LOS ANGELES, CA – Reflecting the common practice in the trans, queer and non-binary communities of asking and stating one’s preferred pronouns, Grooby has announced an initiative to “include producer and staff pronouns on all relevant sites, social media and correspondence.”
“This initiative is something Steven Grooby and I have wanted to enact company-wide for quite some time,” said Grooby’s Marketing and Editorial Director Kristel Penn. “We thought it appropriate to announce it officially today on International Pronouns Day.”
Beginning today, producers and staff of Grooby will have their pronouns — she/hers/he/his/they/them – publicly listed on “all relevant sites, social media profiles and email signatures.” Additional information about Grooby’s pronouns initiative and International Pronouns Day will be published on Grooby.com, as well.
Penn said that as “a leader in the trans adult industry, we want to use our visibility and voice for positive change.”
“The practice of asking, stating and respecting pronouns may be relatively new for some of our fans, so we wanted our staff to set an example to illustrate how it works to those who may be less familiar with it,” Penn added. “Some may not see the importance of asking pronouns, but from personal experience, I know how validating it is when someone asks and respects my pronouns out in the world. It is a simple act that we can all do to honor ourselves and those we interact with.”
Grooby’s new pronouns initiative is another example of the company’s ongoing effort to evolve the Grooby brand in a trans community-friendly direction. In addition to rebranding its own sites, Grooby began lending a helping hand to the Internet Adult Film Database in recategorizing trans performers listed on IAFD late last year and launched an initiative to provide financial assistance to trans performers to have hate tattoos removed – an example of Grooby’s belief that people can change for the better and should be encouraged to do so.
“Many performers we work with come from estranged backgrounds, and I’ve never been from the school of thought that people can’t change. I believe in the importance of giving people a second chance,” Steven Grooby said in announcing the hate tattoo-removal initiative back in January.
As referenced by Penn, it’s likely there will be some who don’t understand (or even object to) efforts like the company’s pronouns initiative as part of a general resistance to “political correctness.” But as Grooby noted in an interview with YNOT in March, being trans-friendly – as opposed to merely seeking to make money off their customers’ interest in trans erotica – is a core element of the Grooby corporate culture.
“I think one of Grooby’s greatest accomplishments, which is probably overlooked, is the amount of girls we’ve encouraged to come out — whether that means doing erotica or just being themselves,” Grooby said at the time. “We were the first and only company for a long time to show trans people from all backgrounds and different stages of transition. Where other sites were only showing the more developed ‘glamour’-type models, we were also showing tatted, alternative and girl-next-door types of all shapes and sizes. Many girls have told us [our content] was the first time they saw people the same as they were.”
