Early last year, the City Council adopted the ‘City of Los Angeles Safer Sex In The Adult Film Industry Act,’ which conditioned the issuance of City of Los Angeles film permits to adult film producers to condom use in the subsequent adult films shot and produced in Los Angeles. AHF had first introduced the item as a proposed City ballot measure; however, City Council—anticipating that the measure would likely have passed—voted instead, as permitted by law, to adopt that measure outright in an 11 to 1 vote.
“We thank City Council for their unanimous vote to formally tie the distribution of adult film permits issued by the City to those producers who also show proof of holding a County public health permit, as required under County Measure B,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “Today’s vote directs the City Attorney to amend its own adult film permitting ordinance and prepare a new ordinance for a final vote in the future, although an exact time was not stipulated. A separate vote was also taken to instruct City officials to prepare a motion to adopt the provisions in County Measure B, the condoms in porn measure. These actions bring us a step closer to getting the City and County measures fully up and running and should go a long way improve health and safety among adult film performers.”
In the meeting, The City Council directed the office of the Chief Administrative Officer to 1) update the film permit process to also include the requirement of a County Health public health permit; 2) to amend the City ordinance to reflect the above change; 3) Adopt the County ordinance; 4) Report back on mechanisms of enforcement; and 5) Report back on a method of data collection through the City’s contract with Film LA. During the discussion of the item, Council Members Bill Rosendahl, Paul Koretz and Herb Wesson spoke about the issue.
Both the City and County measures were initially spearheaded by AHF and members of the advocacy group, FAIR (‘For Adult Industry Responsibility’), after as many as 22 HIV infections believed to be industry-related were reported in several outbreaks in Los Angeles since 2004, and amidst thousands of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occurring annually among adult performers.
