On The Female Performer Who Tested ‘Positive’ for HIV

An adult talent agency has announced that Cameron Bay is the female performer who tested positive for HIV on Wednesday, August 21st.

According to ATMLA’s Mark Schechter, after testing facility Cutting Edge Testing informed Bay of a fault in the test sample she submitted on Monday, Bay re-rested Tuesday and the result of that second test was reactive for HIV. Per medical and legal guidelines, however, Bay is not officially HIV positive until and unless confirmatory tests verify the same.

Cameron’s last clean test was dated July 27th.

According to Schechter, Cameron came forward on her own, and for this she should be commended. “It’s better for this to come out of my mouth than other people’s,” Bay told Xbiz. Multiple sources also confirm that she is being cooperative with Adult Performer Health & Safety Services (APHSS), ATMLA, and the Licensed Adult Talent Agency Trade Association (LATATA) in terms of identifying her recent sex partners. This is essential in order to successfully perform the generational testing required to ensure proper diagnosis and potential treatment for those who may have been exposed. According to a statement by Diane Duke, CEO of Free Speech Coalition, the group that oversees APHSS, Cameron is not believed to have been infected on an adult production set.

Cameron’s agent states that she re-rested at Talent Testing Services on Wednesday, and the results of this testing will likely be available Thursday. At this hour, however, her status is unconfirmed.

In the meantime, according to Duke, until generational testing shows that “the risk of transmission has been eliminated” on adult sets, a complete production moratorium has been called.

Sex and Privacy in the Age of Twitter

Schechter informed Xbiz today that he believed Bay had been in the industry for about six months. In terms of shooting for professional production companies that utilize tested performers from the LA-based APHSS talent pool, that statement may be accurate. However, Cameron is no newcomer to performing in adult scenes, or other types of sex work.

One-time reality show star Cameron Adams is well known to readers of this site. We first reported on her exploits back in February 2012.

Although she’s switched to the name Cameron Bay for her new professional porn career, she has made no effort to hide her connection to VH1’s Tool Academy – and in fact, it remains her calling card in scenes such as this recent one for Public Disgrace (NSFW)

Pornography, HIV and performer testing are hot-button issues, and a positive test result among the talent pool will inevitably lead to emotional responses – many quite polarized and even cruel.

Regardless of one’s view of the prognosis of those infected with HIV, no one deserves such a diagnosis. That said, there are some people whose actions demonstrate that they have no proper place in the adult performer talent pool.

And now, a disclaimer: Taryn Thomas, an adult performer who Cameron stalked and threatened in the not-so-distant past, is my friend. It was Cameron’s actions toward Taryn that prompted Sean’s two articles about her on this site last year.

Another pervasive reaction to the report of Cameron’s tentative test result was a great deal of grandstanding both by the enemies of the adult business, and those seeking attention at the expense of facts and decency. The former was exemplified by the press statements of the number one enemy of porn, liberty and sexual agency, AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Michael Weinstein, and the latter was best summed up in this tweet from performer Sovereign Syre:

And then there were the leeches. In a stunning bit of irony, Cameron was defended on Twitter today by purported ”sex worker rights” activists.

In their attention-seeking zeal to insert themselves into high-profile stories by coming to the defense of a sex worker, these individuals blithely overlooked the fact that Cameron has threatened a veteran sex worker with violence and gang rape…

 

… and gained entry into that sex worker’s house to vandalize it with feces.

 

Twenty-eight year-old Cameron is, by all accounts, a deeply troubled young woman who needs and deserves compassionate care, especially now. She has a long criminal record, as well as a history of violence, and substance abuse and mental health issues.

As late as this June, the accounted tweeted about being a fugitive from justice.

With so much of this information so very public, and with two articles about her on this site that have garnered views in the low to mid six-digits – one of which mentions that Cameron had “told people she’s headed to LA to work for Shy Love,” one question becomes obvious:

What in the world were the people at ATMLA thinking? — in what universe is Cameron Adams someone who should have ever been on an adult film set?

Rarely are there clear-cut villains, and in this case there’s more than enough blame to go around. Neither Shy Love nor Cameron Adams are callow youth; the problem of nonchalant unaccountability in the world of adult is systemic. However, this situation is often compounded by the criminalization of many types of sex work.

Such laws makes sex workers criminals by fiat, and can criminalize virtually everything prostitutes and other sex workers need to do in order to practice their trade. The choices that remain for sex workers can be extremely dangerous ones. Criminalization of any group or trade can compel its members to rely upon illegal practices and force them to consort with true criminals. This lifestyle can in turn make them less willing to come forward to avail themselves of resources that can help them.

 

 

Prognosis

Regardless of whether Cameron’s tentative HIV-positive diagnosis is confirmed, her life is likely to change dramatically. In her interview with Xbiz Cameron acknowledged that her future “is not necessarily going to be in the porn industry, but I’ll be raising awareness or something of that nature.”

As a community, the family of ‘X’ needs to be changed by these events as well, and come to grips with some real world questions, including: What is the proper standard for due diligence among adult talent agents? Should drug testing or detailed background checks be required for new performers? In a business so dependent upon on intimacy and trust, what are the parameters of a fair compact between all sectors of adult production?

These are dark days for the adult business, but the greatest moments of transformation can often be found at the end of one’s rope. Regardless of the outcome of Cameron’s HIV tests, as a community of workers, and as a confederacy of legitimate business owners, the world of adult production cannot afford to avoid these questions, and adult performers have a right to clear answers.

By Michael Whiteacre