Adult Industry Ecstatic After U.S. Election, But Fears Donald Trump Presidency
The adult industry has been voicing their concerns in the wake of a Donald Trump presidency. The California adult industry has been celebrating after an attempt to make actors wear condoms while filming sex scenes was defeated at the polls during the election last week.
When Californians ended up voting against Proposition 60, they helped an industry based in Los Angeles that has been fleeing to Nevada, Arizona, and other states that don’t require the condom requirements. Los Angeles has noticed a significant drop in on-location adult permit requests in the past four years, according to the Los Angeles Times. It received a 95 percent decrease in permits following a separate 2012 measure to require condoms, according to county permit data.
“The industry is moving back to L.A. – unquestionably,” revealed Vivid Entertainment founder and co-chairman Steven Hirsch. “The business has changed and has downsized. But you’ll see the vast percentage coming back to L.A.”
The ruling was defeated by a landslide vote of 53.9 percent to 46.1 percent margin. If Proposition 60 had been passed, actors would have been subject to criminal charges for not wearing condoms on set. As the law still stands, people working in the adult entertainment industry will still have to get tested for HIV every 10 days. The results, along with their personal information, is kept in a private database.
“Last night’s vote goes to prove that elections are about more than money,” Hirsch commented on Tuesday’s night election. “They are about mandates and voters saw right through this one.”
Michael Weinstein, the president of the Aids Healthcare Foundation, argued that the law was all about protecting the adult performers, reports the Daily Mail. Opponents have argued that adult actors should wear condoms on set to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDs, HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis, or the human papillomavirus. Adult entertainment stars have argued that wearing condoms would make their personal information public knowledge.
“Many young people get their information from these films, and the message they get is that the only hot sex is unsafe sex.”
After the victorious defeat of Prop 60, adult entertainment actors fear for their livelihoods under Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Pence. The Republican Party has branded the adult entertainment industry as a “public health crisis” and “public menace” that has ruined millions of lives. Adult agent Tee Real of Ideal Image Models told the Daily Beast that he’s concerned about the future of censorship and regulations aimed at the adult entertainment industry.
“I deal with models who are fighting battles on a consistent basis, whether it’s vicious cyberbullying or threats they feel they have no legal defense against or nationalized banks that cancel their accounts based solely on their line of work. There was hope that we’d elect a president who would spearhead and support legislation to change this… but Trump is a man who has isolated millions of people based on race, gender, religion, and economics.”
Nina Hartley has called Trump’s win a “disaster.” The legendary adult star says that it’s a huge setback for society and politics and adds that it’s the “worst thing I can think of since the Depression.”
“Trump may be president, but we still have the Constitution,” she lamented.
Venus Lux, an adult film star who has confessed to being “part-Republican,” is hesitant about joining this new crop of Republicans. Venus is worried that Trump is more of a puppet master who will oblige to the Republican Party and do whatever they want.
“As a sex worker, as a woman of color, as a transgender, I don’t have as many options as another person,” she said. “There’s so much misogyny already when it comes to women but its double for trans women. Can I survive as a transgender woman of color who is also a sex worker, and how much harder is it going to be now?”
[Featured Image by frankvessia/Shutterstock]
