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29 December 2011

Los Angeles Vote to Decide on Condoms in Sex Films

Come June, voters here will have a chance to cast their ballots in the presidential primary. Along with their presidential preferences, they will be asked to decide whether actors in pornographic films should be required to wear condoms.
For several years, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been lobbying state, county and city lawmakers to enact legislation that would force adult film performers and makers to use condoms and charge a fee to pay for inspections to make sure that they comply.
Growing frustrated in its efforts, the group moved this summer to get the issue placed on the city ballot.
“All politicians have treated this as a hot potato issue,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “The city punts to the county, the county punts to the state, and the State Legislature has punted. We’ve taken it to the voters as a last resort, and that is testimony to the lack of leadership on the issue.”
Los Angeles County officials have said that it would be too difficult to monitor the pornography industry through the health department and that it is a matter for the State Legislature. But Mr. Weinstein said that the group had not been able to find any state lawmaker willing to introduce the bill.
The group collected more than 70,000 signatures, nearly double the 41,000 needed to get the measure on the ballot. The city clerk certified the signatures this week, but the measure still faces legal challenges. The city attorney, Carmen Trutanich, filed papers in court saying that it appeared that voters in the city did not have the legal authority to adopt the measure and that only the state could mandate such regulations.
Under current regulations issued by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, actors are required to use condoms. But the agency can act only after it receives a complaint, and it has issued few fines on the matter.
Officials have said that they believe the city could legally require its own inspections, as the proposal seeks.
“We believe that cities and counties can regulate under their police power unless specifically restricted by something else,” Ellen Widess, the director of the state division, wrote to city attorneys last week.
Mr. Weinstein said that with its limited resources, there was little the agency could do to force filmmakers to comply with the current regulations.
Steven Hirsch, a pornography industry veteran and the founder of Vivid Entertainment, said that even if the measure was passed, it would be nearly impossible to enforce.
“It’s unrealistic to think that a city can regulate how movies are being shot,” Mr. Hirsch said. “People will just film elsewhere and take the jobs with them. And what are they going to do, have condom police out and about patrolling the set?”

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