EPHRAIM ADAMZ
Ephraim Adamz is an American DJ, filmmaker, songwriter, recording artist, sex worker, public speaker, consultant, and humanitarian. He rose to prominence on YouTube in 2014 with the viral music video "Twerk Bitch (You A Bottom)". He has collaborated with over nineteen Pride Festivals. Two are the largest in the United States, including Rhode Island Pride and Stonewall 50 WorldPride NYC 2019. During the Covid-19 pandemic he was one of twenty-four video editors to produce Global Pride 2020, the worlds largest LGBTQ+ virtual event in history.
Early Life & Career Beginnings
Ephraim Adamz is a gender nonconforming U.S. descendant of chattel slavery born in Hartford CT. His family sought refuge in the northern states from Alabama and Luisiana during The Great Migration. He is the first generation of children in his family born free of Jim Crow laws. His career began as a DJ in the early 2000's at roller disco's and skating rinks. The income was used to budget his efforts as a guerrilla filmmaker. Genre's included fan films, science fiction, martial arts fantasy, and suspense. Horror Movie: The Movie and Safe Haven: A Zombie Movie have garnered over one million views on YouTube. Adamz would also perform as a background extra in several major studio films listed on IMDB
2014-2019 Music and Humanitarian Efforts
In 2014 he debuted the music video Twerk Bitch (You A Bottom), a collaboration with drag queens, non-binary performers, and sex workers. The video received backlash as it was the first time he came out as homosexual to his followers. The song was not included in the mixtape Innocent after enduring death threats. Adamz admittedly regretted the decision as the song became a viral hit in the LGBT community. Transgender performers, go-go dancers, escorts, gigolos, rentboys, and adult film stars continuously featured in his music videos for several years.
In 2015 he wrote a letter to U.S. first legally gay married mayor Pedro Segarra, expressing interest in reviving Hartford Connecticut's pride festival which had been inactive for four years. The event titled Hartford Capital City Pride was a success with his involvement from 2015-2018. His experience in the arts, nightlife, and entertainment would make him a key attribute for stage management at pride events around the nation. Adamz continued to advocate at over nineteen pride festivals leading into Stonewall 50 WorldPride NYC 2019 as the grande stage DJ. CT Voice Magazine
During summer of 2018 Ephraim Adamz took over as the lead consultant and coordinator of the annual queer event at Six Flags New England, formally known as "Out In The Park" or "Gay Days". He rebranded the attraction as PrideFest. The event is held in September as to not compete with Pride Month in June and serves as a kick-off to National LGBT History Month in October. Several distinct changes were made - focus on small business and minority owned vendors were included for the first time in history. More emphasis placed on diverse families, transgender issues, rallying, education, and the meaning of Pride. In 2022 the cast of HBO Legendary surprised and honored Ephraim Adamz as a "Global Pride Icon". He received the "King of Pride Award" for outstanding contributions and profound impact on queer culture.
2020-2021 COVID-19, Global Pride, and U.S. Racial Unrest
In 2020 Ephraim founded and produced New England Virtual Pride in response to in-person events being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The interactive presentation was broadcast on Facebook June 20, 21 and 28. It compiles drag and musical performances, footage from past New England and New York pride events, and interviews with LGBTQ people talking about Pride. The event was originally supposed to be one hour, but blossomed into a 4 hour documentary style segment titled "Pride Before COVID". The Hartford Courant
Adamz simultaneously worked on Global Pride 2020, the worlds largest LGBTQ+ virtual event in history as one of 24 video editors. The broadcast reached 57 million viewers. He is credited on the official site under production team.
On August 28, 2020 he marched in the protest against police brutality at the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks rally in Washington D.C. hosted by Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. Personal video diaries of his experience have been used in his documentaries and music videos. The Hartford Courant
In 2021 he produced the documentary interview "T-Girl: The Truth In Transitioning" which follows a trans woman's journey through Gender Reassignment Surgery. The Hartford Courant
The same year he released an EP "Uprising 1969", a retrospective on The Stonewall riots and the police brutality protests in response to the murder of George Floyd. The single "Pride Month" went viral on the social media platform TikTok. Entertainer and singer Todrick Hall co-signed the EP
2022 Return to music and the Sex Industry
Following "Uprising 1969" he released a second EP titled "Day of Remembrance". The songs were launched on March 31st in celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility. Two bonus singles debuted - "Sex Work Is Real Work" and "Preach" in honor of International Sex Workers Day and Pulse Day of Remembrance. Adult film star Ricky Roman and erotic dancer Logan Starr is lube wrestling in the Sex Work Is Real Work music video. Transgender activist Carmen Carrera announced him as "The King of Pride" for a performance at New London Pride on the Beach. Ephraim is featured briefly in the short film "Gay Spirit Radio: Not Afraid To Be Different - The Keith Brown Story" discussing the AIDS epidemic. He later attended the 2022 New York Sex Expo to advocate and consult with content creators about BDSM, trauma, collective representation, and victimhood. The focus was to remind influencers that Pride has been built off the backs of trans women of color who did sex work, just as gay hustlers have been erased from the sex worker rights movement due do to sodomy laws driven by homophobia.