AIDS Organization Files Suit to Force "Condoms-Only" Policy in Porn
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court today alleging that county health officials have failed to enforce regulations to combat HIV transmission within the adult film industry. The Foundation is asking the court to force the county to require condom use or take other "reasonable steps" that would prevent the spread of HIV on the sets of porn movies. Michael Weinstein, president and chief executive of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said that "[Los Angeles is] the porn capital of the world and it's clear that the county has no intention of making these sets safer or of protecting the rest of the community from the diseases that are being spread in the production of these films."
The lawsuit comes as a result of the news one month ago that an unnamed adult film actress had tested positive for HIV. She was the first performer to test positive since 2004. After the news of the actress broke, Los Angeles county health officials claimed that 16 performers had been reported as positive since 2004 but not publicized, only to retract that statement a few days later. (For more on the recent issues surrounding HIV in the adult industry, please see Monica Shores's recent article, "Condom Police.")
The basis for the group's lawsuit, according to XBiz, lies in Section 120175 of the California Code, which gives health officers broad powers in combating infectious disease. The code states that:
Each health officer knowing or having reason to believe... that any case of the diseases made reportable by regulation of thedepartment... exists, or has recently existed, within the territory under his or her jurisdiction, shall take measures as may be necessary to prevent the spread of the disease or occurrence of additional cases. (Emphasis added)
XBiz quoted Weinstein as saying that the adult industry "has much too much power" in the state and local governments, and that the health officials in Los Angeles are "afraid of the industry."
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Comments
They should but they won't
This won’t accomplish much. You’d have to set a precedent of forcing people to use birth control which is impossible. You can’t even force prostitutes to use birth control. Plus, they’re not going to find out until after the fact that no condom was used unless a new law is set in place where a health inspector has to be on the set of a porno.
I wish they would do something because I cannot understand why you wouldn’t want to wear a condom shooting a porno. I’ve heard actors and directors say it “ruins the fantasy” but I nor anyone I know of has ever felt ripped-off because a porn star wore a condom. Actually it ruins the mood seeing two guys take turns on a girl without a rubber, that's disgusting and dangerous. Trust me, in my fantasies of having sex with female porn stars, I’d be wearing two condoms just to be safe!