LOS ANGELES — There was glitz. There was glamour. There was a lot of Domino Presley sass and no-bullshit-taking. There were a lot of “Hey, bitches!” both loving and otherwise. But more importantly, there was a celebration honoring the best of the trans adult community.
Last Sunday the Trans Erotica Awards returned to the heart of Tinseltown, right next to the fabled intersection of Hollywood and Vine. Produced by Grooby, presented by ManyVids and hosted by the inimitable Presley, this year's TEAs dazzled as the first in-person, invitation-only event at the Avalon since the easing of pandemic restrictions.
TEAs red carpet host Natassia Dreams (center, in blue)
Prior to the event, the night's glamorous stars walked a red carpet placed right on top of the world-renowned Hollywood Walk of Fame, in a procession hosted by the trans adult community’s own legit supermodel, Natassia Dreams.
The fully decked-out crowd invited by Grooby entered the historic landmark of the Avalon to mingle, imbibe and reconnect with other members of the community after a long period of virtual-only interactions.
The lights went down and the show started with a performance by trans pop star Alissah, who sang her hit “Daddy” about how “daddy pays the bills, daddy pays the rent,” and featuring a spoken intro about the hypocrisy of celebrities and other powerful people who are not open about being sugar daddies for trans people.
For part of the song — backed by dancers wearing Pussy Riot-style balaclavas and deconstructed dress shirts — Alissah was joined by the evening’s “Mistress of Ceremonies,” Domino Presley, who happens to be the featured artist on the Thee Stallion remix of “Daddy.”
2022 TEAs host Domino Presley
After the official voiceover welcome to the show, Presley strode majestically onto the stage in a transparent bodysuit, black lingerie and black thigh-high boots, her long tresses festooned with pink highlights.
“Hi bitches,” the Mistress greeted. “By the way, I’m Domino Presley and I host this shit. Welcome to the 2022 Trans Erotica Awards, presented by ManyVids. Let’s call this the pandemic edition 2.0!”
Presley invited the audience to thank the evening’s sponsors, the staff at Avalon and Bardot and the staff at Grooby for “putting on this show, year after year.”
The first award, for Best DVD, sponsored by AdultEmpire, also offered the evening’s first surprise — a tie between two high-profile features that were both deemed worthy of the top accolade.
Presenters Jasmeen LeFleur and Eddie Wood — who explained that he identifies as “a merman, because I’m masculine on top, but fishy on the bottom” — gave each of the tied projects time to bask in the vocal appreciation from the audience. LeFleur and Wood announced Adult Time’s “Casey: A True Story” first, welcoming biopic star Casey Kisses and director Joanna Angel to give their thanks.
Joanna Angel (l), Casey Kisses
Kisses and Angel, in synchronized burgundy and red, expressed their mutual admiration. Angel called Kisses “the most amazing woman I’ve ever met” and said it was an honor to bring her story to life. The iconic alt-model and director added, “I never want to hear the word ‘crossover’ ever again — there is nowhere to ‘cross to’ or ‘cross from’ because we are all one, all together.”
“It’s kind of hard being trans, right?” Kisses asked the audience. “We really don’t get all the recognition that we deserve.” Then she asked people to put their drinks up in the air if they didn’t know her, “because I wanna meet you.” She also saluted the many who felt inspired by her journey, and asked everyone to toast Grooby “for putting this together and giving us the recognition that we deserve” and honoring all the “hard-working trans women.”
(L-R): Aiden Starr, Aubrey Kate; presenter (far right) Eddie Wood
LeFleur and Wood then revealed the second winner: Evil Angel’s “I am Aubrey,” and invited Aubrey Kate and producer Aiden Starr to take the stage.
Kate, in a stunning copper-pleated gown, with butterflies interwoven in her always impeccable blonde hair, managed to overcome her signature shyness to thank Evil Angel and Starr for “letting me be myself always and trusting me — and letting me show my side of the story and letting me be the slut that I am.”
Starr then celebrated “I am Aubrey” for being “the first Evil Angel showcase to star a trans woman.”
“And I would love for it not to be the last!” the producer added, to the audience’s cheers.
Domino Presley returned with the first of the evening’s several costume changes, now in another transparent body-fitting gown in black and metallic red. She introduced Natalie Mars and a becaped Keith Eros, who presented the award for Best Scene Producer to “the very talented, legendary” Bree Mills for “taking the trans genre into the next level” during 2021.
(L-R): Bree Mills; presenters Natalie Mars, Keith Eros
Mills thanked the trans community for being “so welcoming and inclusive” to her over the past two years. “Of all the communities with whom I have worked in the adult industry, there has never been one as meaningful as my friends within the trans community.”
Teddyboy (l), Ben from Otola Photography
Jamie Jameson and Micha Angela handed two Industry Professional awards to “strong allies to the trans community” — photographers Ben from Otola Photography and the ultra-dapper Teddyboy, who took to the stage in righteous vintage threads with zoot suit vibes.
Erica Cherry
The “Best Cam Performer” award — sponsored by Streamate and presented by company exec Christophe and Violet — went to redhead Erica Cherry, who accepted it in a shimmering black minidress and celebrated still being just “a camgirl at heart,” reminding the audience that “camming is as much a part of the community as anything else.”
Cloudy Vi
Grooby’s Black TGirls Model of the Year, Presented by Rodrigo Amor and Kasey Kei, was awarded to Cloudy Vi, who accepted it in a yellow plaid schoolgirl uniform and anime-ready pink braids — “Super kawaii!” declared Domino Presley — and thanked Steven Grooby for seeing her potential before anyone else “and bringing me into this family so I can show everyone what I’m about.”
Best Internet Personality was presented by Natassia Dreams and Brex Boogie to the one and only Foxxy, after Domino Presley — the reigning holder of the title — explained how hard it was to excel in that part of the business. Shining in silver and bright red hair, Foxxy crossed the room to a standing ovation as Dreams told the crowd the veteran star was “always sweet, always representing.” “I just love seeing everyone tonight,” Foxxy gushed, calling the TEAs “this special night.”
“Foxxy’s been here forever,” Presley ad-libbed. “She was already a legend when I came in. Didn’t she look lovely? Congratulations to Foxxy — she’s a fucking icon! Without her, we wouldn’t be here.”
The Mistress of Ceremonies’ “daughters,” BBWs Nathalie Presley and Sophia Presley, presented the Best Self-Producer award for independent content creators — sponsored by Wicked Sensual Care — to Jasmine Lotus, who submitted an acceptance video “via satellite” from her bedroom.
Gender X director Jim Powers and company booker Deacon presented the studio’s Model of the Year award to Jade Venus, elegant in a busty gown and a fur stole. “You guys are one of my favorite studios to work with, and one of my first, and you have a very special place in my heart,” she enthused about Gender X.
The award for Best Girl/Girl Scene, sponsored by TGirl Nights, was presented by Vanniall and Adam Christopher — who did one of his now-customary comedy bits, posing like a beefcake Jeff Goldblum — to TransAngels’ “Forget Them, You're Perfect” featuring Foxxy and Melanie Brooks, who wore one of the more revealing outfits of the evening. “When I met Melanie, we clicked right away,” Foxxy revealed, and Brooks termed her scene partner “an inspiration.”
Alexa Scout (middle)
A brand-new accolade, the "Producer's Choice Award" — conceived to highlight a steady, reliable performer — was presented by Radius Dark and Buddy Wood to its first recipient, Alexa Scout. In a shiny blue gown, a surprised Scout emotionally thanked all the producers for the recognition.
Madame Morgan
Best BBW Performer, sponsored by TGirlBBW and presented by the bright-orange-tressed Sarina Havok and Robin Coffins — “one of our industry’s favorite couples,” Presley noted — went to Madame Morgan. “Here’s for the big girls, bitch!” she toasted. “It’s about damn fucking time.”
Chaturbate CEO Shirley Lara presented the platform’s TS Performer of the Year award via video. Chaturbate broadcaster Ruby Fiera took the honor, with Lara telling her that the company is “in awe of your creative camshows, hard-working attitude and your dedication.”
Fiera thanked the company, also via video.
Natalie Mars
Another platform, JustFor.fans, crowned its first Fan Fave winners, with the award presented by the company’s Dominic Ford and Janie Blade. Two winners were chosen by fan vote: transmasculine performer TripleXTransMan, who accepted via video, and perennial crowd favorite Natalie Mars.
One of the TEAs' most recognizable allies, plastic surgeon Dr. Alexander Sinclair, came up onstage in a blue sequined blazer with matching hair, accompanied by a bouffanted Jessica Foxx, to present the "Transcendence Award" he created to honor a performer who has gone above and beyond in representing the community. This year’s honoree was Jamie French, in an asymmetrical black gown with matching tiara, who gave an emotional speech about the last year-and-a-half of loss and heartbreak.
“In my hardest times,” she said, “I keep my head down, and I work. That my work has been recognized in this fashion… I didn’t work for an award, but I’m being recognized right now, and the way that I’m being recognized, this makes the award the most precious and meaningful accolade that I’ve had in my entire career.”
Alissah (center)
The first part of the TEAs culminated with another performance by Alissah and a troupe of masked dancers, preceded by a tribute from Domino Presley to Natassia Dreams and her many successes in the mainstream world, with Presley welcoming her “ballroom and drag mother” Mariah Paris Balenciaga, also a star from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
“We are nasty — in a good way,” Balenciaga quipped.
TEAs audience members
Presley — in yet another gown — opened the final stretch of the show by introducing Dan Hogue and Bambi Bliss, who presented the Best Boy/Girl Scene award to TransSensual’s “TS Cheaters 2 — Scene Two,” featuring Ariel Demure and Johnny B.
Director Ricky Greenwood accepted the award and encouraged the audience to “watch more porn!”
Aiden Starr and Braden Hughes presented the first-ever award for “Best Scene — Threesome/Moresome” to “Shiri's First Gangbang: Gym Slut Takes 5,” co-starring Shiri Allwood, Chris Epic, Mason Lear, Pierce Paris, Smash Thompson and Rob Yaeger. Allwood and the cameraman received the award, with the performer explaining the inherent difficulties of “putting together your own gangbang.”
The Ms. Unique award, sponsored by TGirlsHookup, was presented by Kelly Quell and Nicole Cheshire to Pixi Lust. Wearing a fashion-forward silver tailored suit, Lust dedicated her win to “my black and brown trans queers out there, and my t-girl tops — all three of you — out there!”
Presenters Robin Coffins (l), Sarina Havok
One of the most significant moments of the evening was the onstage bestowing of several Lifetime Achievement awards, including one for 2021 winner Jessica Foxx. Presley celebrated Foxx’s rise from a Navajo reservation to the top of the trans adult industry and welcomed her onstage to receive last year’s trophy.
“This journey that I’ve taken,” Foxx, in a transparent white gown with a glittering top, told the crowd, “has lasted so far over a decade and a half, and I can still remember the first time I got to shoot for the amazing Steven for Grooby and from there it kicked off an amazing journey in life and I’m so blessed that I got to walk down this road.” Foxx also remembered her first TEAs win, in 2010, and asked for a moment of silence for “all the people that we’ve lost over the years.” She also expressed her pride in representing all the Native nations.
The first Lifetime Achievement award for 2022, for a significant behind-the-camera figure in the sector, was presented by Jade Venus and Tori Easton, who announced the recipient as veteran former performer, director and producer Tom Moore.
“He’s of course, the legend that is Tom Moore himself,” said Venus, noting the honoree’s long pioneering path through all segments of the industry since 1984, and especially his remarkable, pathbreaking contribution to the development of the trans space. Moore thanked several of his collaborators and expressed his gratitude to Grooby for “keeping this thing going for so many years.”
Kasey Kei (l), Rodrigo Amor
Another of the evening’s very special moments came next, with Domino Presley asking the crowd to pay attention because this part of the show “is so important.” Presley introduced “Grooby’s creative and editorial director, the most amazing person at Grooby that puts together all this stuff,” Kristel Penn.
Penn came onstage to offer the TEAs “thank you speech,” where she stressed how important it was for everyone to be “all physically here, celebrating with us” after the COVID pandemic forced events to switch to a virtual format for the past two years. “It is no small thing to show up for the community in this way,” Penn said.
The show producer remarked a couple of times how, in spite of its undoubted preeminence in the sector, Grooby actually is run by “a very small staff,” which allowed her to segue into a moving tribute to Dan, aka Sparky Snakesden, a young, vibrant, longtime Grooby staffer who passed away from cancer a couple of years ago.
Penn explained that Domino Presley herself had requested that Dan’s portrait — which the producer had brought to place backstage, where the late staffer used to stage-manage the show — be given pride of place right in front of the podium for the entire show. Picking up the candid shot of a smiling Dan/Sparky in his prime, Penn honored her friend and colleague with the audience breaking into spontaneous applause in tribute to a beloved figure who managed to make himself an integral part of the community in his short life.
“Yes, this is a porn award show, but it’s more than that," Penn said. "We are a community, and this show, it’s not only for the people who are here, it’s also for the people who couldn’t be here, and also for the people who have passed.”
Domino Presley
Penn then introduced the last Lifetime Achievement award, bringing out Buddy Wood, Natassia Dreams, Nicole Paige Brooks and Mariah Balenciaga to help honor the Mistress of Ceremonies herself, Domino Presley. Brooks and Balenciaga spoke of their pride in celebrating their “daughter” Domino Presley’s achievements as a champion and representative of trans women, and her successes in the adult industry. Presley thanked everyone who had helped her, all her families, her new husband, her industry platforms, and also came down to where Dan’s photo was and addressed him directly with a loving, sassy anecdote about when they first met.
Once Presley composed herself after being overcome by emotion, the awards continued with the "Best Non-TS Female Performer" category, presented by Austin Spears and Paradise, which was won by Charlotte Sartre. Sartre accepted her award via video, wearing latex gloves and with her famous cats video-bombing her.
Aubrey Kate (l), Aiden Starr
The award for Best Non-TS Male Performer was presented by Lianna Lawson and Billie Beaumont to Pierce Paris, who accepted it via video, acknowledging his fellow performers and his directors and producers for giving him the opportunity to work in the genre.
Show sponsor ManyVids’ Trans Performer of the Year award was presented by Colby Jansen and Foxxy, and went to Hazelshootsbigloads, who received it via video, dressed like a princess in her cam room.
The Best Non-U.S. Performer award was presented by Rodrigo Amor and Kasey Kei to Canadian model Evie Envy, in a leg-baring green dress, who thanked the companies that helped her get into the industry.
The first “big ticket” award — as Presley deemed it — for the very last stretch, the Fan Choice Award, was presented by Chris Epic and Spencer Bradley to Izzy Wilde, who was overwhelmed by the surprise of being honored by the fan vote.
The Best Trans Male Performer award was sponsored by Transnificent.com and presented by Penny Petals and Nikki Sequoia.
“I’m so proud of each and every one of you boys,” Petals told all the nominees in full-motivational mode. “You’re good kids… you’re good kids. There was a time when transmasc porn wasn’t seen as viable, people didn’t think it was possible — you showed them that it’s possible, it’s fucking possible. The future is fucking yours and you earned it. You got the goddam fucking sauce, and it’s top-shelf too.”
The award went to blond heartthrob Noah Way, who gave an impassioned acceptance speech about transmasc adult performers redefining desirability in a revolutionary way through representation.
“See how they support each other?” Domino Presley told the crowd, impressed by Way’s speech. “Trans girls, take note.”
Mega-successful past TEAs award-winners Aubrey Kate and Dante Colle presented the award for Best New Face.
“This is gonna be the face that represents the industry for years to come,” Colle announced, before revealing Brittney Kade — who wasn’t present at the awards — as the winner.
After Presley reminded the nominees that “every one of you is a winner,” Eva Paradis and Chris Dammed presented Best Solo Model, sponsored by Bad Dragon. Jade Venus, in a glamorous black gown, won that coveted award and gave a short speech thanking her supporters.
The final award was presented by TEAs mastermind Steven Grooby and Saska Sage. Crowning the evening with the coveted accolade of Best Hardcore Performer, the presenters named Emma Rose as this year’s top trans performer.
Beaming with excitement, Rose thanked everyone who has made her career possible, closing out the evening on a high note in tune with the rest of the evening, which delivered a celebration of real trans sex workers loudly and proudly showing a world that often stigmatizes and discriminates against them the diversity and vibrancy of their lives and work.
TEAs attendees
For a complete list of the winners, click here.
