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Members of the adult film industry gathered in Hollywood Monday to protest Prop. 60, which calls for condoms to be used in the industry. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News )
Members of the adult film industry gathered in Hollywood Monday to protest Prop. 60, which calls for condoms to be used in the industry. ( Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News )
Members of the adult film industry gathered in Hollywood Monday to protest Prop. 60, which calls for condoms to be used in the industry. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News )
About 100 adult film performers and their supporters held a protest in Hollywood on Monday to voice their opposition to a state ballot initiative they say would result in lawsuits and harassment against them.
Holding up signs that read “Our body our choice,” among others, performers gathered on Sunset Boulevard outside the office of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the main proponent of Proposition 60, a ballot initiative that if passed on Nov. 8 would enforce the use of condoms on all adult film production sites across California. Performers urged the public to vote no on Proposition 60 and demanded to speak to Michael Weinstein, president of AHF.
“Proposition 60 would allow anyone in the state to sue and harass us,” performer Vanessa Veracruz said through a bullhorn to the crowd. “It would make us vulnerable for stalkers. It would push us underground and out of the state.”
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In California, sexually explicit movies are protected under the Freeman decision of 1988, which made the making of pornographic films legal in California. New Hampshire has a similar law.
Weinstein and supporters of the initiative say the goal of the measure is to keep performers safe from sexually transmitted diseases and improve workplace safety. He did not address the crowd Monday.
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If passed, Proposition 60 would make producers prove that condoms were used, pay for performers’ workplace-related medical examinations and vaccines and be licensed by Cal-OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, every two years. They would also be subjected to hefty fines if condoms aren’t used. Weinstein said the proposition targets producers, not performers. But performers say some of them produce their own films.
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Some actors fear that under the law, stalkers would be able seek them out and do harm if their real names were listed in public documents such as lawsuits filed over possible violations of the measure.
Although condoms have been required on sets since 1992, the regulations are enforced on a complaint basis to Cal-OSHA. Some production companies do use them, but the still-largely San Fernando Valley-based industry relies on testing performers for sexually transmitted diseases every 15 days as its standard health protocol. Industry workers say there has been no transmission of HIV for eight years. Performers also have said condoms are impractical because of the nature of the work.
Proposition 60 contains traces of Measure B, an ordinance passed by Los Angeles County voters in 2012. Measure B mandated the use of condoms on adult film sets countywide. Health permit fees paid for by producers were intended to finance enforcement. But the measure became mired in a legal battle and wasn’t enforceable.
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Still, after Measure B passed, the number of film permits for adult filmmaking in Los Angeles County plummeted: from 480 in 2012 to 25 last year, according to figures by FilmLA and the Free Speech Coalition.
Former adult film performer Derrick Burts said he supports the proposition because he contracted several sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, in 2010, although porn workers contend he contracted it outside the industry.
“What Prop. 60 is all about is closing the existing loopholes,” he said. “It’s about bringing fairness to the industry.”
Staff photographer David Crane contributed to this story.
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