Former Porn Industry Workers Protest In Oakland Over Condom Rules They Say Are Being Disregarded
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- Former porn stars are speaking out about a job risk they say is not being taken seriously, while some porn industry advocates say it's much ado about nothing.
At a protest Thursday at the Oakland offices of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health - better known as Cal/OSHA - the porn actors-turned-protesters said the state needs to step in to prevent the spread of sexaully transmittted diseases because the porn industry routinely ignores the requirement to use condoms.
Former porn actress Cameron Adams contracted HIV last year. She claims she contracted the virus during a film shoot at San Francisco-based Kink.com studios, but her workers compensation case was dismissed.
She wants regulations with teeth. "It would protect performers," said Adams. "It would keep them from getting sick. It would just be better as a whole."
Eric Paul Leue. Director of Sexual Health & Advocacy for CNE Media - the company that oversees Kink.com studios - disagreed.
"This is a manufactured crisis," said Leue. "We've had zero on-set HIV transmissions in 10 years. Zero."
Leue said strict enforcement of condoms in porn violates the right to choose for performers who are tested every 2 weeks.
"Condoms are always a choice. And we don't speak against condoms," said Leue. 'If a performer comes and says 'I want to use condoms,' we say 'OK, go.'"
Kink.com founder Peter Acworth said performers becoming infected is not an issue. "I could not sit here and have integrity and run this business if people were getting infected."
Cal/OSHA will wait to review its existing standards for the porn industry until early next year. Protestors say they've already waited too long.
"Whatever happens in the porn industry, it's going to come into the communities," said Adams. "If we do not nip this in the bud, the communities are going to suffer."
A spokesperson for Cal/OSHA told KPIX 5 the agency is sensitive to the fact that workers are affected and they are enforcing the law.
Earlier this year state lawmakers proposed legislation that would have regulated the porn industry. The bill never made it out of a senate committee.