As I continue to research the issue of Ballot Measure B, the “Condoms in Porn” law, it became apparent that we have a divided industry. Actually it is more like two separate and distinct industries. We share common interests. We often share the same distribution channels and profit streams. There are now even companies that produce both gay and straight content ( ie., Naughty America-> http://www.suite703.com/ and Manwin-> http://www.men.com/ ). San Francisco and Los Angeles lie only 382 miles from each other but they might as well be on different coasts. When it comes to the issues of testing and condoms we could not be any more different or diametrically opposed.
The straight industry tests and doesn’t usually use condoms. The gay industry rarely tests and usually uses condoms, though in recent years even the use of condoms in gay porn is diminishing while testing is increasing. For performers in the gay community the issue of HIV status is treated as a closely guarded secret while in the straight industry test results are passed out like candy at a five year old’s birthday party.
In the straight industry if a performer is HIV+ there simply is no work for them. According to an article in Out Magazine, according to Michael Stabile, then Marketing Director for NakedSword.com, it was estimated that nearly 50% of all performers in gay porn are HIV+ ( Please see: http://www.out.com/entertainment/2007/07/23/baring-truth?page=0,1 ). A survey by TheSword.com of 100 gay male performers put that estimate closer to a 30% HIV+ rate (Please see: http://www.advocate.com/health/2009/08/12/business-pleasure?page=0,1 ).
Kent Taylor of Raging Stallion Studio claims;
“We don’t currently ask [about HIV status]. We assume everyone is [HIV-positive], and if they say they are not, we assume they are lying.”
Michael Lucas, owner of Lucas Entertainment, does not believe that HIV status should be discussed in polite circles ( Please see: http://www.advocate.com/politics/commentary/2011/09/27/oped-live-world-where-everyone-has-hiv )
“I’m in favor of a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Not in the military, of course — those days are behind us — but in the bedroom. What I’m talking about, specifically, is HIV. And my point is that, at least when it comes to sex, we should talk about it less.”
So in gay porn it is a matter of not testing and/or not sharing of HIV status and just simply using a condom to protect the performers. However, do condoms really protect the performers ? Does less than complete adherence to condom use even in a performer’s private sexual life keep them safe ? According to Stabile ( Please see: http://www.out.com/entertainment/2007/07/23/baring-truth?page=0,1 );
I’ve talked to some of them [gay male performers], and they say, ‘The only time I ever have sex with a condom is on-screen.’
Therefore, if some gay performers are only using condoms on set and not in their personal lives and not testing, it is impossible to know actually how many HIV transmissions are occurring on gay sets. Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation is not concerned with performer health and safety in the gay industry because according to a statement he made to this author at a September 17, 2012 press conference “the majority of gay porn is made with condoms.” His belief is that condoms protect.
This opinion is echoed by Michael Lucas;
“In fact, it’s hard to get HIV even from sex — as long as you use a condom. I dated a positive guy for two years in the 1990s; we had safe sex almost every day, and I never seroconverted. Today, it is even more difficult to become infected through protected sex. Recent studies suggest that HIV-positive men who are taking their medications pose a vastly reduced risk of transmitting the virus.”
Obviously there is a school of thought in the gay porn production community that test results do not really mean much if you are using a condom. Most gay studios only use condoms for anal sex. Rarely are they used for oral sex. Condoms may protect from HIV but they do not protect from oral chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV and herpes if they are not being used. How many gay performers have contracted chlamydia, gonnorhea and HPV of the throat or herpes simplex 2 around their mouths ? Without testing there is simply no way to know. And therefore Michael Weinstein’s belief that gay performers are some how better protected from STIs because they use a condom for anal sex is terribly flawed logic.
In straight porn there is almost no one that will work with a known HIV+ positive performer with or without a condom. Matter of fact, the way the FSC/APHSS testing system works is to flag a performer that tests positive for HIV. The database will indicate that they are not cleared to work. At that point the straight industry would undergo a complete shut down of production until a full tree of potential exposures could be established and all performers that had been exposed re-tested. Any positive performers would then be re-tested again to confirm their status. This is a completely different from the gay industry that almost assumes all performers are HIV+.
According to many producers in straight porn, mandatory condoms would decimate the industry in Los Angeles. According to producers in gay porn, mandatory testing would decimate the industry in San Francisco ( Please see: http://www.advocate.com/health/2009/08/12/business-pleasure?page=0,1 ).
So how does an industry divided rectify this situation and come together to be united ? Can that even be achieved ? Can there be common ground reached to ensure profits while maintaining worker safety and participation ? The issues of government mandated condoms or industry mandated testing must be discussed openly. As more performers cross in-between both sides of the industry this topic will only become more heated and divisive if not handled properly.
AdultBizLaw.com 
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