From www.foodconsumer.org — Newly released data this week from Los Angeles County health officials bring the number of porn performers who tested positive with the HIV virus in the past five years to 22, according to the Los Angeles Times.

While health officials have tried to regulate the $12-billion-a-year industry for years, the adult film industry was legalized by case law, not by statute, and has mostly escaped government regulation, according to a Public Library of Science report.

Local AIDS groups and HIV prevention advocates in Los Angeles are protesting the porn industry’s “condom optional” policies in a rally on Monday (June 15). The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, organizers of the protest, said they are calling for legislation to “require the use of condoms by actors performing in porn videos produced by California’s multi-billion dollar adult entertainment industry.”

Protesters are scheduled to meet at “porn impressario” Larry Flynt’s Hustler/Hollywood store in West Hollywood, states the Foundation’s press release. The foundation stated that a “condoms in porn” bill should be drafted by the California Legislation to protect the estimated 1,500 adult film actors.

Larry Flynt is the publisher of Hustler magazine and produces adult videos. His Hustler label is considered a “condoms optional” production house, states the press release. “But those in the business knows what that really means,” states the release. “Condoms allowed, but if you demand to use one, you probably won’t be asked to work again!”

Flynt is considered an influential leader in the adult film industry and is known for his opposition to the use of condoms in porn movies, according to the Foundation.

Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Foundation, has been a vocal opponent to the adult film industry.

“This industry has been putting actors at risk for a very long time,” he told the New York Times yesterday. “And they’re sending a terrible message to young people that the only kind of sex that’s hot is unsafe sex.”

While there are regulations the adult film industry is required to follow, including testing for sexually transmitted diseases, health officials are limited by the number of enforcement officials and will only act in response to a complaint, says the Library of Science article published in 2007.

When an outbreak of HIV cases was reported in 2004, Cal/OSHA fined the two production companies $30,560 each for not following blood-borne pathogen standards. California legislators and health officials met in June of 2004 and sent letters to 185 adult film companies urging them to use condoms in their films or face legislative action.

“This letter has had little to no effect and the adult film industry continues to produce the great majority of films without condoms,” states the article’s authors.