An amazing debate on NPR today.
Listen to the audio HERE
Download the audio HERE
Anti-porn moralists masquerading as public health advocates are again raising concerns about the adult film industry, after two male performers were found to have contracted HIV, one of them most likely after a film shoot in Nevada that took place in September 2014.
To use or not to use: Condom usage in the adult film business is mandated in Los Angeles, and AIDS Healthcare Foundation is obsessively pushing for this to be an industry-wide law. The Free Speech Coalition, others in the adult film world, and sex worker advocacy groups maintain that condoms don’t necessarily protect the actors’ safety more than regular testing, and that wearing one should be the choice of the performers..
After the 2012 Measure B passed in Los Angeles County that requires actors to wear condoms while filming, the industry plummeted. As a close neighbor that doesn’t have such a law in place, Nevada became a likely candidate for the adult film industry to relocate.
But incidents like the one in September question the film industry’s standards of testing for sexually transmitted infections, even though officials from the Free Speech Coalition say the shoot in question did not adhere to the normal protocol.
An industry-wide moratorium was called after the infection was discovered, asking that all adult film companies cease filming until everyone who might have possibly been effected can be contacted.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit organization responsible for promoting the passage of Measure B, would like to see similar condom legislation enforced in Nevada and other states where adult filming takes place. The Free Speech Coalition, however, maintains that condoms don’t necessarily keep the actors any more safe than the testing standards already in place. They also say it should be the performer’s choice on whether or not to wear a condom, not mandated by a law.
A federal court ruled last year that requiring actors to wear condoms in Los Angeles does not violate the industry’s right to free speech, after an adult film company appealed the mandate. That litigation is still ongoing.
GUESTS
Diane Duke, CEO, Free Speech Coalition
Lorelei Lee, adult film performer and director, member of Adult Performer Advocacy Committee
Adam Cohen, public health consultant, AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Aurora Snow, former adult film performer, writer
Source
