Jan
11
L.A. City Council Votes to Approve Condoms in Porn
January 11, 2012 | 3 Comments
The adult industry was abuzz last night following a vote by the Los Angeles City Council–with the prompting of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and its advocates–to require that condoms be worn by models employed by adult filmmakers seeking to shoot within city limits. The law “will not apply to studio shoots and will only affect off-site and ‘location’ production,” reports the L.A. Weekly. A fee attached to the new adult-industry permit is intended to pay for enforcement measures. A second vote of approval next week will certify the new law, which would then take effect 90 days later. Only one of fourteen current councilmembers voted no on the measure. The straight-porn industry requires testing for HIV and other STIs but most do not require condoms. Only a handful of all-male studios now operate within L.A. city limits; most major bareback producers, including Treasure Island Media, Dark Alley Media, Hot Desert Knights and SX Video, operate elsewhere. Most of the straight industry is occupied this week with the XBIZ Awards and several conferences. CLICK HERE for more details and a statement from the Free Speech Coalition…
Late in the day, Diane Duke, executive director of trade organization the Free Speech Coalition, issued a statement in response to the council vote.
“Performer health and safety is a priority for the adult film industry, which is why the industry’s standards and self regulations have been successful as represented by the industry’s low rate of STI transmission and no transmission of HIV in the industry in more than 5 years,” she said.
“Government regulation of film making would likely undermine existing health and safety efforts and industry standards that are effective as well as take the government into dangerous new territory. This approach betrays our Constitution; it betrays the hard lessons we’ve learned in the 25-year fight against HIV/AIDS; and it betrays aggressive health and safety efforts in place that are proven and effective.”
CLICK HERE for a longer statement on the FSC blog.
Today’s vote will supersede a proposed ballot measure recently organized by AHF. According to the Daily News, it represents “a compromise with City Attorney Carmen Trutanich” to drop a lawsuit he’d filed “seeking clarification from the courts about whether the city had the authority to enforce the measure. He’d argued that if the initiative is ultimately challenged by the porn industry and thrown out, the city would have wasted money and time on preparing the ballot initiative.”
Mr. Trutanich is now seeking “a working group of city officials and activists to tweak the measure before it takes effect.” Councilmember Paul Koretz called the new law “a major step forward in workplace safety.”
See also:
* “AHF Launches Second Ballot Push for Condoms in Porn”
* “City of Los Angeles Sues AHF Over Adult-Biz Ballot Proposal”
* “City of Los Angeles Sues AHF Over Adult-Biz Ballot Proposal“
Comments
3 Comments so far
How many gay porn studios are actually left within city limits? Channel One, Randy Blue, Jet Set? They all do condoms, so this doesn’t affect gay all that much.
[...] See also: * “L.A. City Council Votes to Approve Condoms in Porn“ [...]
[...] part, to legal harassment from Weinstein and AHF. CLICK HERE for the full story. See also: * “L.A. City Council Votes to Approve Condoms in Porn” * “New Condoms Law Signed by Los Angeles Mayor“ [Image: Francine Orr/L.A. [...]