California's Prop 60 Calls for Condoms in Porn

California voters are set to decide in November whether porn actors should have to wear condoms in films made in the state. Many in the porn industry are fighting the idea.

The proposal, known as Proposition 60, is being pushed by the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has spent more than $1.8 million to back the measure, according to data from the secretary of state's office.

AHF was behind a similar law that passed in Los Angeles County in 2012.

Among other provisions, the measure would require porn actors to use condoms when they're filming scenes depicting sexual intercourse. It would also allow any California resident who complains to the California Department of Industrial Relations' Division of Occupational Safety and Health about a suspected violation to potentially file a civil action against an actor if he has a financial interest in the film and if the agency doesn't start an investigation within a certain time period.
Queer porn performer Siouxsie Q

A performer who goes by the name Siouxsie Q and identifies as queer said, "Prop 60 would take us backward. "Incentivizing harassment of an already marginalized workforce is wrong. You wouldn't do it for any other industry."

She said AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein hasn't met with the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee to discuss the issues.

"The proponents don't want to talk to the people that it will actually affect, and that's weird," she said.

Brad Hertz, an attorney representing the Prop 60 campaign, said health care is AHF's mission, "specifically in the HIV and sexually transmitted disease area," and the nonprofit feels "this is an important part" of the porn community, "which unfortunately has too many sexually transmitted infections."

He didn't point to specific statistics but said the diseases are "easily preventable."

Hertz said the measure's lawsuit provision only applies "in the limited cases where CalOSHA fails to act," and if a private citizen sues and prevails, "75 percent of any fines would go to the state, with only 25 percent going to the plaintiff."

He also said that state and federal law already mandates condoms be worn in porn, but Prop 60 is needed because current regulations "are not being enforced."

"We don't see this parade of horribles happening if the measure passes," Hertz said.

Cybernet Entertainment - better known as San Francisco's Kink.com porn studio - has spent thousands of dollars opposing Prop 60, state data show.

Mike Stabile, spokesman for Kink.com and the porn workers' group Free Speech Coalition, said, "The people who are writing this legislation are not familiar with the community. They've drafted legislation that doesn't make sense to anyone working in the industry."

Performers should be able to choose whether to use condoms, Stabile said.

"Condoms work for some performers," he said. "They do not work for all performers."

Condoms are "much less reliable" on porn sets than they are in private use, since they're more likely to break or come off during shoots that can last for a couple hours, he said.

Performers tend to prefer a system where they're tested every two weeks for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, Stabile said.

They "can ask for a condom at any time, for any reason," he noted.

Referring to the provision allowing people to sue people with a financial interest in porn, Stabile said that what Prop 60's backers "don't understand about the way the industry works now is that most adult performers are producers." Many perform on webcams or run their own websites.

"At this point, the vast majority of performers have a financial interest in their films," he said.

Prop 60's proponents should "work with the stakeholders," added Stabile, and listen to what performers are most concerned about.

"Some performers always use condoms," he said. "Some never do."

Using a "one size fits all" approach "disempowers people, and you get bad health outcomes," Stabile said. "If it doesn't work for them, they're not going to do it."

SFAF Raises Objections

In an email to the Bay Area Reporter , San Francisco AIDS Foundation spokesman Chris Richey said the nonprofit "strongly supports safer sex practices in the adult film industry, and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is currently in the process of updating existing regulations together with the adult film industry to reflect scientific advances and needs of the workers."

However, Richey said, SFAF is opposed to Prop 60 because, among other concerns, "it will not protect adult film performers as intended. Instead, it will allow any California resident to file lawsuits against performers and anyone else with a financial interest in an adult production. This measure also completely ignores recent developments in HIV biomedical prevention," including PrEP.

"Efforts to update safety protocols in the industry should be a collaborative process that includes public health experts, state regulatory agencies, producers, and performers," he said. "San Francisco AIDS Foundation remains committed to working jointly with all groups to ensure the health and safety of all those who are involved in the production of adult films in California."

Antonio Biaggi, a gay porn star who's known for not using condoms and who's work has been featured by the San Francisco-based Treasure Island Media, said in an email exchange, "Nowadays with PrEP and many other measures that we can take, it is stupid that they still think that condoms will protect people from any health issue," since even with condoms it's still possible to contract an STD.

Biaggi, who lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and doesn't currently work in California, owns a website - www.biaggivideos.com - that's "100 percent bareback."

In its review of the proposal, the state Legislative Analyst's Office said that if Prop 60 becomes law, "Some parts of the adult film industry would comply with the measure while others might choose to relocate outside of California. It is also possible some adult film producers would try to evade state and local law enforcement while continuing to make films here. Adult film wages and business income in California would likely decline and, as a result, the measure would likely reduce state and local tax revenues by several million dollars per year."

Although the analysis found, "The measure could also result in fewer transmissions of STIs, which could somewhat reduce state or local costs for publicly funded health programs," it nonetheless concluded that, "Overall, the net effect on publicly funded health and social services programs probably would be minor."

Hertz acknowledged, should Prop 60 pass, "there could be some adverse fiscal effect," but he said the risk "is overstated."