Porn Filming Moratorium Ordered After Positive HIV Test
A moratorium on porn filming was issued by officials after a performer tested positive for HIV. The performer who tested positive was not immediately identified by officials.
The moratorium will last until the risk of transmission for the deadly precursor to AIDS has been eliminated. Because initial tests may not always be correct, the ban on filming could last for up to three months.
Meanwhile, all of the actor’s sex partners are being tested by doctors with the Adult Production Health and Safety Services, reports USA Today.
Diane Duke executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, an industry trade group, commented that the actor is not believed to have gotten HIV on a film set.
Opponents of the porn industry quickly expressed their criticism over the positive HIV test, including Michael Weinstein. Weinstein’s group the AIDS Healthcare Foundation successfully lobbied last year to have voters pass a law requiring porn actors to wear condoms while making most porn films.
The Washington Post notes that Weinstein wondered how many performers would be infected with STDs, including HIV, “before the porn industry actually complies with the law requiring condom use.”
The industry is fighting the condom requirement in Los Angeles courts, saying that its audience doesn’t want to see condoms. However, they were dealt a blow last week when a judge ruled the law was constitutional. Industry officials promised to appeal.
The ordinance has been officially adopted and officials in the country have said they are investigating one violation so far. It is likely that there have been several others.
Assemblyman Isadore Hall III commented that Wednesday’s news was “devastating and preventable.” He is currently pushing for the state to adopt a similar law.
This isn’t the first porn filming moratorium for the industry recently. A similar order was issued last year after more than a dozen performers tested positive for syphilis. Despite the positive HIV test, it is unlikely the porn film industry will require actors to wear condoms.
[Image via ShutterStock]
