Derrick Burts
In the fall of 2010, Los Angeles’ multibillion dollar adult industry came to a grinding halt. A routine test revealed Derrick Burts was HIV positive, and about a dozen people he had performed with were put on a quarantine list.
Doctors at the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIM) clinic ultimately found Burts’ sexual partners to be free of HIV. They said Burts must have contracted the virus in his personal life, though he maintains he got it from the set.
The case led the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to advocate for condom use in the industry, pointing to the state law requiring barrier protection for workers exposed to blood-borne pathogens.
Studios and producers mostly ignored the legislation. Instead, they relied on self-regulated testing practices, which sees performers heading to the AIM clinic for a checkup every 30 days.
But is this enough to protect adult film actors? A recent L.A. law suggests otherwise.
Earlier this year, the City of L.A. overturned the established standard and since March 5, male performers are legally required to wear a condom while on an adult film set in the city.
To the uninitiated, it might not seem like much. After all, pornographic filmmakers still have outskirts of L.A., not to mention the rest of the state or the country, to make their movies.
But with about 90 per cent of all American adult films made in L.A., the order does affect the industry in small and big ways.
Industry representatives say they are in the business of selling a fantasy, and cannot be seen as practising safe sex. Besides, consumers are particular about their pornography. Some might not want the sight of latex.
“Studios and retailers must listen carefully to what their customers want – from the size of their dildos to the hair colour of the performers,” said Carol Queen, sexologist at Good Vibrations sexshop in San Francisco.
After the law came into effect, porn production company Vivid Entertainment’s Steve Hirsch took to Huffington Post to make his case that the industry’s existing self-regulation practices are sufficient.
He said, “Our performers rightfully demand and expect that everyone is tested and we fully agree,” he said. “Additionally, performers are constantly educated on how to avoid getting HIV and STDs.”
Despite the industry’s faith in their testing practices, the statistics are against them.
In 2004, production came to a halt in the San Fernando Valley when word got out that actor Darren James had spread HIV to three of his female co-stars. In 2009 health officials reported more than a dozen performers tested positive for the AIDs virus. Business came to a halt again last summer when a male performer was incorrectly diagnosed with HIV.
Peter A. Newman, University of Toronto professor and Canada Research Chair in Health and Social Justice, suggests the 2009 L.A. HIV outbreak had something to do with the industry’s distaste for condoms.
”Regular testing in and of itself is not a sufficient strategy,” said Newman, adding that a person may not test positive for HIV if they are in the early stages of infection.
But even if producers do start handing out rubbers on set, there are some groups who say condoms aren’t enough to stop the spread of disease.
At a Cal-OSHA (the state’s occupational health department) meeting last year, health officials suggested performers keep similar health standards as other professionals who work around blood-borne pathogens — other professionals like doctors and nurses.
Industry leaders were appalled at the suggestion, imagining their commercial films becoming public service advertisement for practising safe sex.
“The barrier protection isn’t just condoms it’s dental dams, rubber gloves, goggles,” said Freedom of Speech Coalition attorney Karen Tynan, at the 2011 Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.
“The standard would be like you would see in a nursing home, a hospital or a funeral home.”
Newman said tighter regulations would only push the industry further underground – out of the state or out of the country. Exhibit a. After the law was passed in January, Duke said producers were considering leave the San Fernando Valley en masse for jurisdictions with less stringent regulations.
For the rest, for now, it’s a wait-and-see game.
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Next week’s Business of X-rated series will be an interview with Camile Crimson, founder of The Perfect Blowjob on being a small business owner in the adult entertianment industry.
Elizabeth Hames is on Twitter. Follow her @elizabethhames
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