How far can we enforce condom usage- in US?

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

Here is an example of people unwilling to use condoms despite all odds against

HIV infections.

R. Meera

E-mail: <rmeera102@...>

The New Indian Express, Sunday September 19th , 2004.

Porn Valley – Industry stung by first condom fines.

Los Angeles, Sept 18: The lucrative Los Angeles porn film industry was reeling

on Friday by news that two production companies had been slapped with the first

fines for allowing actors to perform without condoms.

California's State health and safety board fined Evasive Angles and TTB

Productions $30,560 each for making porn movies which it said exposed three

actors to HIV infections. It was the first time that the California Division of

Occupational Health and Safety (Cal/OSHA) had taken regulatory action against

the multi-billion dollar adult film industry in Los Angeles, which employs

some.6,000 people in 200 production companies turning out dozens of films and

videos a week.

" This is a huge departure. This is really like dropping a bomb " , said Sharon

, director of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIM)

which runs a voluntary HIV screening programme for the industry. " I think the

industry will contest this. These companies will be a test case " , said.

Evasive Angles and TTB Productions could not be reached for comment. The fines

followed an HIV outbreak last April involving five actors who tested positive

for the virus that causes AIDS. The nervous industry shut down voluntarily for a

month while about 50 actors who had worked with those infected awaited HIV test

results.

Porn film producers have resisted compulsory condom rules saying they take the

sizzle out of sex scenes and consumers do not want to watch safe sex. But

Cal/OSHA said porn actors had the same legal right to a safe workplace as

employees in more conventional businesses. Officials said action against other

adult film companies could follow.

Business in what is dubbed " porn valley " , in the San valley area of Los

Angeles, has flourished over the past decade fuelled by the Internet and home

computers. said that while supporting testing and voluntary programmes

to protect sex workers, she was concerned that heavy-handed regulation would

push the industry underground.

Porn actor Tony Tedeschi, whi has worked in the industry for 15 years, commended

OSHA's intervention although he said he did not insist in using condoms. " If I

did, I wouldn't be able to work " , Tedeschi told the Los Angeles Times. Reuters.