There was little to no controversy this time around when the 2019 GayVN nominations were announced earlier this week.
Last year saw the show, which returned for the first time in years, in a ton of hot water where several different performers, including Hugh Hunter, vented about their claims of racism and bigotry within the nominations.
A lot of their frustrations were centered around the category of Best Ethnic Scene, which many thought was an unnecessary award given how sky high the racial climate is currently.
Its something that fellow actor Sean Zevran discussed in a video blog late last year, saying "Its incredibly challenging for actors of color to be recognized for our work in the industry, and a lot of it goes underrepresented or unrecognized when it comes to the awards. I would like to think the GayVN had the best intentions behind having a separate category, because otherwise I fear that some of the work of us would go entirely unrecognized."
"On the other hand, the counterargument to that, is that it casts ethnic minorities as the 'other', that there's something to be distinguished between our work and mainstream," he continued. "I think both are legitimate perspectives, and I think there is a little affect of both happening here. I don't know the answer here."
It was enough for the show itself to make a change to the nominations themselves, where they merged Best Ethnic Scene and Best Duo together as one big category. "The team at AVN offers a heartfelt, unequivocal apology to anyone who felt that the category of Best Ethnic Scene was an attempt to slight performers of color. It truly pains us to have offended any member of our community."
The 2019 GayVN nominations once again did not include Best Ethnic Scene but did appear to be quite diverse in terms of the men who scored a nod. The Performer of the Year category's diversity was definitely noticeable, as several men who are competing for the title include Jason Vario, Max Konnor, Boomer Banks, Diego Sans, Armond Rizzo and more.
The show will take place January 21st of next year at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.