Mayor Signs Condom Law for Adult Films

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed an ordinance that requires actors in X-rated videos to use condoms, his office announced Tuesday.

The municipal law, the first of its kind in the nation, was backed by the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF).     

Production companies will have to pay an additional fee for permits to cover the city's cost for on-set inspections.  

Some production companies involved in the $8 billion industry said if the proposed ordinance became law. 

The City Council approved the ordinance last week. City Councilman Mitch Englander was the lone vote against it. Englander's district includes Chatsworth where many adult film studios are located. He has said he opposed the ordinance because there was no enforcement plan in place, nor any budget for inspections.

The council agreed to form a panel drawn from the City Attorney's Office, police and personnel departments and Cal/OSHA to figure out how to enforce the ordinance.     

AHF gathered about 71,000 voter signatures to get the issue on a ballot. Under city law, the council was then required to put the issue on a ballot or to pass the ordinance outright. It would have cost taxpayers about $4 million to the put the issue on June ballot, according to backers.

Michael Weinstein, president of AHF, said it was "a great day for Los Angeles, a great day for the performers and a great day for safer sex." Weinstein said he was unaware of any other city with a similar ordinance.

"After you take all the shouting and the drama out of it, it's an issue of public health," he said.

Some actors opposed the idea. Nina Hartley, an actress who is also a registered nurse, called the initiative "pure politics" and denied that it would make actors safer. Hartley said increased costs and oversight would drive more filming underground.

She said actors sometimes have intercourse for 30-60 minutes, and a condom could cause chafing, leading to open sores and a greater risk of transmitting diseases.

A state law already exists requiring the use of "barrier protection" on adult film sets, but is rarely enforced, advocates of the measure say.

AHF is leading is leading an initiative to require the county's Department of Public Health to issue health permits for X-rated  productions, similar to those given to restaurants, barbershops and massage parlors.

-- Saul Daniels and City News Service contributed to this report.