A pornographic film performer contracted HIV/AIDS from an on-scene sex shoot, say the pornography industry's trade group and the California Department of Health (CDH).
The CDH said Monday that the performer was infected in September at a film shoot in Nevada. The Free Speech Coalition, which represents the porn industry, says inferior testing and inferior tracking led to the infection.
Many porn companies have moved their operations from Los Angeles in light of a county requirement that performers use condoms. While this has increased the size of the black market, it has also driven many companies to other states, including Nevada and other parts of California. While 485 companies applied for shooting permits in 2012, 40 did so in 2013.
Producers say performers do not like using condoms, and that they hurt pornography sales. Additionally, argues the industry, testing every two weeks prevents the spread of diseases, and the condom law has created a situation where companies are moving to areas that have less stringent testing.
However, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation — which pushed for the condom law — says that not having condoms is the real health risk. “The big lie the industry has been saying all these years, there are no on-set transmissions, has been proven to be untrue,” said President Michael Weinstein, whose group also wants mandatory testing for porn actors in Nevada and California.
The porn industry has been forced to engage in several moratoriums in recent years, as performers have contracted HIV/AIDS.