Information from a well-placed source indicates that one or more employees of Cal/OSHA have posted pseudonymously on adult industry websites and boards to propagandize the issue of condoms in adult films – in support of the position of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF).

The Cal/OSHA Standards Board, which adopts safety and health standards, has been drafting proposed changes to the California Health Code section dealing with transmission of potentially infectious materials during the production of adult movies.

This process was undertaken in response to the efforts of AHF president Michael Weinstein, who has waged a relentless campaign against the adult industry since 2009 under the guise of “protecting” performers and the public health.

Weinstein has also claimed that porn without condoms sends the wrong message, thus doing a terrible disservice to society.

Most industry watchers observe that Cal/OSHA leaders seemed happy to stay out of the matter for decades, and allow the porn industry to go on its merry way, until AHF forced the issue via legal maneuvers that included the filing of numerous complaints which Cal/OSHA was legally required to investigate.

AHF’s crusade also led to the destruction of the Adult Industry Medical (AIM) clinic, which upheld successful performer testing protocols since the industry moved to self-regulate in 1998.

According to adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition (FSC):

“Weinstein’s grandstanding on the condom issue is groundless – using provocative language like ‘epidemic’ and quoting statistics that have proven to be inaccurate Weinstein has politicized the issue of mandatory condom use while alienating the industry he claims to [want to] protect.”

FSC has been endeavoring to work with the Standards Board to develop new, industry-appropriate regulations to replace those haphazardly applied to the adult industry years ago absent any consultation with industry leaders. But many observers within the adult community have long believed that the fix is in.

This view was bolstered by the recent leak of a cache of AHF emails that seem to indicate a cozy relationship between AHF and Cal/OSHA officials.

The emails include references to Cal/OSHA records being sent to AHF, as well as apparent assurances by OSHA leaders that the process was tilted in favor of AHF’s agenda.

A May 24, 2011 email, from AHF attorney Brian Chase to Weinstein, indicates that, while Senior Safety Engineer Deborah Gold and attorney Amy Martin, confided they were “not at all happy about” a motion made by L.A. councilman Richard Alarcon that sought to create a mechanism of local enforcement for workplace standards for porn, the two Cal/OSHA leaders nonetheless “confirmed that the new Chief [Ellen Widess] is onboard with adding a specific [Cal/OSHA] regulation requiring condoms in the production of adult films.”

Weinstein then asked, “Will Jim Clark be the attorney for Cal/OSHA? If so we may have to educate him on the employer/employee relationship between performers and producers.”

If the latest reports are true, elements within Cal/OSHA have already made up their mind about what’s best for the porn industry, and have taken to porn news and gossip sites to spread pro-AHF rhetoric.

This is a list of the Cal/OSHA employees reputedly involved with the process and the various appeals by adult producers:

• David Beales
• Krisann Chasarik
• James Clark
• Joel Foss
• Dean Fryer
• Deborah Gold
• Amit Gupta
• Marley Hart
• Geroge Hauptman
• Bill Jackson
• Kari Johnson
• Jack Kastorff
• Kim Knudsen
• John MacLoed
• Mike Manieri
• Amy Martin
• Leslie Matsuoka
• Mike Mendoza
• Hank McDermott
• Tom Mitchell
• Erika Monterroza
• Gene Murphy
• Bernie Osburn
• Guy Prescott
• Peter Riley
• Steve Smith
• Tuyet-Van T. Tran
• Dave Thomas
• Willie Washington
• Ellen Widess
• Chris Witte
• Kathryn Woods

Will the real anti-porn industry propagandist(s) in sheep’s clothing please stand up?

Or will he/she/they have to be outed?