Porn Industry Gets Back To Business After HIV Scare

The porn industry is back in business this week after a devastating HIV scare reportedly took down as many as four performers (and yes, last we heard, Sydney Leathers is just fine).

The porn industry slammed the breaks on their entire seedy operation after the industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition placed a moratorium on filming after three actors tested positive for HIV. According to the Los Angeles Times, the group now feels confident that the danger has passed.

Still, the FSC has ordered extra tests for actors 14 days after performing instead of the usual 28, even though they insist that the infected performers didn’t become HIV positive by working on porn sets.

The incident has become a whipping boy for longtime critics of the porn industry’s practices, which some say neglect safety and discourage safe sex. There have been attempts to require condom use on all porn sets, with measures seeing success in some Los Angeles counties.

Porn legend Ron Jeremy has been highly critical of required condom use, saying it “ruins the fantasy.”

But critics point to the recent HIV-related shut down as evidence that the porn industry is not as safe as it claims to be.

“Whether or not [Bay] was infected on set, she performed with HIV between her tests,” AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said last week, referencing adult actress Cameron Bay, who was the first to reveal as HIV positive.

“If you think that Russian roulette is a great way to protect workers, then the present system is perfect,” he mocked.

Do you think that the porn industry should take the safety of its performers more seriously? Should condoms be required in porn?

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