What The Hell Are The Tranny Awards And Why Do They Matter?

Between now and January, you’ll be seeing a lot about the 2009 Tranny Awards and the various nominees here on Krissy4u – The Blog. I thought that some of my readers may be wondering just what in the hell the Tranny Awards are and why in the world do they matter at all, so I thought I’d do a little write-up about some of my thoughts and feelings on the TA’s.

In 2008, Grooby Productions announced that they would be holding the very first Tranny Awards. Quite honestly, my initial reaction was, ‘Doesn’t the AVN’s already have a ‘Transsexual’ Award?’ Now, this IS quite true but, to be frank about it, and with all due respect to past winners, the AVN Award seems much more like a pandering move to please a few vocal persons (See…we embrace ALL communities!) while the Adult Industry as a whole sits back and snickers, ‘Silly Trannies.’ [EDITED 11/20/09: Out of 100+ categories for the AVN Awards there are what... 2 that are Transsexual related... There's even a 'Best Packaging - Gay Video' category!!? Tell me that Transsexuals are fairly represented in the AVN's...?? I didn't mean to step on anyone's toes with this comment except to say that c'mon... it doesn't take a genius to look at all the categories of the AVN's and realize that the Transsexual Community is SEVERELY under represented and definitely NOT taken seriously as a legitimate niche.] So, after a little bit of thought, I actually got pretty excited about the Tranny Awards being held by a well respected company like Grooby Productions that actually has a stake in and cares about the Shemale Porn Industry. Grooby shouldered the financial burdens of the inaugural Tranny Awards largely alone and I’d say, single handedly launched the career of Shemale Superstar, Hazel Tucker, as well as giving some huge boosts to others. After the 2008 TA’s, I really felt the personal desire to become more involved in the next year’s awards for the simple reason that I think the Tranny Awards are good for the overall Transsexual Community and serve an important, and much lacking, role in it.

The Welcome Page to the Tranny Awards site begins, ‘With the lack of recognition that the transgender erotica industry gets…’ In my opinion, I think the true importance of the Tranny Awards goes well beyond bringing recognition to the individual nominees and winners. When you’ve surfed and read through as many Shemale sites and Transsexual Message Boards as I have, you come to realize one very sobering and saddening thing… The greatest obstacle to the Transsexual Community being taken seriously by any other community (straight or otherwise) is the Transsexual Community itself. Our Community is so full of negativity… and the really sad thing is that it’s usually created just for ‘drama’s sake.’ I don’t know how many times I’ve read on various boards that rudeness and bickering should be tolerated because the board would be ‘boring’ otherwise. When did ‘boring’ become an excuse for further fracturing an already fragile Community searching for acceptance? On one of the largest TS Boards, a thread has been started wondering why the girls no longer post there… go figure. I’m no shy wallflower when it comes to typing but even I stay out of most conversations on the boards for the simple reason that I don’t have the time, energy, or patience to deal with someone starting drama just for the hell of it.

We NEED something positive and I think the Tranny Awards bring that to the table. It’s true enough that the Tranny Awards are largely porn-centric but I think that will change in the coming years as word spreads and more people and companies become involved in them. I love that Meghan Chevalier, who runs a great site called, Stopping The Hate was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award last year and that this year, there is a category for ‘Best DVD Director.’ This year, Krissy4u – The Blog, is proudly sponsoring the category of ‘Best TG Related Blog’ and I’m excited to see who ends up taking that category… and yes, I’ve got ideas on who should win! My hope is that next year I can continue to become more involved because I really think we, and by ‘we’ I mean, those of us who are involved in the Industry, should be much more involved in supporting and celebrating those who are seeing success both within and outside of our niche.

The Tranny Awards matter because it’s one of the few positive Industry-wide things going on celebrating the successes and achievements of Transsexual individuals. Believe me, I’m no dreamer with my head in the clouds… I’m much more pragmatic than that. I realize that there will always be drama when it comes to the Transsexual Community but it’s nice to know that at least for a small portion of the year, we CAN pull together and toast those who have gained and achieved success. In my opinion, The Tranny Awards is a large step in the right direction of bringing a Community together and building acceptance not from outside but from within… and that, to me, is its true value and why I’m a proud sponsor of the 2009 Tranny Awards!

Now… that being said… Please…

NOMINATE KRISSY4U – NAUGHTY ASIAN TGIRL

For Best Amateur Website!