Puritanical Porn Condom Battle Heads to Nevada

Having driven porn production
out of Los Angeles—or
more likely underground—the activist health foundation behind
Los Angeles’ law mandating condoms in adult films has set its
sights on Nevada. They’re not even bothering with a ballot
initiative this time. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is trying to
claim that condomless porn production violates Nevada’s
occupational safety laws.
From the Associated Press:

The organization says the film shows performers engaging in
activities that are highly likely to spread potentially infectious
materials, in violation of federal OSHA rules the group says
require the use of condoms in shoots.

“This new complaint in Nevada is based on the simple fact that
they cannot hide from federal law there or anywhere in the U.S.,”
said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare
Foundation. “Are workers in Nevada any less entitled to protection
from harm than those in California?”

The film, “Vegas Road Trip,” was made for a website run by
Kink.com. Its CEO, Peter Acworth, called the complaint
baseless.

“Current federal regulations make no mention of condoms, and use
standards that were developed in the 1990s for hospitals, not porn
sets,” he said in a statement. “We will continue to work with
performers, doctors and regulators to develop protocols that keep
sets safe, and still respect performers’ rights.”

But, as Elizabeth Nolan Brown
reminded us all recently, the way that porn companies operate
their sets and manage their actors actually makes it extremely
unlikely that the actors are spreading HIV or disease.

A spokesman for Kink.com says Weinstein’s behavior is
retaliation for their activism in California against the AIDS
Healthcare Foundation’s condom push.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has
other troubles in California. It’s suing San Francisco because
it has gotten caught up in their anti-retail chain planning
regulations while trying to relocate their pharmacy. According to
The Bay Area Reporter, the foundation (whose revenues are
in the
hundreds of millions) is being evicted from their current
location for not paying rent. They’ve also been accused of
overbilling Los Angeles County by $3.5 million for services and the
county wants it back. They are accusing the county of retaliating
against them for their public health activism.