LOS ANGELES — Adult industry activist and filmmaker Michael Whiteacre has cut a YouTube video in protest of Measure B, the L.A. County ballot initiative that would mandate condom use in adult film productions.
Titled “The Agenda Behind Mandatory Condoms,” the 2-minute PSA alleges that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and its president Michael Weinstein are vested in Measure B’s passing because they are dependent on AIDS funding and profit from the sale of expensive HIV medications.
“I think the average Los Angelino is sick and tired of government run by special interests and, in particular, interest groups that use pandering politicians to promote an agenda that hurts taxpayers,” Whiteacre told XBIZ.
“Michael Weinstein [has] been bestowed with a kind of ‘halo’ by the media: ‘AIDS Advocate.’ Weinstein is, in my view, simply an AIDS profiteer. AHF makes the bulk of its money from its pharmacies, selling costly AIDS drugs.
“AHF gets lots and lots of both government and private funding, so he has an obvious interest in keeping AIDS funding high in this time of shrinking budgets. A law mandating condoms in porn is part of the marketing of AIDS hysteria; it’s nothing more than permanent universal product placement for AIDS fear and hysteria.”
In addition to the PSA, Whiteacre has recruited adult performers to pose for anti-Measure B photos while standing in front of the newest AHF billboards that read “Pornographers Say No on Measure B,” a campaign that Whiteacre finds distasteful.
“[They’re] incredibly offensive in the way they attempt to shame members of the adult industry in much the same way that a religious fundamentalist would refer to ‘homosexuals,’” Whiteacre said. “The fact that this is coming from an organization run by gay men and born out of gay advocacy is startling and offensive.”
Whiteacre says there’s a “three-pronged strategy” for the photographs he’s been taking around town.
“Firstly, I think voters ought to see the faces of the people this ballot measure would hurt — or drive out of the area,” he said. “The adult industry — and all the businesses that provide support services such as food, crafts and costumes — is made up of residents of L.A. County. These are our friends and neighbors.
“AHF is demonizing these people, so we aim to show voters that adult performers are not Typhoid Marys, they’re people who go to work then come home to watch “Breaking Bad” and “South Park” like everybody else. Porn is not just an industry; it’s a community. And it’s an integral part of Los Angeles.
“Second, there are some really attractive and personable people in the adult industry. I think voters will be more receptive to an earnest, heartfelt message presented by charismatic adult performers than the dour victim narrative delivered by rote by paid AHF pitchmen Darren James and Derrick Burts.
“Throw in the PR value of all these performers tweeting these images to their hundreds of thousands of fans, and you have something far more powerful than a stupid billboard.
“Lastly, the photos also set the stage for the upcoming announcement of a door-to-door initiative by adult performers and producers, organized by Adult Wiki Media’s grass roots “No on Measure B” campaign,” Whiteacre continued.
“Performers and industry members will be going from house-to-house and shop-to-shop to hand out informational flyers, and offer yard and window signage during the final weeks preceding the November 6th election.”
