Los Angeles Wants Condoms In Pornographic Films

When a actor in the pornographic film industry recently tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a local clinic responsible for the industry’s well being was shut down, sending pornographic actors elsewhere for testing.

And even though the clinic has recently reopened, Los Angeles City lawmakers voted unanimously last week to draft new legislation to require the use of condoms on the set of every pornographic movie made in Los Angeles.

According to City Councilman Bill Rosendahl: “We can’t keep our heads in the sand any longer. These people should be using condoms. Period.” This new law would be the first to impose such safety standards for the pornographic film industry. In fact, until the late 1990s, the industry was unregulated.

Industry representatives have relied upon a self-regulating system in the past, identifying just five cases of HIV infection among industry actors (although none were directly tied to on-set exposure) — none of them definitively tied to on-set exposure — since an outbreak in 2004.

“This has been working for years,” said Steven Hirsch, founder of Vivid Entertainment. “If we saw people getting sick, we would go to mandatory condoms.” Industry officials  oppose the new regulations, citing to a direct correlation between condom use and sales, not to mention actual use of condoms is difficult to enforce on set.

According to Jan Meza, a performer who contracted two sexually transmitted diseases before she left the industry in 2007:  “At first, I would ask about condoms, and they told me I’d never be able to find work. You do worry about the risk, but any girl desperate for money, like I was, is still going to do it.”

“Testing just acts as a fig leaf for producers, who suggest that it is a reasonable substitute for condoms, which it is not,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “Syphilis and gonorrhea pose significant health risks, not only to the performers but to the rest of the community.”

Since 2004, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has tried to mandate the use of condoms and other protections in the industry, but with little success. “It’s slow going,” said Deborah Gold, a senior safety engineer with the division. “We have a limited number of resources.”

Even if the law passes, enforcement may be challenging. California receives up to $13 billion in annual revenue from the industry, a much needed income source for the State’s struggling economy.  According to Jim South, a talent agent in the industry: “I tried many years ago to get everybody to go to condoms. Quite a few companies did, but sales fell severely. The switch would be very difficult.”