Condoms Required in Porn, Measure Approved by L.A. City Council

UPDATE 1/18: The Los Angeles City Council gave final approval on Jan. 17, voting 9 to 1 in favor of the measure. Our original article, which was published on Jan. 11, is below.

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On Jan. 10, the Los Angeles City Council voted 11 to 1 in favor of a measure that requires condom use in adult movie filming and mandates that film companies pay a fee to cover enforcement and inspection costs. The move is preliminary -- the council will vote again next week to make the measure final.

The issue came up for vote because the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) collected more than 70,000 signatures, well above the 41,000 needed for a decision from the city council or a public ballot. A public ballot election was scheduled for June, but when officials decided its $4 million price tag was too high, the council decided to vote on it instead.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

The council also voted to convene a group of representatives from the Los Angeles Police Department, city attorney's office and state's workplace safety agency to study the ordinance and make recommendations regarding implementation.

Among those speaking in support of the proposal Tuesday was 25-year-old Derrick Burts, a former adult film star who said he contracted HIV/AIDS and several other sexually transmitted diseases in 2010 after less than five months working in the adult film industry.

Burts said porn producers don't want performers to wear protection because sex without condoms "is part of the fantasy." He said producers care more about profits than the performers' health.

While AHF has taken on this issue for years, it gained traction last year when the porn industry in the Los Angeles area temporarily shut down after one of its actors tested positive for HIV. He later retested negative, but the scare brought to attention the seriousness of HIV and the need for safer sex in adult filming.

But not everybody is in favor of condoms being required on adult film sets. According to the Los Angeles Times, "… [A]nother actor, Nina Hartley, decried Tuesday's vote, and said the industry already does a good job of regulating actors' health by requiring monthly tests for sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms are uncomfortable, she said, and viewers of pornography aren't looking to adult films for safe-sex education. 'We are an entertainment medium and it's not our job to give safe-sex messages to the public,' she said."

In addition to this particular measure, the AHF is pushing for a similar ballot measure for all of Los Angeles County.

Do you believe that adult film actors should be forced to wear condoms while working?

Warren Tong is the research editor for TheBody.com and TheBodyPRO.com.

Follow Warren on Twitter: @WarrenAtTheBody.

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