction and, this year, homemade special effects. Christopher was the only person at the awards to wear a facial mask, though pulled away from his mouth.
The award went to Ella Hollywood and Epicleus for “Little Slut Face.” Ella Hollywood took the pet theme to a new level by having a cat be the sole protagonist of her acknowledgement, which included thanking Natalie Mars for “taking me under her wing,” and only appeared at the very end to blow a kiss to the viewers.
Natalie Mars herself was the next winner, of Kink’s Kinkiest TGirl Domme award, presented by the company’s ace director and producer Fivestar. Mars thanked Kink for featuring trans women in a variety of sub and dom roles. “I’m here in my wife’s dungeon, recording this video,” Mars said, explaining that the award was special to her since she is “kinky in my personal life.”
After that, it was time for the three Lifetime Achievement awards, including the evening’s emotional highlight. First Natassia Dreams presented the traditional Behind the Camera and Performer awards to Damien Cain and Chelsea Marie. From his bedroom, Cain explained how he had shot his first trans production 20 years ago, and expressed admiration at how far the industry had progressed since then.
Chelsea Marie thanked the industry for her nine years as a performer and pointed out that she had been one of the original Grooby Girls.
But the third Lifetime Achievement award hit the TEAs close to home. Kristel Penn introduced a tribute to video editor and community figure Dan Watters, aka Sparky Snakeden, who passed away from cancer in December 2019. Penn wore one of Watters’ ties and spoke of how important Watters had been to Grooby and to the organization of the awards. A video montage compiled by his friends and colleagues showed the youthful Snakeden working, having fun and being a vibrant vortex of the trans adult entertainment community.
His sister, Eileen Watters Pierson appeared on video showing her brother’s art, telling stories about his life and ambitions and revealing that her sibling had chosen his fantastic porn name, "Sparky Snakeden," literally by combining the name of his first pet with the street where he grew up.
The last run of awards were introduced by Domino Presley wearing a see-through bodysuit. Presenter Taylor McGhee, a Muppet-style puppet last seen as a co-host of the 2009 TEAs, named Eevee Bee as Chaturbate TS Performer of the Year, as more pets ambled behind her.
The Best Non-TS Performer awards, presented by Jordan Starstruck and Smash Thompson and Demii D Best, went to Charlotte Sartre (female) and Sean Michaels (male).
Sartre said that “just to be included with so many amazing, talented people” was an honor, before reminding people “if you have a cat, give them lots of hugs for me” — and revealing she was not wearing any pants.
Sean Michaels, wearing a black-on-black tux, sent a vertical phone video starting with an over-the-pants dick shot. Michaels thanked God for his 27 years in the adult business and also remembered the “doctors, first responders, nurses, grocery store owners” and other essential employees currently keeping things going during the pandemic.
TEAs sponsor ManyVids’ MV Trans Model of the Year award was introduced by Sarina Havok and Robin Coffins and went to Kendall Penny, who juxtaposed a lavish gown with a vertical phone video and thanked Bella French for her leadership.
Jesse Flores presented the award for Best Non-U.S. Performer to Marissa Minx, who received it in front of a black-and-white picture of elephants and remarked on the new distances that had been imposed on everyone, especially international performers, by the quarantine.
The next award was presented by the always glamorous Foxxy, and went to the sporty Luna Love, who, though she hadn’t been told, guessed that she had won for Best New Face.
Finally, the three main performer awards were announced, and they went to three different models, all top trans performers in 2020.
JustFor.fans’ Dominic Ford, emblazoned with a company tanktop, introduced the Fan Choice Award with a slick pitch for his platform, reminding models of their commitment to inclusivity and progressive charities. The award went to Lena Moon, her third of the evening.
Violet Monroe announced that the Best Solo Model award, sponsored by Bad Dragon, would go to Casey Kisses, who ended her second acceptance by showing she, too, was wearing no pants.
The last award of the evening, for Best Hardcore Performer, sponsored by Bob’s TGirls, was presented by real-life couple Madeline Marlowe and Will Havoc, as they lounged in bed. After some horseplay under the covers, which culminated with Maitresse Marlowe flashing her ample bosoms, the winner was announced: Natalie Mars, a second win for the evening.
As soon as the “virtual show” ended, it replayed again. It was time for an afterparty, somewhere in a subreddit or a Discord server. BYOB — from the kitchen.
For a complete list of the 2020 TEA Award winners, click here.
