Porn performers Jessica Drake and James Deen are hoping to raise awareness — and possibly other things — with a new political ad that protests a controversial condom-only porn measure on the ballot in Los Angeles.
Under Measure B adult film producers must obtain a health permit before filming and performers must use condoms while engaged in sex. It also calls for health officials to be on working sets.
Violators would be subject to fines and criminal charges.
The measure is arousing the ire of porn performers like Deen and Drake who have filmed a satirical public service announcement depicting future porn, wherein sex workers perform with safety goggles and protective headgear while getting down to business.
The climax of the porn film PSA is when Deen almost chokes on a dental dam.
Deen appreciates the importance of promoting safe sex, but he argues that the proposed measures could screw the industry financially.
“In 1998, the industry went condom only [for a brief time],” he told The Huffington Post. “Business dropped 25 to 30 percent. America isn’t the only place that makes porn. It’s a competitive issue and consumers don’t buy condom-only porn.”
The condom-only policy in 1998 was rolled back.
Deen said the industry now does a good job policing itself with rules that requires performers to get tested every 14 to 28 days “so far beyond what other industries are doing.”
“No other population is tested more frequently except convicts,” he said.
Deen said that the last time a porn performer tested positive for HIV was in 2004.
Earlier this summer, a porn performer named Mr. Marcus became infected with syphilis and caused the whole industry to shut down. Although that would seem to make a case for laws such the one proposed in Measure B, Deen thinks the industry reaction to the outbreak actually proves the current policy is working.
“What other industry shuts itself down if there’s a scare?” he said. “McDonald’s doesn’t shut down if someone gets sick from a hamburger. The NFL knows the head gear is not designed to withstand the concussions suffered by players, but it doesn’t shut down.”
Drake believes the outbreak showed that the system for containment and tracking exposures worked, but adds that “crisis is opportunity for growth and change” and the testing has become more rigorous since then.
Drake considers herself a unique spokeswoman for the No On B campaign she is under contract to Wicked Pictures, which makes condoms mandatory for all films.
She admits the policy has hurt the company’s bottom line the way that Deen suggests, but the company thrives, in part, because there is a niche for films that use condoms.
However, if the measure passes, all porn sets will have to have health inspectors on set to ensure that condoms are being used.
“We’re not mocking safe sex,” she told HuffPost. “But we want to show that things will definitely change.”
An earlier, less satirical ad featuring Ron Jeremy and Tera Patrick suggested that passage of measure B could lead to porn companies closing down shop in Los Angeles and moving to places without condom-only rules, which would result in the loss of a $20 billion industry and 10,000 jobs.
Most of the porn industry is against the measure, as are media outlets like the Los Angeles Times, but some porn stars do support it, such as Aurora Snow.
She recently wrote a piece in The Daily Beast saying the proposed law makes sense, even if it isn’t “sexy.”
“Safety isn’t sexy. Wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle makes me feel like a dork, but I do it because I know what’s at risk if I don’t,” she said. “No one feels or looks sexy wearing a safety hat or knee pads. That’s what the condom is for the porn industry, it’s our safety hat.”
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