Porn Star HIV Case Shuts Down L.A.-Based Industry Amid Controversy Over Mandatory Condom Use
Bad news today for the porn biz: Another performer has apparently tested positive for HIV. This lead the industry trade group, Free Speech Coalition, to call for a stop to adult video production for now.
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The possible positive was revealed Saturday and made public via an FSC press release today.
The moratorium on production will go on until those who might have worked with the porn star have been ID'd.
It's bad timing for the industry:
The L.A.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been on a mission to force government agencies to require condoms on-set. In fact it's gathering signatures right now in order to get a citywide vote on an ordinance that would require the city of L.A. to mandate condoms for porn shoots it permits.
FSC says the positive didn't come from its own industry testing service, known as Adult Production Health and Safety Service, which was set up to test performers once a month.
The industry's own system requires porn stars to show up on set with clean results.
The AHF wants the state, county and city to enforce existing federal workplace regulations that would seemingly require condoms.
FSC, meanwhile, states:
Our first priority is to protect performers with reliable health services and assist producers with protocols that minimize liability, while remaining compliant with state and federal regulations regarding medical privacy.
We tried to get FSC chief Diane Duke on the line but she was in a meeting.
The last high-profile HIV-positive test for a porn star happened last last year. That performer, Derrick Burts, has become a poster child for AHF's efforts to get the industry to use condoms. But some have argued he moonlighted as an escort and, as such, shouldn't blame the industry's protocols (or lack thereof) for his situation.
In 2004 another HIV scandal rocked the industry, temporarily halting production.
The industry says consumers won't buy porn with condoms. It also claims that its testing program catches performers with diseases, keeps them off-set, and works.
The AHF says there's no way around federal law that prohibits workers from being exposed to blood-borne pathogens. In other words, you shouldn't be exposed to sperm at your job.
Stay tuned.
[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]
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