Canadian Sex Industry Awards Explained

Awards ceremonies are routine in film, music and hospitality. Far fewer exist for people in adult entertainment, and fewer still are organized by the workers themselves. One Canadian example came from an online social network for adult entertainers and their friends, which launched a yearly set of peer honours.

The network was based in Western Canada and had a membership that its founder put in the low thousands. The founder presented the awards as a way of giving credit to the many people who keep the industry going. The details here come from a report on the plans for the second edition and describe a past project, not a running programme.

Purpose of the awards

The founder gave the program two aims. One was recognition: applauding workers, organizers and business owners who stayed with the industry despite opposition from prohibitionist groups and moral critics. The other was community-building, by making visible the allies and suppliers that members valued.

The ceremony date for the second edition was picked for a numerical joke, since the ninth day of the sixth month reads as 6/9, and for a yin and yang symbolism the founder tied to that number.

Categories and who took part

Nominations were gathered across a wide range of work: adult film, striptease, webcam work, adult media, supplies for adult entertainment and other forms of work in the industry. Two categories stretched beyond direct performance, one for coworkers, meaning people employed in the industry who do not sell sexual services themselves, and one for advocates and support workers.

Striptease, coworkers and advocates attracted the most early nominations. Most nominees were from Western Canada, which the founder connected to the home base of the network, although members lived elsewhere and the long-term aim was a worldwide reach. Voting was limited to members.

A divided community

The founder described the awards partly as an answer to splits inside the industry. In her view, policing, the stigma attached to sex workers and ranking among different kinds of work had pulled apart people with shared interests. She expected repair to take time but saw it happening, and hoped a ceremony where winners took prizes on stage to applause would encourage solidarity.

Place in a wider discussion

Peer-run recognition belongs to a long debate about sex work as labour. Supporters of decriminalization often cite stigma and isolation as barriers to organizing, and visible, self-directed events are one response communities have tried. Critics of the industry hold other views on whether celebrating it is appropriate. The awards are best read as a historical example of one online community building a shared identity.