UPDATE 7:35 a.m.
Voters in Los Angeles County approved Measure B Tuesday, ushering in a new era of government oversight of the adult film industry.
The new law, which passed with over 55 percent of the vote, requires male actors to wear condoms during the shooting of adult films and follows on the heels of a similar ordinance passed by the Los Angeles City Council in January.
The vote is a victory for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which gathered enough signatures to get Measure B—also known as the Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act—on the ballot. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation also gathered the required number of signatures that forced the L.A. City Council to vote on the issue in January.
Measure B requires producers of adult films in the county obtain health permits and requires that male actors use condoms while filming vaginal or anal intercourse. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has argued that the use of condoms will help protect performers from sexually transmitted diseases.
"Our goal is to protect performers, and I understand if they disagree with us," Michael Weinstein, executive director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, told the Los Angeles Daily News.
Measure B was strongly opposed by leaders of the adult film industry, which is centered in the San Fernando Valley and generates an estimated $8 billion a year in revenue. Approximately 90 percent of all U.S. adult films are shot in the Valley, according to Mark Kernes, senior editor of Chatsworth-based Adult Video News.
A group of adult film performers opposed to Measure B held a rally on Sunday at a strip club in North Hollywood. Many there argued that the industry's required testing of performers is sufficient to protect against STDs.
"We're tested every 15 days," adult performer Tatyiana Foxx told Patch.
Fox said condoms would ruin the fantasy of many scenes her fans enjoy, while male performer James Bartholet said the city would lose tax dollars if the industry were forced to relocate.
"We spend our tax dollars here, we go to the beauticians and the nail salons and the auto body shops," he said, adding: "If you shut this industry down you're going to have local businesses that are going to have a huge drop in sales. Now is that a smart thing?"
Measure B passed despite editorial opposition from both the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. The Daily News argued that the threat of STDs to performers has been exaggerated, as the industry claims no performer has tested positive for HIV since 2004 as a result of its rigorous testing policies.
After the ordinance was passed in January, many adult film companies have threatened to leave Los Angeles to nearby locations rather than comply with the condom ordinance. In response to the L.A. ordinance, nearby Simi Valley passed its own condom ordinance in April, which was aimed at stopping a possible flood of film production companies relocating there. Now with Measure B passing and requiring condoms throughout the entire county, the future of the industry in Los Angeles and Southern California is unclear.
-- Arin Mikailian contributed to this story
Publicsright2know.org, Campaign for Safe cosmetics, Environmental working Group, preventcancer.com, Breast Cancer action., ThinkBeforeyouPink.org, Not Just a Pretty Face. The facts are here, everyone can read them, they just have to open their heads and learn. healthy-communications.com
What idiots voted on this stupid measure but voted against labeling GMOs??
PS - the idea that people who are at best temporary workers in the porn acting gig will never have sex with other people who are not porn actors is outlandish. They will now, while they are working at this gig, and they will later when they are not commercially saleable. This issue isn't about the fantasy or the government intrusion, or the health issues of which there are many... but about at which level this is controlled. It is beyond unreasonable to mandate something like this on a city-by-city or county-by-county basis. And I think anybody who is successful in the business of porn production would agree. This is as nutty as the LA City tax on motion picture production costs, rather than profits, that forced producers to adjacent municipalities. Q: what major studio is in LA City? Does someone know of anyone other than Paramount, sitting on its invaluable lot? Isn't everyone else already paying their city taxes in Burbank, Culver City, LA County, Malibu, Santa Monica, or anyplace else?
First, you can do whatever you want in the privacy of your own bedroom, but when you become a paid employee, you are subject to regulation, as is any industry. This measure requires that porn companies have the same health permits that your barber, or tattoo artist are required to have. I have always found it rather ironic that MMA fighters, and boxers are required by state law, throught the Athletic commision, to pass a strict physical, including HIV and Hep C. tests before they are granted a license to fight, yeat there are NO legal health requirements of any kind to hire people to have unprotected oral, anal, and vaginal sex, complete with exposure to semen, vaginal fluids and other OPIM(Other potentially infectios material) The adult industry has made the claim for years that their std rates are lower than the general public. This statement is flat out false. The std rate in the adult industry is astronomicaly higher than the general public. ANd while instances of HIV in the hetero film industry is very low, the rate of HIV infection in the gay porn industry is conservativley estimated at about 40% YES<<40%
In 2004 there was an HIV outbreak in the industry in which one male performer infected three females, all of which occured within 18 hour of eachother. The day it was announced that this male performer was HIV positive all of the people he had contact with were notiified. Later that afternoon I was at the AIM clinic helping coordinate the testing procedures for those who were either directly exposed, and the partners of those direcly exposed. The industry was reluctant in the testing, caliming the costs were to high. In the end I ended put paying for 57 people to be tested at least three times each, some more, over the next month, using a verry expensive PCR test(not your regular HIV test). Over $22,000.oo directly outof my pocket. On that first day of testing I was at the westside location of AIM(there were 2 locations in the valley) One of the girls who had worked with the infected performer walked in the door, and I was the only person at the front desk. She was 19 years old, shaking uncontrolably, sweating profusely from head to toe, and sobbing incontrolably. I sat her down in the exam room and called for the AIM employee to come help her. She told us that she had unprotected anal sex, actually a 'double anal" two penises inserted simultaneously, and she saied "I know I was bleeding." As we drew her blood sample, her fingernails dug into my wrist so hard that I was bleeding.
It is also illegal to require an HIV test as a condition of employment, and it is also illegal to require a prospective employee to pay for any medical tests that may be legally required before being hired, such as nurses being tested for tuberculosis. Do not believe the ridiculous statements about the std rates being lower, or the vastly inflated claims of jobs and tax revenue from the porn industry. THere is not one single person on this planet who knows more about the stds in the porn industry than me, that may sound in some way very arrogant, but it is simply the truth, and the truth is the one thing that the porn industry fears more than anything. The recent syphillis outbreak was caused by a perromer who had already reached stage 2 of the syphillis infection, who then falsified his std test and continued working.
I apologize for being quite graphic here, but that is the reality of the situaltion. I could go on for days about this, and I have no doubt that if I could speak to any of the individuals here who seem to be so vehemently against this measure, I could convince you otherwise. Asd the majority of female performers who are represented by legal talent agencies also had escort adds a number of escort agency sites. Most female performers these days make more money escorting than in movies. I have also worked as a paid consultant for LATATA(legal adutl talent agency trade association) and AHF(Aids Healthcare Foundation Over the years I also conducted over 600 videotaped interviews with perfomrers. The release they signed for me had a provision that I wait 10 years to release them, and this gave them the opporunity to speak very openly and honestly about their experiences. As anyone in the industry knows, if you speak ill of the industry your career is over. That is why very few current perfomrers did not speak aout in support of measure B. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
And here's another litttle thing. During this entire campaign the industry talked about the one BILLION dollars they generate for the local economy, and the 10,000 jobs they provide,,,,YET, the entire official No On B committee was unable to rasie even $750,000 to fund their entire campaign. Not even one 1/10t of 1% of the amount theat they claim they generated in tax and 'associated' business revenue. And this is because the numbers you hear from the industry about their revenues are inflated more than a hot air balloon. An MMA fighter needs a license from te state, and a state ordered HIV and Hep C. test, along with a very stringent physical, including eye exams, but a porn perfomrer being hired to have unprotected anal sex is not required by any law to have any type of health screening what so ever. The very limited testing the industry does is basically and 'honor among theives" volunatry program,and is often described as 'self policing.' ps, haveany of you ever seen what gonnoreah in the eye looks like?Iused to see it on a REGULAR basis.
AIM was caught right in the crossfire of this battle. Then AIM made a few mistakes, one of them being the 'hacking' of their entire medial database. But it wasnt really hacked, they would give passwords to porn producers to access medical information. THe 'waiver' that the performers signed did not stand up to legal scrutiny, all though others will argue the waiver was valid, in truth, it was not. AIM basically went bandrupt, but there is alot more to this story than I am legaly allowed to talk about, but I will say this, the accepted industry story that lawsuits from AHF closed AIM is pure unadulterated 100% pure Bull****!!!!
Today performers go to one of these clinics. The clinic gets the results and then enters "Available For Work" and the date of the test into the APHSS system, which is run by the non-profit FSC, who are funded by the porn producers. With the advancement of medical information techonology available today, there is simply no need for this system. Test results can be verified online, without any third party having to intervene. Other industry politics play into this, such as the single largest company, who is responsible for the majority of 'pirated free' porn on the internet now basically owns the FSC. They were also the largest donors to the NO on B campaign, except that a big portion of their donations had to be returned because they came from an offshore company.(thats another, antoher story) Stephanie, I could literally write a book about this, and one day I well. My hands are legally tied and there is alot I just cant say.
So if you were able to follow that sequence of event descibed above give yourself a gold star. Regarding AIMs closure,,,,,AIM did have legal problems, but those legal problems did NOT cause AIM's bankruptcy, and if it were not for legal reasons I would tell you why, but the constant industry 'line' of the lawsuits by AHF closing AIM are again, total bullshit!!!
Do you have any idea how hard I laugh everytime I see someone repeat the industry line. "We have a lower std rate than the general public." In fact, my most conservative estimate, based on 100,000 tersts from AIM alone, and another 85-100,000 tests from other clinics, is that the industry rate is at a minimum 30x higher than the genreal public, and this does NOT include herpes,1%2,,HPV, which is beyond astromonicaly high, PID, trichomonis,fecal bacterial infections of the female throat and vagina f, and a host of other related health problems that are virtually NEVER talked about publicly by the adult industry. I have personally been escorted out of supposedly public OSHA hearings when I have asked these questions and threatened wihe legal action for violating privacy.
I will give you another example of adult industry exaggeration. A few years ago there was a big deal abour releasing the legendary Deep Throat on dvd. The industry's #1 trade magazine estimated that DT had grossed over $680,000,000 over the years. But when you looked at the formula they used to calculate that number there was an equation right in the middle that said, "Alot of theartres in the 70's use to underreprt their receipts, so they figured the actual number was TEN TIMES HIGHER than the actual theatre receipts. Where they came up with that is still unknown, but then ther was the funniest part, they used 2005 theatre ticket prices and applied that number to all of the ticket sales fromt he 70s and 80s, when the cost of a 'dirty' movie ticket was about 1.oo. Actually DT was used by some of the major mafia families to launder their money, and several of the major crime families all worked together to launder their money through the theatres. Does anyone remember how many years that DT was the only movie shown at the Pussycat theatre on Hollywood and Wester. Pure money laundering operation.
The LA Times edictorial against measure b contained this quote. "Few performers, if any, "date" outside the industry." I personally spoke wit seveal people on the editorial board of the LA Times and not a single one of them would, or could answer my question, "Where did you guys come up with this." The funny thing was that they put the word "date" in quotes, because they couldnt write "Few is any performers "Fu**" outside the indsutry. I have personally spoken to 3 editorial board members, left messages and emails, and have not reciebed a response to the question of "On what or from whom did you get any information to support that statement?' Thier silence has been deafening. And in the industry thier is an std epidemic. If this were any other profession where people were getting diseases this often, nobody would stand for it. And you would be surprised who those 'dirty sex people' are. For every one story you hear of a teacher with a porn star past, there are 100 you will never know about. Where did you get that idea Jordan, was it the LA Times? If so Ican only say that you were misinformed by the LA Times.
One might have a first ammednment argument, saying that requiring condoms in turn requires that producers to put things in their films that they dont want there. But the response to that is,,,,,,,Is speech that requires the participants to be exposed to disease and potentially infectios material(OPIM) truel a protected for m of speech. If your boss said your job requires you to be exposed to disease, and offered no protection against that exposure, he would be held liable for that exposure. In porn, no such responsibility is taken by the producer. Doctors and nurses are required by law to use universal precautions to protect themselves, and other patients. Would you say that a nurse should have the choice whether to wear gloves or not? Does a performer have the RIGHT to expose a co worker to disease and do nothing to protect his co worker? When two people are paid by a third party to create a visual depiction, they lose the privacy argument.