County Delays Action on Condoms in Adult Films

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors put off a decision Tuesday on a November  ballot measure in which voters would decide whether to require actors who have sex on camera to .

A similar measure was earlier this year. Many adult film studios are located in Chatsworth.

Under a proposal favored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, producers of adult films would be required to pay for a permit from the county Department of Public Health. But the board put off a vote until July 24 amid questions about county's legal authority to enforce the proposed rule in 85 cities that contract with the county for public health services.

Supervisor Gloria Molina asked if the county could compel the cities to go along with the requirements.

Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Don Knabe said they were prepared to vote to put the measure on the November ballot, but not until after questions about the county's jurisdiction over cities are answered.

On May 24, the county registrar certified more than the required 232,153 ballot signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. Supervisors could let voters decide the issue in November ballot or codify the condom requirement themselves.

The proposed permit would be similar to those required of massage parlors, tattoo shops and bathhouses, according to Ged Kenslea of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which is pushing the measure as part of an umbrella group called For Adult Industry Responsibility, or FAIR.

Aiming to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among adult film industry workers, including HIV/AIDS, the AHF and FAIR are waging a campaign to require condom use in adult films shot and produced throughout California.

In addition to requiring condom use, the permitting process would require adult film producers to pay fees and submit proof that they have completed a blood-borne pathogen training course and developed an exposure control plan. The producers would also be required to post the permit and a notice to performers regarding condom use requirements.

Violations of the measure's requirements could result in the suspension or revocation of permits, the imposition of civil fines and the filing of misdemeanor charges, but Yaroslavsky was skeptical about the county's ability to police adult film shoots. "Most of this industry is underground. They don't apply for permits," he said.

The measure's advocates cite county Department of Public Health statistics showing that adult film industry workers are 10 times more likely to be infected with an STD than members of the population at large.

Between 2003 and 2007, 2,013 cases of chlamydia and 965 cases of gonorrhea were documented among L.A County adult film industry workers, and 2,847 STD infections were diagnosed among 1,884 performers between April 2004 and March 2008, according to county figures. The county's health department has also reported up to 25 cases of HIV among adult film industry workers since 2004, according to measure advocates.

Opponents, including the Free Speech Coalition, an adult film trade association, call the initiative government overreach.

"We already have protocols in place that are very effective," said Diane Duke, the executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, referring to a self-imposed industry requirement that actors get tested for STDs every four weeks at least.

"Also, the government really cannot compel an industry to create a product to which there is little or no demand," Duke said, referring to pornography with condoms.

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