Initiative on Condom Use in Adult Films Moves Closer to Ballot

Just over a year after a male performer in the adult film industry , the issue of condoms in blue movies appears headed for the ballot box.

Longtime proponent of condoms in adult film, the , established FAIR (For Adult Industry Responsibility) earlier this year to focus on a ballot initiative that would make condom use a prerequisite for all adult film permits in Los Angeles county. 

Wednesday, the group announced that it has collected 64,000 signatures, enough to put the issue on next June’s ballot. The result of the vote stands to affect many Chatsworth companies including J.M. Productions and Red Light District.

“At present, there are laws and state statutes to protect adult performers—but there has been no real enforcement,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in a press release. “We believe these performers deserve the health and safety protections already afforded them under existing law, and that all levels of government need to be involved in this workplace safety issue.

While Wicked Pictures, as well as the majority of gay-themed production houses already employ a condoms-only rule, safer sex methods are mostly absent in the heterosexual-themed portions of the industry.

Instead, all male and female performers are required to get an HIV test from a pre-approved clinic once every 28 days. Performers are not allowed to work without the test results in hand and each cast member is permitted to inspect his or her coworker’s documents before filming begins.

The industry-sanctioned clinics keep full records of everyone the performer has worked with during a testing period. If someone shows positive results for the HIV virus, every first and second-generation exposure can be identified and tested within 24 hours. Additionally, the entire industry can halt production within hours of the first positive result.

In one sense, this is a working model. There are approximately 11,000 adult films produced every year. Since 2005, there have been fewer than two-dozen cases of HIV within the industry, including those in which the performer was infected outside of work and did not pass on the virus to anyone within the industry.

However, the current system does not check for any other sexually transmitted diseases, including herpes, which is incurable and HPV, which can lead to cancer.

The proposed regulations would force all adult films receiving a permit from Los Angeles county to require condom use during all penetrative sex acts and add a fee to the permits in order to pay for a monitor who would make periodic inspections.

The ballot initiative, called the “City of Los Angeles Safer Sex In The Adult Film Industry Act” would go before voters next June. A preliminary summary of the act can be found below:

The proposed ordinance would require any person or entity directly engaged in the creation of adult films who is issued a permit under the authority of the City of Los Angeles (City) for commercial filming of an adult film to maintain engineering and work practice controls, including the provision of and required use of condoms, sufficient to protect employees from exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials consistent with state law. The proposed ordinance also would require that any film permit issued under the authority of the City of Los Angeles (City) for commercial filming of an adult film be conditioned on the compliance with this requirement and include language regarding the obligation to comply with applicable workplace health and safety regulations. The proposed ordinance also would require the City to charge applicants seeking permits for production of adult films a fee sufficient to pay for periodic inspections. The proposed ordinance would amend the Los Angeles City Municipal Code.