Wear Condoms While Filming, Porn Actors Told, Los Angeles

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Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 17 Jan 2012 - 16:00 PST

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Pornographic film actors will have to wear condoms during scenes with sexual intercourse, the Los Angeles City Council has ruled - the vote was 9 to 1 in favor. However, before the new ordinance is enforced, it has to be signed by the mayor, and then the City Council, the city attorney, and police officials have to decide how the enforcement will be carried out.

There was no public discussion today when the City Council completed its second and final vote to approve the law. The ordinance had been tentatively approved on an 11-1 vote last week. The Adult Entertainment Expo, Las Vegas, which starts tomorrow meant that the majority of the city's porn industry were away from home when the final ruling took place.

Pornographic industry spokespeople have argued that this move is pointless and just an example of political correctness. They added that enforcing such a ruling is going to be virtually impossible.

CBS quoted Christian Mann, who works for one of the biggest porn film producers, Evil Angel Productions, as saying:

"The only thing that the city could potentially achieve is losing some film permit money and driving some productions away, but you can't actually compel an industry to create a product that the market doesn't want."

Mann went on to say that foreign customers will simply stop buying films from Los Angeles if the actors are wearing condoms.

Others in the industry say that forcing actors to use condoms may drive many players underground, resulting in more "criminal activity" and problems with monitoring people's health. They say the industry's voluntary 30-day testing for STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) is working well. They added that not one confirmed case of HIV has been reported since 2004 (which is directly linked to making porn movies).

Ged Kenslea, of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, who supports the condom regulation, says that requiring actors to use the barrier device adds another layer of protection. He added that the industry is not as forthcoming as they claim to be regarding cases of STDs among their actors. Examples of STDs include chlamydia, HIV, and gonorrhea.

Kenslea said:

"The industry is not going to
go away."

A frequent feedback from readers of Medical News Today is that the message of encouraging the use of condoms to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases is undermined by the porn industry, which tends to show people, often in simulated scenes where they have only just met, having unprotected sex. There is growing concern that the underlying message, albeit unintentional, is that unprotected sex with complete strangers is fine.

At the end of 2011, WHO (World Health Organization) reported enormous progress in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Included in the campaign, is promoting the use of condoms, which alongside other measures is having a considerable impact in stemming the spread of the disease. Many believe that the porn industry's disregard for condoms may be damaging present and future progress.

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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