Measure B, also known as the County of Los Angeles Safer Sex In the Adult Film Industry Act, is the law that requires the use of condoms in all vaginal and anal sex scenes in pornography productions filmed in Los Angeles County, California. The measure also requires porn production companies to obtain a health permit prior to production and to post the permit and a notice to performers regarding condom use during production. All individuals involved will also be required to pay $1,600 every 2 years.
The measure was put to the voters in November 2012 and passed with 57% of the vote. The substance of the law was upheld on appeal in 2014.
History
In 2009 similar legislation was introduced at the State level. Citing an HIV positive test for a performer in May of that year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors sought to find a sponsor for a bill to mandate condom use in adult films. They had originally approved a resolution to seek legislation in October 2008, and made it part of their official state legislative agenda in December. The primary testing center at the time was the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation (AIM). Prior to this, in 2004, there were several related cases of HIV positive tests reported. Of the twenty-two reported cases roughly half were among men who work in gay films, while the rest were both men and women working in heterosexual productions.
Measure B was voted on November 6, 2012, and passed with 55.9% of the vote.
Campaign
Support
In 2012 proponents gathered 372,000 voter signatures through a citizens' initiative in Los Angeles County to put Measure B on the 2012 ballot. Supporters of Measure B said it would stop the spread of STDs in the porn industry and protect tax dollars.
Supporters included porn performer Aurora Snow, Jenna Jameson, Pink Cross Foundation, and Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Weinstein claims that according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, "thousands of performers have been infected with thousands of STDs over the last few years."
Opposition
The No On Government Waste Committee opposed Measure B claiming it would waste tax-payer money and drive the porn industry out of the state. It said that it was supported in its opposition by the Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women, Los Angeles County Republican and Libertarian Parties, and the Log Cabin Republicans of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News both editorialized in opposition to Measure B.
Opponents include porn performers Kayden Kross, Ava Addams, Ron Jeremy, Tera Patrick and Tanya Tate.
Tate was quoted in a San Fernando Valley Business Journal article to the effect that she would want whomever she decided to have sex with "to get tested until I felt comfortable to sleep with them without a condom," adding that AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein (who the article was about), "should be spending money on treating [AIDS] and educating regular people about how to protect themselves instead of going after a small community that is aware of the risks."
Pornographic actress Nina Hartley, who has a degree in nursing, said: "Shooting scenes with condoms are noticeably more uncomfortable." She said they cause friction burns vaginally and anally, that they slip off and rip, and that they get stuck inside. "They aren't built to withstand our shoots," she said. Stoya, another female performer in adult films, said, "If you condense the amount of time we were actually having sex, it probably added up to almost four to five hours."
After effects
Technical opposition
In January 2014, Falcon Entertainment countered the ban after its passing by using post-production editing to remove the condoms from footage in its film California Dreamin' 1; the edits were intentional, as the film was intended to reflect the "carefree and spontaneous" style of the 1970s and 80s.
The financial and technical viability of this was challenged by an expert in videography in 2009. Axel Braun, in his experience as a director and the owner of the post-production company Level 5 Post, reiterated this in 2014.