Puritanical Porn Condom Battle Heads to Nevada

Credit: trec_lit / photo on flickr

Having driven porn production out of Los Angeles—or more likely underground—the activist health foundation behind Los Angeles' law mandating condoms in adult films has set its sights on Nevada. They're not even bothering with a ballot initiative this time. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is trying to claim that condomless porn production violates Nevada's occupational safety laws. From the Associated Press:

The organization says the film shows performers engaging in activities that are highly likely to spread potentially infectious materials, in violation of federal OSHA rules the group says require the use of condoms in shoots.

"This new complaint in Nevada is based on the simple fact that they cannot hide from federal law there or anywhere in the U.S.," said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Are workers in Nevada any less entitled to protection from harm than those in California?"

The film, "Vegas Road Trip," was made for a website run by Kink.com. Its CEO, Peter Acworth, called the complaint baseless.

"Current federal regulations make no mention of condoms, and use standards that were developed in the 1990s for hospitals, not porn sets," he said in a statement. "We will continue to work with performers, doctors and regulators to develop protocols that keep sets safe, and still respect performers' rights."

But, as Elizabeth Nolan Brown reminded us all recently, the way that porn companies operate their sets and manage their actors actually makes it extremely unlikely that the actors are spreading HIV or disease.

A spokesman for Kink.com says Weinstein's behavior is retaliation for their activism in California against the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's condom push.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has other troubles in California. It's suing San Francisco because it has gotten caught up in their anti-retail chain planning regulations while trying to relocate their pharmacy. According to The Bay Area Reporter, the foundation (whose revenues are in the hundreds of millions) is being evicted from their current location for not paying rent. They've also been accused of overbilling Los Angeles County by $3.5 million for services and the county wants it back. They are accusing the county of retaliating against them for their public health activism.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Are these the Baptists or the bootleggers?

[UnCivilServant]

They're not offering the same product from a clandestine source, so I'd say they're the religious zealots.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Big church.

[Jerryskids]

Couldn't they be the Jesse Jackson's?

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is concerned for the health and welfare of workers in the porn industry, the porn industry claims that it shares those concerns - but has it ever made a concrete demonstration of its' concern by making a large cash donation to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation?

[Libertarian]

"Driving porn production underground" just sounds naughty, if not crime-against-naturery.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

In a related statement, OSHA officials now insist on having a federal agent on set for every adult entertainment shoot to ensure regulatory standards are being met.

OSHA pledged to monitor busty young babysitters being fucked hard by potbellied, middle-aged men very, very closely.

[PD Scott]

When will the FDA ensure the pizza the pizza boy is delivering is properly cooked? How many pornographic actors have to come down with food poisoning before government finally wakes up and does something about it?

[tarran]

Oh my God!

Reading that article about the Bay Area spat made me want to do to all the parties what John Lovitz did to Andy Dick.

In Monday's statement, AHF President Michael Weinstein cited a letter from Wiener to the appeals board, saying that Wiener had "used his position as a supervisor and chair of the land use committee to pressure the appellate body to postpone our appeal hearing in order to rewrite the rules before our appeal hearing could actually take place."

Weinstein said the supervisor had acted "in a punitive and discriminatory manner specifically and solely targeting AHF ? and in contravention to the guidance regarding the Building Permit application process given to AHF by the city's own planning department."

In an emailed statement Monday, Wiener called the nonprofit's lawsuit "baseless."

"AHF tried to game our formula retail law by tweaking its name and then claiming it wasn't actually formula retail," Wiener said. "Under AHF's approach, any chain store could come into San Francisco, tweak its name, and claim that it isn't formula retail. A broad coalition of HIV service providers and neighborhood groups came together to oppose this tactic. ... I stand by that action to preserve the integrity of our neighborhood-based planning process."

[PapayaSF]

Prog fight!

[End Child Unemployment]

Elizabeth Nolan Brown's article says no HIV transmission on set in the last decade. I don't know if it has been conclusively established or not, but there is evidence that performer Cameron Bay (formerly of VH1 Tool Academy) may have contracted HIV on set:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....44401.html

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

She got HIV from her boyfriend, who was a porn star and also worked as a gay escort. Can't remember his name.

[End Child Unemployment]

You are correct. I had actually read that and forgotten about it.

[Paul.]

You know who else worked as a gay escort?

[chmercier]

Another Puritanical organization that is only after power and money? And they are basically just cash collectors?

I can't say I was surprised.

Yet another "charity" that's acting as a front for behavioral control while keeping most of the money for themselves.

Any internet search shows what these organizations really do, private or government funded. Just check out the RJWF for an example. They're just prohibitionists and nannies acting as a health foundation.

[chmercier]

http://www.rwjf.org/en/our-work.html

[PapayaSF]

Unfortunately, lots of AIDS organizations are more fronts for excusing lack of behavioral control.

We've known how HIV is transmitted for what, nearly 30 years now? And they've spent who knows how many hundreds of millions on education and "awareness." I've had friends die of the disease, but at least they had the excuse of catching it before it was known. It annoys the hell out of me that people are still catching it.

[Warty]

the way that porn companies operate their sets and manage their actors actually makes it extremely unlikely that the actors are spreading HIV or disease.

I've heard it said that everyone in porn gets herpes. And wasn't there some syphilis spread in porn a couple years ago? But still, yes, it's amazing how little dongrot gets spread among porn performers.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

And wasn't there some syphilis spread in porn a couple years ago?

Yup. Aletta Ocean got it. 🙁

[PapayaSF]

June 2013: Porn star 'Mr Marcus' jailed for knowingly exposing co-stars to syphilis and causing outbreak that closed the industry

[poguemahoney]

He should be jailed just for that balnd stupid name. It seems like that would be a part of the fun of being a porn star--the name. Like Anthony Weiner, something like that.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

From the Huffpo link above:
"Former performer Derrick Burts said he became infected with HIV in 2010 working as a porn performer. Burts said that, like Bay, he had only worked in the industry for a few months before contracting HIV. In his four-month porn career, he said, he contracted chlamydia, gonorrhea and herpes as well."

I guess it depends a lot on what shoots you do and who you work with.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

OT - Is there some kind of auto-loading (not auto-playing) video on reason.com/blog ? My internet connection is going crazy on the main page.

[UnCivilServant]

I keep getting requests from the WaPo to set cookies when I load H&R today. I think it's from the same video.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

I brought up Task Manager, checked the Networking tab, and Bytes Per Interval was close to 5,000,000. And that was with the main page supposedly already finished loading.

Fix that shit, Reason.

(No WaPo cookie requests, though.)

[UnCivilServant]

I have my browser on 'paranoid' where I have to confirm all cookie requests unless I have explicitly set a given site to allow or deny.

[BakedPenguin]

Been in touch with the powers that be on this. They are aware of it.

[PM]

Considering the typical enforcement of OSHA regulations in Nevada, I'd be really surprised if this goes anywhere. Especially if the porn producers will play ball and grease some palms. During the building boom you could have your illegal immigrant roofers tapdancing on top of a 4 story house with no safety harness and nobody gave a shit.