Condoms-in-porn L.A. ballot initiative petition effort underway

Adult film performers would be required to use condoms to obtain Los Angeles city film permits under a measure local AIDS activists hope to put on the city’s June 2012 ballot, activists announced Monday.

Activists must submit a petition with at least 41,138 qualifying signatures (15% of all votes cast in the last mayoral election) by Dec. 23 in order to place the measure on the June ballot, city election officials said. If they succeed, it will be the first time the issue — which has been litigated and disputed during state regulatory meetings — has come before L.A. voters.

The Times discussed the petition drive with three leading proponents Monday: Michael Weinstein, president of the Los Angeles-based nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and former porn performers-turned-activists Derrick Burts and Darren James, who both contracted HIV while working in adult films.

Q: Why do you think we need a ballot measure requiring condom use by adult performers as a condition of adult film permits in Los Angeles?

Weinstein: It’s fair to protect performers the same way we protect workers in non-porn films and other workplaces. There’s been a lot of squabbling about whose responsibility it is to enforce these laws. It’s our belief that the city, the county, the state and the federal government have different jurisdictions as it relates to this. The county department of public health is responsible for controlling disease in the community, and the city has the ability to control zoning and issuing permits.

Q: What are the risks of not mandating condoms in porn now?

Burts: My first month I came up with three STDs in a short period of time. I have herpes and that’s something I have forever. It’s not just HIV. My agent told me, when I told him I had herpes, "Well, you might as well continue doing porn, because everybody has it." That’s the mindset. They don’t care about the safety of performers.

James: It’s just business as usual. When I tell people my story, they always say “You mean you don’t use condoms?” We think by using a test you’re covered, but that’s false. That’s after the fact. It’s just more stuff that’s exposed about how the industry is portrayed. It’s just an open gun waiting to go off for the next person. A lot of people are left in the dark about what goes on in this industry.

Q: Have you tried to gather signatures before in Los Angeles for similar ballot measures?

Weinstein: This is the first time. We were naïve enough to believe the government has to do the work of protecting public health. This should not have to be taken to the ballot box.

Q: Didn’t the Los Angeles City Council consider the issue earlier this year?

Weinstein: They deflected responsibility to the state. This has been the hot potato we have been dealing with for years. Since we couldn't get the City Council to act, we have decided to take it directly to the people of Los Angeles.

Q: What have state and county regulators told you?

Weinstein: I think that Cal-OSHA is doing a bang-up job. They have cited these companies and made it abundantly clear that the law is that you must use condoms in the making of these films, and they have expressed their intent to come up with rules as to health and safety in these films.

The county said that the state should handle it and there should be a law passed by the state Legislature. We haven’t been able to find one legislator in five years willing to carry this legislation. The lack of spine by legislators and their unwillingness to treat these performers as people is incredible.

Q: What do you say to members of the porn industry who say condoms are not needed because they already have STD testing?

 

Burts: Testing only notifies you of what you have or don’t have already. There’s still a large time gap where you can catch an STD and spread it. The real protection comes from wearing the condoms. Testing isn’t required. They should be following the law. On top of that, they should also do the testing.