The Bay Area Reporter on the Mandatory Condoms in Porn Bill – Porn Wars: Episode I – #stopAB1576

The next few days are like Custer’s Last Stand for Porn. So…. I hope the following article will make you want to go to www.ab1576.org, where you will be assisted in letting members of the Senate Appropriation Committee know how vociferously you’re against a pending bill that could have drastic effects on the porn industry, along with your personal rights and viewing pleasures.

My article includes some background, some proselytizing, and—hold on to your hats— a major hissy fit from a well-known (but reclusive) bareback producer.

Porn Wars

AB 1576 is the bill that will, among other things, mandate not only the use of condoms in all porn produced within the state of California, but will require the public revelation of the HIV status of all of its performers, gay as well as str8.

“It’s hard, in an election year, for Senators to vote against a bill that looks like a performer protection bill,” explained Kink.com spokesman Michael Stabile.

So the bill has already passed the initial stages of legislation. Several days from now, on Tuesday, August 4, it will face its last hurdle the Appropriations Committee casts the final vote.

The bill was initiated by the American Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which is the largest global AIDS organization, currently providing medical care and services to nearly 230,000 individuals in 32 countries worldwide. In other words, the AHF does a lot of good. The AHF also promotes agendas that are sometimes negligible and even detrimental, like AB 1576.

AHF President Michael Weinstein promotes the bill as “an issue of public health.” But it’s less about protecting performers than making it impossible for the industry to function. There are sex-positive ways that workers in the industry could have their health vouchsafed. AB 1576 is not among them.

Keep reading…