Effort to Require Condoms in Porn Production in L.A. County Moves Ahead

In just two months, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation says it has acquired more than half of the 232,135 signatures needed for a November 2012 ballot measure that would require condom use in adult films produced in Los Angeles County. AHF has three months in which to gather the rest of the signatures.

Although county health officials insist the issue is a state responsibility, “We said from day one that the primary responsibility for public health and disease control stands with L.A. County,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein.

Weinstein would rather the county Board of Supervisors prepare its own legislation: “We are still hoping that they will step up to the plate and do the right thing.” But he added that by its progress so far, AHF has demonstrated that “we have the wherewithal to put this on the ballot, and most people believe we have the wherewithal to enact it at the ballot box.”

The measure, which Weinstein says is supported by voters across age and gender lines, would mandate that adult-film producers obtain a permit from the county Department of Public Health, pay a fee, and enforce condom use during filming. Violators could lose their permit and face civil fines or criminal misdemeanor charges.

The pornography industry maintains its routine HIV testing of actors is sufficient protection, and it says a trial condom requirement in the 1990s hurt sales. Most producers of straight porn subsequently abandoned the practice.

A spokesperson for County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky - whose district encompasses San Fernando Valley, where most porn from L.A. is filmed - reiterated his position that the state should take the lead on this matter. County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Jonathan Fielding declined comment.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.

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