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California’s Porn Industry Pulls Out Of Production During AIDS Scare

Porn producers across the San Fernando Valley have put the brakes on production after an adult film star tested positive for HIV.  While the performer’s name and gender are being kept private, he or she is being retested and on-screen partners are being notified. “Retesting and confirmation is underway as is the process of identifying and testing first- and second- generation partners,” said Diane Duke of the Free Speech Coalition, a porn-industry nonprofit.

An article in the Los Angeles Times stated that Hustler and Evil Angel were among the studios participating in the voluntary shutdown, suggesting the outbreak was within the hetero-porn community.

But the incident raises the ongoing issue of condom use in adult films: While they are often mandatory in more reputable gay studios, that’s not the case in straight porn—or in any number of smaller gay productions. Last year, the porn industry was similarly shut down when porn actor Derrick Burts, who starred in both gay and straight titles, revealed he was HIV+.

 

Advocacy groups have tried for years to get officials to be more vigilant about regulating  condom use, but with limited success. Currently, signatures are being collected for a ballot measure on whether porn producers must require performers to use condoms as a condition of getting a film permit.

“The question remains how many performers must become infected with HIV and other serous STDs before the industry will clean up its act and government will do the right thing,” asked AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein in the Times story.

That’s a good question. Another is when will porn consumers stop patronizing studios and websites that don’t require condom usage?

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