The new sex police are as irrational as the old
Adult film industry stakeholders attend a summit at the Sofitel Hotel in Los Angeles on Nov. 8, 2012, where they listen to a panel discussion on the passage of L.A. County’s Measure B, requiring condom use in adult-film production. (Los Angeles Times)
In California, road crews wear safety vests, window washers clip into harnesses and pizza delivery boys must buckle up. Should adult film actors also be forced to use protective gear?
Under newly proposed rules, OSHA, the state agency charged with maintaining safety and health in the workplace, would force adult film actors to use condoms when performing anywhere in the Golden State. (Los Angeles County began mandating condom use in 2012.) The new rules would also require eye protection in some scenes to prevent the transmission of STDs through mucus membranes.
As journalist Michael E. Miller put it: “A handsome delivery man arrives offering more than just a pizza. A pretty young woman opens the door. Flirtation ensues. Clothes are cast off. Then out come the goggles.”
This is good news for goggle fetishists. But porn industry representatives insist that the typical porn consumer doesn’t want his fantasy dulled by any sort of prophylactic and that frequent STD testing — which the industry has mandated since 2004 — offers all the protection that actors need. They also argue that if California keeps imposing new rules, the industry will move to other jurisdictions where there’s less regulation. Indeed, requiring condoms in Los Angeles coincided with a steep decline in the number of permits sought for X-rated productions in the county.
The adult industry has been at odds with state officials before.
If the state outlaws sex on camera without goggles, who knows which of our livelihoods they’ll constrain next?
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