LAS VEGAS — The team behind the 2019 BBW Award Show have announced that voting is still open, and the first round of nominees for the Humanitarian of the Year award are in.
According to the event coordinators, those nominated for the Humanitarian of the Year Award have been recognized by others in the community and their fans for the work to help elevate and uplift the BBW community, as well as the world at large. To further give back, the BBW Award Show has decided to give $1000 dollars to the charity of the winner’s choosing.
The current nominees are:
- Miss FreudianSlit
- Kitty Stryker
- Karla Lane
- Angela White
- Destiny Diaz
- HousewifeSwag
- April Flores
Each nominee received a minimum of 50 votes. Voting is still open, and will close in November.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to even be nominated for something as monumental as Humanitarian of the Year, but I can’t take the credit for solely representing the BBW community,” Taylor M., Housewifeswag, said. “It’s imperative that I recognize those before me and those alongside me in this journey.
“Together, we can continue to break the mold,” Housewifeswag added. “The charity I choose is TheBodyPositive.org for their continuous work in ending the harmful consequences of negative body image.”
The goal of the BBW Award Show, the coordinators explained, is to continue to represent the plus size community with acknowledgment for their hard work. The humanitarian award highlights the fact that the BBW community not only wants to give back to their own but also “to the world around us.”
With so many opportunities and positivity that have come into the community, The BBW Award Show wants to set the precedent of always giving back to keep that flow of positivity constantly moving, a representative said.
With the community ever growing, there have been more categories added this year.
“I had no idea I was up for any award,” said Kitty Stryker. “It feels amazing to be recognized for the work I do. A lot of my personal activism is offline, individual and not photogenic, so it's often not noticed by the community at large. I'm delighted to be able to help people, whether it be around giving sex work safety advice, serving as a street medic at a protest, or helping someone wean off drugs.
“If I win, I believe I will donate half the winnings to the Florence Project, which offers free legal services to detained immigrants in Arizona, and the other half to the Degenerates, a trans-centered art collective that also does a lot of community support for LGBTQ folks,” Stryker added.
A spokesperson added, “The current nominees represent a wide array of those within the BBW community, which is just another way that the BBW Award Show is showing inclusivity to their show. While coming from all walks of lives and creeds, one thing that every single humanitarian nominee represents is respect for those currently under the banner of being a sex worker. They have selflessly championed to help sex workers of all kinds to get the rights and respect that they deserve and thus are being recognized for their efforts."
Destiny Diaz commented, “If I won the Humanitarian award I would love to donate the $1000 to THORN. THORN is a digital defender of children. Technology is used to enable slavery, but it can also be used to disable slavery, they use technology to identify and rescue missing and exploited children. As both a sex worker and a mother, this organization hits my heart deep. SESTA/FOSTA is negatively affecting many forms of sex work, both online and off, but it is promoted as a shut down of sex trafficking. SESTA/FOSTA won't stop sex trafficking or related illegal activity, it will only push it more underground, and make it even more difficult to save and rescue these children.
“This donation can help fund the development of software that can help identify missing and exploited children, and help make the internet a safer place for children,” Diaz concluded
Nominations are open for 16 categories. To vote, click here.