Porn industry may boogie out of L.A. over condom law
Duke says she thinks that other states would welcome the industry. Some have suggested Nevada, which hosts an annual adult film trade show and even has legal brothels in rural areas — although they are regulated and require condoms.
But there may be a legal obstacle to pulling up stakes entirely: Porn generally became legal in California after a 1988 state Supreme Court decision ruling that adult film producers shouldn’t be prosecuted under anti-prostitution laws. Only one other state, New Hampshire, has had a similar court ruling, issued in 2008.
“There are thousands of STDs in this industry,” Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, told Reuters last month. “It’s the ‘ick’ factor. They don’t want to deal with this because it’s sex, and because it’s porn.”
Many people in the adult entertainment industry argued that mandatory condom use would destroy the fantasy associated with pornography.
Nina Hartley, a former porn actress, argued at Tuesday’s meeting that condoms are uncomfortable and the industry already did a good job of regulating the potential spread of disease, according to the Los Angeles Times. And because porn actors are expected to have sex for 30- to 60-minute intervals, they could be susceptible to chafing and open wounds from condoms, which could, in turn, cause more problems in transmitting diseases, she said.
There could also be political resistance in Nevada. As its population has grown and gambling casinos have become parts of major Wall Street-traded entertainment and resort companies, the state has become more economically and socially conservative, said Michael Green, professor of history at the College of Southern Nevada. For instance, he said, Nevada has voted to ban gay marriage and rejected the legalization of marijuana.
“Those are not necessarily the hallmarks of the old libertarian Nevada,” Green said. And noting that government has tried to attract new industries to the state, “diversifying Nevada’s economy by becoming the next Hollywood for porn strikes me as contradictory,” Green said.
Additionally, there is plenty of talent in Los Angeles for the adult industry. Some aspiring actors, videographers and sound engineers who arrive here hoping to break into mainstream movies find their way working in adult films.
Weinstein’s political march, meanwhile, isn’t stopping at City Hall.
The AIDS group is gathering signatures for a November ballot measure that would ask Los Angeles County voters to require condoms when porn companies film in areas regulated by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which has authority over all 88 cities in the county except Pasadena, Long Beach and Vernon.
But at this point, city officials have not determined how they will enforce the new law. They are forming a committee of advisors from the Los Angeles Police Department, the city attorney’s office, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and others.