More women were nominated for Best Director at the gay porn awards than the Oscars
Mr. Pam (right) was nominated for best director, with Chi Chi LaRue (left), for ‘Scared Stiff 2’ at the 2020 Str8UpGayPorn Awards. (Twitter/Str8UpGayPorn)
Forget the Oscars – which, yet again, failed to nominate a single woman for best director – female directors are coming out on top at the gay porn awards.
The backlash against the Oscars is growing. The long, long list of women who could have been nominated for best director this year included Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim’s) and Lulu Wang (The Farewell).
But, as many people have been pointing out, it’s more than just the fact that there were many overly eligible women for this year’s best director category. It’s the fact that sexism is so rife, it’s the tired norm for the best director category to be an all-male shortlist.
They really should change the rules and make it so that women are eligible in the Best Director category. Crazy that the rule is still "men only." It's 2020! Do the right thing, Academy — change the rule!
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) January 13, 2020
The same men were nominated for best director at all the big mainstream movie awards in 2020 – and are we shocked or tired to learn that it was the same five men who were nominated for Best Director at the Baftas, the Golden Globes and the Oscars this year?
Though they are far from achieving gender parity, gay porn awards are way, way more inclusive than their mainstream counterparts.
Ty Mitchell, who last year won Best Newcomer at the Str8UpGayPorn Awards, said: “The gay porn awards nominated more female directors than the Oscars.”
https://twitter.com/TyMitchellXXX/status/1216816609890713600?s=20
Last weekend’s Str8UpGayPorn Awards in Hollywood, hosted by none other than iconic US comedian and staunch LGBT+ ally Kathy Griffin, saw Mr Pam – a woman – nominated for Best Director: Outstanding Achievement in Direction of a Film or Series.
Now, yes, that’s only one woman in a category where the other four nominees were men. However: this is literally an awards show for gay men in porn, so it’s unsurprising that so few women featured – other awards categories included ‘Favourite Topping Performance’ and ‘Favourite Twink’.
https://twitter.com/onlykuper/status/1216934468994265088?s=20
Griffin kicked off the awards show, held on Sunday January 12 at the Avalon nightclub in Hollywood, with a monologue commenting on the categories and some of her favourite movie titles.
One bit got the biggest laugh (and cheers) of the night, according to AVN: “I’m kind of rooting for Get Your D**k Outta My Son,” she said, going on to suggest some variants, including Get Your D**k Outta My White House.
Thank you @kathygriffin Such a great talk. Thank you for Free Speech & supporting the gay adult entertainment industry!!! #freespeech @Str8UpGayAwards @Str8UpGayPorn https://t.co/P6eGmEctrK— mr.Pam (@mrPam) January 12, 2020
Mr Pam is the director of film production at Naked Sword, which she described in a 2015 Cosmopolitan interview as being “like the Netflix of gay porn”.
Her 2020 best director nomination – which she didn’t win, sadly – was for directing Scared Stiff 2.
But even though she didn’t win, her nomination makes the adult entertainment film awards 100% more inclusive than their suitable-for-work counterparts.
