L.A.’s War On Porn

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
In this barely post-recession economy, name a 13 billion dollar industry not courted, cajoled, and coddled by local government. Here’s one: the porn industry. 55.9 percent of the good citizens of Los Angeles County have passed controversial Measure B, requiring  porn actors to wear condoms as they ply their trade. It also requires producers of porn to take a health class and obtain a permit complete with a fee used to hire condom inspectors. (Alert for all of you “health advocates”: Lines are now forming at the LA courthouse to apply for the inspector’s job). Violators of the ordinance would be subject to both civil fines and criminal misdemeanor charges.

Yes on Measure B, sponsored by the Los Angeles Medical Association, has vigorously supported the referendum arguing porn stars have explosively high rates of sexually transmitted diseases. It’s website claims it’s a workplace safety issue. Michael Weinstein, who heads the AIDS Healthcare Foundation argues in a Huffington Post article that the law is needed.

Thousands of performers have been infected with thousands of STDs over the last few years according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Department. That is not a small issue. Porn is the only industry in California where employees are forced to expose themselves to dangerous diseases in order to work. These performers are not disposable.

However, many porn actors have spoken against the measure. “The idea of allowing a government employee to come and examine our genitalia while we’re on set is atrocious,” Amber Lynn, a longtime adult film actress, said at an anti-Measure B rally Sunday in North Hollywood.

And, according to main stream crossover porn star James Deen, the ordinance is discriminatory. “We are much like the homosexual, minority or female populations,” said the actor who stars opposite Lindsay Lohan in mainstream movie, The Canyons. “We are a community of tax-paying and law-abiding voters who are currently being persecuted. But our opinions do matter, and I hope one day we get respect as these previously-stated groups and others have begun to receive,” Deen added.

The porn industry argues the ordinance is unnecessary since it tests its actors for STDs every 14 or 28 days and if the actor doesn’t pass he/she can’t be listed in the industry’s “safe” database. “The adult industry takes this very seriously. This is how we survive as an industry,” said Steve Hirsch, who founded porn production company Vivid Entertainment in 1984 and argues that Measure B is unnecessary. “This is how these performers make a living. We’re talking about their lives.”

Apparently, the public display of sexual protection is a real buzz kill among porn affectinados, so much so, that the industry may be thinking of challenging the law in court on equal protection or First Amendment grounds. The Free Speech Coalition, the adult film industry trade group, has already written a letter to Los Angeles County to say compliance with measure B has “excessive costs,” is unconstitutional and should not fall to local government to decide. The letter said FSC will “challenge this intolerable law in court.”

The industry may have another solution as well – vamoosing.  Asks Deen, “Is it worth it to migrate to Las Vegas, which is said to be welcoming with open arms?Florida, and I believe Arizona as well, said something about wanting the billion-dollar industry. That’s going to be a huge hit to Los Angeles.”

Is this a solution in search of a problem? Does the government have a bona fide interest in inspecting actors’ genitalia for health reasons? Or, may the actors decide for themselves what risks they prefer to take in developing their craft free from the government’s probing eye?

What do you think?

Source: CNN; ABC

~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger