VAN NUYS – from www.contracostatimes.com – An HIV/AIDS activist group that has already placed a measure on the June city ballot requiring performers to use condoms on Los Angeles porn sets, launched another ballot initiative Tuesday that would order adult film producers to obtain a county public health permit.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation called on Los Angeles County officials to mandate that adult films follow the same health department permit process required of bathhouses, sex clubs, and tattoo and message parlors.
Under the county initiative, adult film producers would file health permits and pay a fee set by the health department that would pay for inspections and enforcement.
“Not one dollar will come from taxpayers,” said Michael Weinstein, executive director for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
At a morning press conference, Weinstein and members of For Adult Industry Responsibility, stood in front of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s field office in Van Nuys, saying he and other county officials were dragging their feet on laws that would fairly protect adult performers from contracting and spreading HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
“For too long, this workplace safety issue has been dodged by elected officials punting from city to county to state, and as a consequence, the health and safety of these workers has been neglected with dire consequences,” Weinstein said.
Last month, Weinstein announced his organization had successfully collected
enough signatures to place an initiative on the June ballot that would require actors on adult film sets to use condoms in order to get a permit to film in the city of Los Angeles.
Weinstein has long said such initiatives are needed to ensure performers’ physical safety and the community at large.
But the measure was met with a lawsuit filed by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich who argued legal clarification was needed to determine if the city had the authority to enforce such requirements.
A judge is set to discuss the issue Jan.25.
A state law already mandates condom use on adult film sets, located primarily in the San Fernando Valley. Some production studios, including those that specialize in gay pornography, support the condom requirement.
But enforcement is based largely on performers complaints to the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Investigators with Cal/OSHA will send inspectors to film shoots if there is a concern of exposure of blood-borne pathogens or other bodily fluids.
Yaroslavsky’s office said the supervisor supports condom use on adult film shoots, but said state law takes precedence.
“The county of Los Angeles continues to strongly support state legislation, Cal/OSHA regulations, and the regulatory role of Cal/OSHA as the most appropriate means to regulate the practices in the adult film industry that expose performers to unnecessary and preventable occupational risks of acquiring and transmitting these diseases,” according to a statement released by the Los Angeles Department of Public Health.
Meanwhile, the Canoga Park-based Free Speech Coalition, a trade group for the adult entertainment industry, has said more regulation is unnecessary. The industry has its own sexually transmitted disease-testing standards to protect actors.
Weinstein said he and his supporters are confident they could collect the 200,000 signatures required to place the health permit initiative on the November ballot.
He said if passed, the measure would allow the county to collect a $1,000 fine from adult film producers who do not have a valid health permit. In addition, the county could use nurses to provide spot checks on film sets.
“The public should care about this because (adult performers) are members of the community,” Weinstein said. “Just because they work in the adult film industry, they should not be discarded.”