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HIV and porn stars -- or rather the adult film industry -- as this article refers to it, is an interesting issue. There's been a recent concern in San Fernando Valley, CA, which Deia de Brito notes is the nation's largest porn hub, when a performer tested positive as reported in this article.
As a result the industry has pseudo shut down and is working to locate and "quarantine" the infected performer's partners. Brito cites a few previous cases of an HIV infection in the California porn industry in the past and explains that performers are tested for HIV by requirement every month. However that is not enough to keep HIV out of the porn industry.
Brito does point out the positions of some advocates in California that porn performers should be required to wear condoms, and some interpret a California law to enforce that.
"The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires "protective equipment” to protect workers from blood-borne pathogens but does not specifically mandate condom use in the adult-film industry. That could change when state officials converge in Oakland on Oct. 25 to discuss an amendment to California law."
Personally I think that all porn stars should use protection in their movies. Possibly including everything from condoms to dental dams to latex. Not only would it protect these performers, but it would set a precedent for viewers. If the people acting out your fantasies are protected, don't you think you would be more likely to use protection as well? I think it would work to improve condom use across the board.
Also, I am not sure how I feel about the porn industry's response to the positive HIV test. It seems like it is almost a witch hunt, to seek out HIV positive performers and remove them from the industry so that they can go on having their performers engage in risky behaviors without protection for the entire world to see.
What are these, now HIV positive, performers supposed to do now that they are banned from their employment? Well if the porn industry enforced the use of protection then these performers, may not have tested positive in the first place, and if they had they would be able to stay in their industry and continue to work (of course managing disclosure to their partners might be tricky but its still doable.) Overall I think federal legislation should be passed to enforce porn performers to always use condoms. What do you all think?
Read more here.
