L.A. City Ballot Initiative Launched for Condoms in Porn Effort

Press Conference: Tues. Aug 16^th 10am

Former adult film performers, including two infected with HIV while working in the industry, join advocates from AHF in petition drive for Citywide ballot initiative that will allow voters to weigh in on measure that would tie the issuance of adult film permits by the City to condom use in adult films

AHF and the initiative’s five named proponents to also launch FAIR (For Adult Industry Responsibility), a corresponding campaign to shepherd signature gathering and the entire ballot initiative process

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

WHAT:	PRESS CONFERENCE
	Former adult performers join AHF to launch City of Los Angeles ballot initiative for condoms in porn effort tying adult film permits issued by the City to condom use in adult films
WHEN:	TUESDAY, August 16^th2011—-10:00 AM Pacific
WHERE:	Sheraton Universal Hotel
	Starview Room (21^st Floor)
	333 Universal Hollywood Drive
	Universal City, CA 91608
WHO:	Darren James, former adult performer who contracted HIV while working in the industry
	Derrick Burts, former adult performer who contracted HIV while working in the industry
	Shelley Lubben, former adult entertainment actress and founder of Pink Cross Foundation
	Jan (Meza) Merritt, former adult entertainment actress and member of the Pink Cross Foundation
	Jenni Case, former adult entertainment actress and member of the Pink Cross Foundation
	Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, President
	Brian Chase, Assistant General Counsel, AIDS Healthcare Foundation
CONTACTS:	Ged Kenslea, AHF Dir. of Communications [phone] cell [phone] office
	Lori Yeghiayan, AHF Assoc. Dir. of Communications [phone] cell [phone] office
B-roll:	The Starview Room offers spectacular panoramic views of the San Fernando Valley, home to California’s adult entertainment industry; the room also provides a bird’s eye view of Vivid Entertainment, a large adult film producer and an outspoken opponent of condom use
For reporters unable to attend the press conference in person, there will also be a follow up
WHAT:	TELECONFERENCE
WHEN:	TUESDAY, August 16th 2011—-11:00 AM Pacific
Teleconference Dial in information: +1.877.411.9748 participant code #7931503

As part of its ongoing campaign to require the use of condoms in porn films shot and produced in California in an effort to reduce the spread of STDs including HIV, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) together with five former adult film performers—two of whom contracted HIV while working in the industry—will host a press conference tomorrow, Tuesday, August 16^th at 10:00 AM Pacific at the Universal Sheraton Hotel (Starlight Ballroom, 333 Universal Hollywood Drive, Universal City, 91608) to announce the launch of a City of Los Angeles ballot initiative that would allow Los Angeles voters to weigh in on a measure that would formally condition the issuance of adult film permits by the City of Los Angeles to condom use in adult films shot and produced in Los Angeles, including collection of a fee from adult film permit recipients to allow for periodic inspections of sets in order to monitor for compliance. In addition, the group will formally unveil, ‘For Adult Industry Responsibility’ (FAIR), a campaign that will shepherd signature gathering and support the entire ballot initiative process.

Earlier today, the Los Angeles Times interviewed three supporters of the ballot initiative for its 'L.A. Now' blog. In a blog posting titled 'Condoms-in-porn L.A. ballot initiative petition effort underway,' AHF President Michael Weinstein and Darren James and Derrick Burts, two former adult performers who contracted HIV while working in the industry, spoke at length about the lack of safety in the industry and the need for the ballot measure.

“At present, animals working in film & TV productions in Los Angeles enjoy more safety and health protections than adult film performers do. There are laws and state statutes to protect adult performers—but there is no real enforcement. Fair is fair: these performers deserve the health and safety protections already afforded them under existing law,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation and one of the five named proponents of the ballot initiative. “All levels of government need to be involved in this workplace safety—State, City, County, Federal & local municipal bodies—including in the albeit non-traditional workplaces: the porn sets located throughout the San Fernando Valley that churn out billions of dollars of adult fare each year that violates state health statutes and puts performers at risk. To date, the City of Los Angeles and the City Council have been unwilling or unable to put forth a motion tying adult film permits to condom use in the productions, or County, to enforce state statutes. This is why we have spearheaded this ballot initiative: so the people—the voters in Los Angeles—may decide on this important health and safety issue affecting adult film performers.”

This ordinance will be known as the ‘City of Los Angeles Safer Sex In The Adult Film Industry Act.’ Last Thursday, August 11^th, Arlene P. Taylor, Chief of the Election Division in the City Clerk’s office provided the following preliminary ‘Official Petition Title and Summary’ for the proposed ballot measure as set forth below:

Adult Film Industry; Use of Condoms; Film Permits; Initiative Ordinance.

The proposed ordinance would require any person or entity directly engaged in the creation of adult films who is issued a permit under the authority of the City of Los Angeles (City) for commercial filming of an adult film to maintain engineering and work practice controls, including the provision of and required use of condoms, sufficient to protect employees from exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials consistent with state law. The proposed ordinance also would require that any film permit issued under the authority of the City of Los Angeles (City) for commercial filming of an adult film be conditioned on the compliance with this requirement and include language regarding the obligation to comply with applicable workplace health and safety regulations. The proposed ordinance also would require the City to charge applicants seeking permits for production of adult films a fee sufficient to pay for periodic inspections. The proposed ordinance would amend the Los Angeles City Municipal Code.

“Producers of adult films are required by California Code of Regulations Title 8, Section 5193 to use barrier protection, including condoms, to protect employees during the production of adult films,” said Brian Chase, Assistant General Counsel for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “However, many producers of adult films in Los Angeles consistently violate the worker safety provisions of this Code. In addition, pursuant to Section 12.22(A)(13) of the Los Angeles Planning and Zoning Code, producers of all films within the City of Los Angeles, including adult films, are also required to obtain film permits. Such permits issued may contain conditions ‘consistent with public health, safety and general welfare.’ We believe the city already has the authority to tie film permits to condom use—this ballot measure will allow Los Angeles voters to weigh in and make certain this happens.”

According to the ballot petition language, “The City or any person or entity acting on its behalf to issue or process film permits may charge permittees fees in conjunction with the issuance of film permits. Such fees may include fees to provide for inspectors to ensure compliance with conditions on film permits.”

According to information gleaned from the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office, AHF and members of the ‘For Adult Industry Responsibility’ (FAIR) campaign must gather 41,138 valid City of Los Angeles voter signatures in 120 days in order to qualify the measure, which would then likely appear on the June 2012 election ballot.

AHF is hosting its press conference in conjunction with five former adult film performers including Darren James and Derrick Burts, two male performers who became infected with HIV while working in the adult industry as well as with Shelley Lubben, Jan Meza and Jenni Case, former adult actresses who are now members of the Pink Cross Foundation. The performers will announce their support for the ‘City of Los Angeles Safer Sex In The Adult Film Industry Act.’

“We are honored to be joined today by several former actors in the adult film industry as we continue our push to require the use of condoms in all adult films shot in California,” added AHF’s Weinstein. “As they share their stories today, each will put a compelling human face on the dark side of the industry. Over the past few years, AHF has been spearheading a multi-pronged campaign pressing for condom use in adult films, and we are grateful that these courageous men and women are lending their voices and speaking out on this voter initiative.”

“I was a porn star living the glamorous life. Drug overdoses, herpes, suicide attempts and abuse at the hands of the porn industry,” said Shelley Lubben, former porn actress and founder and president of the Pink Cross Foundation, an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to offering adult industry workers emotional, financial and transitional support for those who want out of the adult industry. “In my time in the industry, I did some very hardcore movies, and only drugs and alcohol could get me through them. I played a crazy game of Russian roulette with my life. The industry did not and still does NOT enforce condom usage, so STDs and HIV were and still are a high risk among porn actors and actresses. While my own life has taken an entirely new and profoundly fulfilling direction and I now work to help performers leave the industry altogether, I wholeheartedly support this ballot initiative that would allow Los Angeles residents and voters to weigh in on tying film permits to condom use in the ongoing production of adult films in California.”

“I was brutalized, traumatized and victimized for a buck by an industry that could care less if I lived or died. I contracted Chlamydia and herpes, which is a non curable STD from my time in the porn industry. The porn industry collectively employs thousands of male and female porn actresses monthly. How much higher then is the risk of getting HIV and other STD’s in a transient industry where you have not only one sexual partner per day, but several or more and condoms are looked at as an unnecessary, negative component of this industry?,” said Jan (Meza) Merritt, former porn actress and member of the Pink Cross Foundation. “Enough is enough! How many more HIV incidents must occur in the adult industry before changes are made once and for all? I fully support the ‘City of Los Angeles Safer Sex In The Adult Film Industry Act’ that will allow Los Angeles voters to weigh in on the safety of those individuals who remain working in the porn industry.”

Background on AHF’s Adult Film Worker Safety Efforts and STD Infections in the Industry

AHF’s move to spearhead this ballot initiative was prompted by two outbreaks of HIV in the industry and an ongoing epidemic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in California’s adult film industry. As part of its ongoing campaign to require the use of condoms in adult films, AHF has undertaken high profile advocacy efforts directly targeting the industry, including key players like Hustler’s founder Larry Flynt and Vivid Entertainment’s Steve Hirsch; it has also publicly pressed Los Angeles County political and health officials to comply with the law as far as legal reporting of HIV and STD cases—including those found among performers in the industry—and to require the use of condoms on film sets in Los Angeles.

In addition, multiple organizations committed to protecting the public health have called for mandatory use of condoms in the production of adult films, including the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the California Conference of Local AIDS Directors, the California STD Controllers Association, the National Coalition of STD Directors, the National Association of City and County Health Officials, AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the California Medical Association.

STDs in the Adult Film Industry in Los Angeles County

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH), workers in the adult film industry are ten times more likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease than members of the population at large. LADPH documented 2,013 individual cases of chlamydia and 965 cases of gonorrhea among workers between the years 2003 and 2007. In the period April 2004 to March 2008 there have been 2,847 STD infections diagnosed among 1,884 performers in the adult industry in LA County. LADPH has also observed that many workers suffer multiple infections, with some performers having four or more separate infections over the course of a year. In addition, LADPH has stated that as many as 25 industry-related cases of HIV have been reported since 2004. County health officials attribute the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases in the porn industry to a lack of protective equipment for partners, including condoms. The agency recommends condoms be used during production, but has never taken steps to ensure their use, or to protect the performers who are essentially required to endanger their health in order to remain employed.

“This is not just about one industry, but about our entire community, as the spread of disease among adult film performers endangers themselves as well as their sexual partners in and outside the industry,” added AHF’s Weinstein. “This is why we are bringing the question directly to voters here in Los Angeles.”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the US’ largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 180,000 individuals in 27 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and the Asia Pacific Region. www.aidshealth.org

The Pink Cross Foundation is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to offering adult industry workers emotional, financial and transitional support for those who want out of the adult industry. www.shelleylubben.com

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