LOS ANGELES — The LA Commission on HIV voted unanimously to recommend opposition to the controversial Safer Sex in Adult Film Act, to the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors. The so-called Safer Sex in Adult Film Act would allow private citizens to file lawsuits against adult performers and other industry workers if a condom is not visible in a finished adult film.
In testimony recommending opposition, commission members cited key flaws of the initiative, which could make it dangerous to performers, including:
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a lawsuit enforcement provision that allows private citizens to harass adult performers
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the risk of driving a legal industry underground, where production would become less safe
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poor safeguards for performer health and safety
Performers joined the Commission in opposition, and testified passionately against the initiative at this week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, explaining how the initiative would leave adult performers, including those members of the LGBTQ community, vulnerable to lawsuits, outing, extortion and other forms of harassment. Leading performer group APAC (Adult Performer Advocacy Committee) has already formally opposed the measure. The controversial ballot initiative has been opposed by leading HIV and AIDS advocacy groups, as well as a bipartisan political coalition, including the San Francisco Democrats, the California Republican Party and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA).
Karen Tynan, an attorney and a member of Californians Against Worker Harassment, a committee opposing the ballot measure, says the proposed Act would create dangerous working environment for performers.
“This measure would not result safer sets, but instead would push a legal industry underground and out-of-state, and performers into the shadows. This initiative is not about protecting adult workers, it’s about one man’s inexplicable crusade to control the content of adult film.” She noted that a similar Los Angeles ballot measure in 2012 resulted in a 95% drop in adult film permits.
Performers are tested every fourteen days for a complete panel of STIs, including HIV. There has not been a single transmission of HIV on a regulated adult film set since 2004, when comprehensive testing protocols were introduced.
CONTACT:
Mike Stabile
Communications Director, Free Speech Coalition
818.650.1973
Paid for by Californians Against Worker Harassment, sponsored by the Free Speech Coalition
