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AIDS Healthcare Foundation wants porn permits tied to condom use

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UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.–The Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation announced a petition drive today to get a city ordinance on the June ballot that would require porn actors to wear condoms.

“At present, animals working in film and TV productions in Los Angeles enjoy more safety and health protections than adult film performers do,” according to Michael Weinstein, president of AHF. “There are laws and state statutes to protect adult performers, but there is no real enforcement.”

Weinstein said no government agency has been willing to tie the production permits for X-rated videos to a requirement that condoms are used.

“This is why we have spearheaded this ballot initiative: so the people the voters in Los Angeles may decide on this important health and safety issue affecting adult film performers,” he said.

Adult-film production companies have been generally resistant to requiring condom use, saying they can lower the quality of the productions and detract from the fantasies the films depict. They also contend performers are regularly tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

To get the ordinance on the June 2012 ballot, AHF needs to gather signatures from 41,138 voters registered in the city over a 120-day period ending Dec. 23, according to the City Clerk’s Office.

Weinstein, who said the ordinance would call for the city-county film permitting office to collect a fee from producers to cover periodic on-set inspections, announced the petition drive alongside two actors who say they contracted the HIV virus while performing without a condom. The campaign will be known as For Adult Industry Responsibility, or FAIR.

AHF is a nonprofit that provides services to people with HIV/AIDS in the United States and around the world.

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