AVN’s Mark Kernes once again displayed his ignorance about the condom debate. Kernes in writing about Tristan Taormino’s appearance on the show Now in America anchored by Susan Hendricks states: “1998 was the year of the adult industry’s first HIV problem.”
Kernes, ever heard of John Holmes? Ever heard of Dusty? Were you at those meetings in 1992? I guess not. Were you at those Barbara Doll meetings in 1995? I guess not. Do you remember Nena Cherry? I guess not. Do you remember Jordan McKnight? I guess not. AVN, retire this guy. He’s senile. Please, I beg you. Kernes is destroying what little credibility you have left.
Kernes writes: “Hendricks next brought on Alana Evans, who noted that when she first got into the industry, ‘condoms were accepted.’
“When I started in 1998, many companies understood the risks and the desire for our safety,” Evans stated. “As the industry became more raw, so did our scenes. We were expected to work without condoms.”
Evans’ recollection is a bit off. Of course, 1998 was the year of the adult industry’s first HIV problem, when a performer faked his HIV test and infected several actresses before his positive HIV status was discovered. But condom use in the ’90s was hardly “accepted,” since most productions didn’t have them, and while a number of companies did go “all condom” after the ’98 outbreak, the move was short-lived, not because the industry wanted to go “more raw,” but because movies with condoms in them didn’t sell well.
After correctly noting that many companies will not use actresses who insist on condom use, Evans has decided to take a personal stand for their use.
“I for one as talent now am not crossing that line again and I will be moving forward as a condom-only performer,” she stated. “It’s the best and safest thing that we can do, but i understand it’s not going to make me popular with the producers in my industry.”
“Porn has opened many doors for me and given me many opportunities,” she noted upon further questioning. “I stand by that statement because it’s allowed me to be at home with my children… but as a parent, you have to stress to your children that they need to protect themselves when having sex with other people. I believe myself as an adult; how can I not follow the same examples that I set for them?”
But Evans said that most adult performers understand that there are risks, including HIV, in appearing in adult movies, and that performers need to take personal responsibility for their own actions, and that “I can’t trust everyone that I go to work with every day, I don’t know what they do in their personal life when they’re not on set, and at this time, it’s not safe for us to take those risks anymore and just think that everybody’s going to follow the same rules that I follow,” which she said included using condoms in her personal life.