In a statement issued Tuesday, the Internet Adult Film Database (IAFD) announced it is “eliminating the IR (“Interracial”) tag on our site,” saying that the site’s editorial staff “has long believed that interracial porn largely serves to uphold racist stereotypes and imagery.”
“Regarding recent events, the IAFD team would like to unequivocally and firmly state that black lives matter,” the statement from IAFD begins. “The murder of George Floyd, along with the murders of countless other black folks at the hands of police in America is cause for alarm and concern. We stand with the protesters exercising their First Amendment rights – the same right we enjoy by documenting and archiving adult film data here at IAFD.”
IAFD added that they “stand with black performers who have been made to feel fetishized, minimized, and othered within the adult entertainment industry.”
“We are disheartened by stories of black performers in group scenes having to mind who they come in contact with because a fellow performer ‘does not do blacks yet,’” the statement continues. “We do not condone the racist pay gaps offered and accepted for interracial sex scenes. We refuse to accept financial incentives for those who hold out working with performers based on race for a bigger payday later in their career.”
The statement described eliminating the IR tag as part of IAFD “striving to be the change we want to see in the world.”
IAFD added they feel that the adult industry’s “long-held, narrow definition – black men fucking white women – only serves to further a narrative started hundreds of years ago; one with deserves to be relegated to the history books.”
“We justified tracking this information because the industry embraces and promotes it, the statement continues. “No more. We won’t be a part of it.”
IAFD adds that it has “also eliminated race-based categories from our annual Spank Bank Awards” – and that in the “absence of a fund to directly help adult film performers, we have made a donation to The Black Sex Worker Collective.”
“The organization seeks to address the needs of current and former Black sex workers by providing education, legal assistance, healthcare resources, and affordable housing referrals in order to successfully leave & maintain a life outside of the industry,” IAFD explains in its statement. “Their goal is to create a safe space where the unique experiences and needs of Black sex worker voices are validated and responded with appropriate needs-based resources.”
IAFD closes by saying these moves are “by no means the end of IAFD’s commitment to racial justice.”
“As always IAFD remains committed to ensuring that all customers continue to have free and available access to the most recent and accurate information about adult films and the performers who appear in them,” IAFD said. “We are committed to doing better. We will continue to listen and learn and improve on who we are and what we put out to the world.”
