SACRAMENTO, CA – A big change in adult testing procedures could come as soon as this Tuesday as a new assembly bill that could require production companies to pay for tests every two weeks goes to committee.
Introduced by Assembly Member Leslie in February of this year and amended on April 28, 2004, Bill #AB 2798 would make production companies liable for any sexually transmitted diseases passed between talent while working on their porn sets.
According to adult performer and attorney, Don Hollywood, “they want to test talent every two weeks and talent must have 60 days worth of clean tests on file with the production company they are working with. If a company doesn’t have 60 days verified tests and anyone they work with contracts any form of STD, the production company they worked for will become civilly liable.”
The bill also holds the performer liable should they falsify their tests in an effort to continue working.
If an STD is contracted, the performer may not work until the production company has received written notification from a MEDICAL doctor claiming that said performer is now CLEAN from this STD, not just “on the meds”–a common expression used to clear talent for work in the current system.
Should this bill pass, a severe blow to a lot of adult talent will occur in regards to the restricted STDs the government lists as CANNOT WORK DISEASES. Those STDs include:
(1) Chancroid. (2) Chlamydia. (3) Gonorrhea. (4) Hepatitis A virus. (5) Hepatitis B virus. (6) Hepatitis C virus. (7) Herpes simplex virus (HSV), also known as genital herpes. (8) Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). (9) Human papilloma virus (HPV), also known as genital warts. (10) Syphilis.
With the murmurs that a large number of well known performers carry Herpes simplex (HSV), but continue to work when not having an outbreak, a bill of this nature will force them to retire from on-camera sexual activity. The government will not allow an “no outbreak” clause. If it shows up on a performers test, that performer will not work.
In the past, it has never been industry standard to test for Herpes for work clearance. AIM Healthcare and regular physicians offer the test, but it has been voluntary. This new bill will make a test for all ten of the previous mentioned diseases mandatory.
Hollywood said, “It should be known that the ACLU and the Free Speech Coalition adamantly oppose this bill.”