Condoms Bill Passes In LA County

Yesterday Los Angeles County voters approved the measure mandating the usage of condoms in all porn productions.

The measure garnered 55.9% of the vote after a hard-fought campaign. "This is a major referendum on the subject of safer sex," said AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein. The measure is sponsored by the foundation, which has been pushing for years to protect adult-film performers from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Under the measure, the cost of the law would be paid for by porn producers, who would have to purchase a public health permit, much like tattoo parlors. Violators would be subject to fines and misdemeanor criminal charges. Weinstein said the question now is whether the adult-film industry and the county government will cooperate. "We have shown our resolve that we are not going to give up on this issue," he said. "Now that the people have spoken so overwhelmingly, it is the responsibility for the Board of Supervisors and the county Health Department to act immediately to enforce this law.”

Porn producers, who largely opposed the bill, say the public should trust them to be self-policing on the issue as they routinely test performers for HIV and other STDs. That claim, however, lost a lot of traction this summer when a straight male porn actor was exposed for having falsified a report noting his positive syphilis diagnosis and shooting several scenes anyway.  Industry observers expect some porn companies to merely relocate outside of the country limits.