LA porn industry protests new condom requirements

GlobalPost

LOS ANGELES -- Titans of the porn industry are threatning to pull out of Los Angeles after a county-wide ballot measure passed on Tuesday requiring adult film stars to wear condoms on X-rated shoots. 

The "Safer Sex in Adult Films" measure passed with 56 percent of the vote and is intended to stop the spread of sexually transmitted disease by requiring condom use and making porn producers buy public health permits. 

But the adult film industry in California says the new regulations are unnecessary and it has already has a more effective system to curb the spread of diseases, reports ABC News. 

The industry already requires porn actors to have monthly tests for STD’s and HIV. Influential producers point to data from state and local health departments that show a declining rate of HIV/AIDS among residents to show their self-policing system is working, reports NBC Los Angeles.

"The adult industry takes this very seriously. This is how we survive as an industry," Steve Hirsch, who founded porn production company Vivid Entertainment told ABC. "This is how these performers make a living. We're talking about their lives."

Hirsch later told NPR station KPCC that the industry will move to friendlier locations such as Las Vegas and Florida. 

"There is absolutely no way, after this measure is implemented, that any adult company will be able to produce movies in the county of Los Angeles," he said. 

Adult film stars are equally unhappy about the new regulations. Porn superstar Ron Jeremy told the New York Daily News from the set of a porn film in California that viewers don't want to see condoms used in porn. 

They say it ruins the fantasy,” he claimed. “You can’t make a film with rubbers, dental dams and white gloves and think it will sell against a European product that’s natural, hardcore sex.”

“People think they’re doing performers a favor, but the performers don’t want it,” said Jeremy.

ABC News reports that Vivid's Hirsch said his company made condoms mandatory during the mid-2000s and its sales decreased by 30 percent. 

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