Then, again, how many businesses do you know that sell sex?
from www.southfloridagaynews.com – The adult entertainment industry has been reeling after another positive HIV test for a pornography actor occurring last week.
The incident led to two of the industry’s biggest companies shutting down production and a scramble to find partners who may have been exposed by the actor.
The actor, whose name has not been released, was a patient of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, a San Fernando Valley clinic that caters to pornographic actors.
Clinic spokeswoman Jennifer Miller told the Los Angeles Times that efforts are under way to notify individuals who may have had sexual contact with the actor.
Wicked Pictures and Vivid Entertainment told the Times that they stopped production as a precaution when the positive test was revealed.
Los Angeles County public health officials and state occupational health officials have said the widespread lack of condom use on porn sets puts performers at risk for contracting diseases. Adult film producers say viewers find them to be a turnoff.
Last year, a woman tested positive for HIV immediately after making an adult film, and in 2004, an HIV outbreak affecting several actors spread panic in the industry and briefly shut down productions at several California studios.
Porn actors are required by law to test negative for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases within 30 days of going to work on a film.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said his organization has been advocating for a tightening of the rules, and the adult entertainment industry and AIM clinic would “do everything in its power to prevent us from knowing who was impacted.”
Weinstein said the latest case is the ninth HIV-positive adult film star to be treated at the AIM clinic since the 2004 outbreak.
Adult actress Brooke Haven, who’s performed in more than 400 scenes and has never been diagnosed with an STD, told XBIZ that mainstream media outlets are unfairly targeting the adult industry.
“I think it’s unfair that our industry is cast in a negative light,” she said. “They don’t understand. They think, ‘Oh, this happens because they’re in porn.’”
Porn performer Mr. Marcus, who has been tested regularly for the last 16 years, agreed with Haven, saying the porn industry is an easy target for mainstream.
“Mainstream media is blowing this out of proportion,” Mr. Marcus told XBIZ. “If someone who is not in porn is tested positive for HIV, it doesn’t get national media attention.”
But he’s also quick to point out that this latest HIV case provides an opportunity for everyone, in porn and mainstream, to learn more about the disease.