LOS ANGELES – A member of the California Assembly has warned the pornographic-film industry, already buffeted by an H.I.V. outbreak earlier this year, that unless actors wear condoms while they work he will write a law requiring it.
The warning, from Paul Koretz, a Democrat who represents West Hollywood and parts of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, came in a letter last week to 185 producers and publishers of pornographic material, advising sex performers to adopt “harm-reduction procedures” like using condoms or face the chance that the Legislature will “exercise its authority to mandate more stringent actions.”
While most people in the sex industry appear to agree in principle with the idea of consistent condom use, it has long been believed here that condoms are not sexy.
“In any sexual interaction where condoms are used, consumers tend to drift from that,” said Graham Travis, head of production at Elegant Angel Video, a production company that turns out as many as eight new releases a month. “What the consumers want to see is performers without condoms, something that’s as real and intimate as possible.”
Forcing condom use, he said, would mean that “a lot of people would go out of business.” In any event, Mr. Travis said, “I don’t think the will is there from the performers.”
The issue of worker safety in the pornographic-film industry has become more urgent in the wake of the most recent outbreak here of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The outbreak was prompted in March by an actor who was infected while shooting a movie in Brazil and who transmitted it to at least three others after he returned to work in Los Angeles.
As many as 60 actors were believed to have been exposed to the virus, according to the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, which tests about 1,200 sex-industry performers every month for sexually transmitted diseases. Filming was shut down until the outbreak was declared contained in early May.
Outside one of the foundation’s two clinics in the San Fernando Valley on Monday, an actress who calls herself Nautica Thorn said the idea of all male performers wearing condoms was “great,” but impractical.
“People these days really go for the shock value, for the high-risk stuff,” she said, “and that’s harder to do with a condom.”
Ms. Thorn said she now goes to the clinic twice a month for a blood test, as opposed to the single monthly visits she was content with before. And it pays, she said, to know something about your work partners. “After that whole scare thing, girls are being more selective,” Ms. Thorn, 20, said.
“The guys I work with, they also have to have a blood check every two weeks,” Ms. Thorn said. Another actress visiting the clinic, Kianna Dior, said she, too, was being more careful in choosing co-stars, even if condoms are not yet part of the act. “My heart says ‘yeah,’ but I know the business would probably not do as well if everyone used condoms,” Ms. Dior said. “After this H.I.V. thing, I’ve just totally cut down on working.”
Sharon Mitchell, a former adult-film actress who earned a Ph.D. in human sexuality before co-founding the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, said on Monday that condom use in the industry had gone up after the H.I.V. outbreak to 23 percent from 17 percent and that it was now back to about 17.5 percent.
“Honey, this is pornography,” Dr. Mitchell said. “People don’t pay attention to the Legislature. Why should they pay attention to Koretz’s letter?”
A week after the outbreak became known, Dr. Mitchell said, she struck a deal with 16 production companies under which they were to insist that performers who choose not to use condoms be tested for sexually transmitted diseases every two weeks. Across-the-board use of condoms, she said, was not on the table.
“Clearly,” Dr. Mitchell said, “they’re not going to go for the complete barrier protection.”