AHF: LA County Passes the Buck on Condoms in Porn

County Adds to Growing List of Responsibilities Protecting the Public Health it chooses to Shirk; AHF Vows to Continue Efforts for Adult Film Worker Safety to Stop Spread of STDs, including HIV

By: AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Los Angeles, CA - February 3, 2010

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a media availability Wednesday, February 3rd all day to blast Los Angeles County officials including Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky for passing the buck during today’s Board of Supervisors meeting regarding the County’s responsibility to ensure the safety of adult film workers working on production sets in Los Angeles County by using existing County statutes to require and enforce the use of condoms in porn.

According to a Los Angeles Times article on the meeting (“L.A. County can't require condoms for porn actors, officials say,” 2/02/10 Rong-Gong Lin II)(http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/02/la-county-cant-require-condoms-for-porn-actors-officials-said.html), County health officials stated,

"It is very, very difficult to implement. There are roughly 200 production companies with about...1,200 actors,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the county's public health chief. “All you need is a room and a camera and a bed, basically, to do this kind of shoot, and we have no ability to police this.”

Fielding said that it would be difficult for public health officials to prove if the movies were produced in L.A. County or elsewhere, as producers often do not apply for filming licenses. In a memo to supervisors on Sept. 17, health officials warned such an effort would be costly, as the public health department would need to identify filming sites and monitor compliance, which would require significant staff time.

“Using Dr. Fielding’s logic, because there are so many unlicensed taco vendors, food carts, and trucks operating throughout Los Angeles, County public health officials shouldn’t really be able to inspect restaurants or hand out the red letter placards grading establishments,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “Plain and simple: the County is passing the buck on protecting adult film workers and in doing so is shirking its responsibility to protect the greater public health as well.”