The bill to require condoms in adult films seems to have divided the California Assembly’s Democratic members from the San Fernando Valley, the unofficial capital of the porn industry.
When AB 1576, by Isadore Hall, D-Compton, passed the Assembly on Wednesday, Raul Bocanegra, D-Arleta, and Mike Gatto, D-Burbank, voted for it. Matt Dababneh, D-Van Nuys, and Adrin Nazarian, D-Van Nuys, effectively opposed it by abstaining from voting.
Assemblymember Isadore Hall (D-AHF)
Ironically, Bocanegra and Gatto are the authors of legislation that would increase tax credits to (non-porn) movie and TV producers to try to reverse the entertainment industry’s flight to other states and countries.
Fear that the condom requirements would cause the adult entertainment industry to flee Southern California — where it is a significant contributor to the economy — is one reason the editorial board has opposed these laws. That and the belief that condom-free pornography does not present a serious public-health hazard.
After Los Angeles County voters approved condom laws through Measure B in November 2012, we called on local elected officials to try to limit the economic damage. The editorial was headlined “Stand up for porn.”
As proponents try to take the L.A. County law statewide, there’s still a chance for San Fernando Valley representatives to lead the opposition when AB 1576 goes to the state Senate. They include two Democrats, Fran Pavley of Calabasas and Alex Padilla of Van Nuys, and a Republican, Steve Knight of Santa Clarita.
The adult-film industry has vowed to fight any statewide condom law on First Amendment grounds.
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Very interesting that Mike Gallo, who was mostly responsible for tabling Hall’s efforts last year on Constitutional concerns, turned around and voted for this latest effort. Did his voice leave him, or did AHF money turn him around?
Also fascinating is that some Democrats abstained from voting. Is AHF’s bank that big that it can silence opponents? Or, as I have argued repeatedly, the current approach of the opposition by appealing only to economic conservatism simply not working, and that a new approach is needed to turn the Senate?