It fought against censorship laws, attempted to defend the industry against prosecution for obscenity, and held an annual adult film awards ceremony.

The first awards ceremony was held July 14, 1977, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles while religious protesters picketed outside,[5] as they would several years thereafter.

[1][6][7][8][9][10][11] "These feverish protesters are such a familiar part of the ritual, they really should be listed in the program," sex news magazine Cheri stated after the 1983 awards.

[15] Instead, in mid-1988 they were replaced by an annual Night of the Stars dinner-dance and legal fundraiser,[16] the fifth of which it held in June 1992 with more than 500 people in attendance, the association's biggest show ever.

By February 1992, the tables were turned – association members "picketed the Public Forum on Pornography sponsored by religious groups who hope to institute morality codes back into all movies made.

[18] Pornographic actress Marilyn Chambers presented the very first award for best erotic motion picture to the L. Sultana production of The Opening of Misty Beethoven, while runner-up was Count the Ways, produced by Virginia Ann Perry.

Pornographic actor John Holmes told the crowd at the first year's awards, "In the not-too-far distant future we will proudly say that we were pioneers.

[5] For a time the most notable erotic film awards were those of the AFAA, considered to be "the closest thing the porn world's got to filmdom's Oscar derby.

"[8] Subsequent awards shows even attracted celebrities such as The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola,[11][20] singer Stephen Bishop[20] and gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson[13] to be part of the audience and comedian Jackie Gayle[20] and singer Jaye P. Morgan of The Gong Show to be part of evening's entertainment.

[19] The fifth and eighth awards ceremonies were videotaped and offered to cable and subscription television[1][19] and for sale on VHS cassettes while the seventh was taped for an August 1983 broadcast on Playboy TV.

"[8] Originally the Erotica Awards were determined by vote of the "association's membership of more than 700 producers, distributors and theater operators.

[1] Starting with the awards presented in 1982, the AFAA decided to appoint an independent jury of three persons not associated with the adult film industry to make the final choices from the five finalists in each category.

That the definition of an "adult" is that designation set by the constituted authorities of the community but in no event any persons under the age of 18 years.

^3 IMDb states this movie, while advertised as the first X-rated movie made in Russia, was actually made in the U.S.[citation needed] ^4 Adam Film World reported both Seven Into Snowy as winner of "Best Musical Score" and also Get Your Nose Out Of My Pantyhose won "Best Original Musical Score", a different award,[6] in 1978.

However, the AFAA's seventh and eighth annual programs, which list previous years' winners, make no mention of Get Your Nose Out of My Pantyhose or any separate "Original" score award.