Dennis RomeroPorn star Aurora Snow might have just made herself a pariah in the adult video industry.
That's because she not only bravely endorsed a reviled mandatory-condom initiative that will be on the L.A. county ballot next month, but because she outed infrequent but nonetheless troubling situations in which she says she felt pressured to work when partners didn't have requisite clean-STD-test papers.
Here's what she wrote in a piece published on the Daily Beast this week:
Before any bodily fluids are exchanged, performers share their test results. I showed the male performer my test results and waited patiently for his. Somehow he never produced them and got ready for the scene anyway. I persisted in asking for his test. His answer, “Baby girl, you know me. We work together all the time, you know I get tested baby.” That answer didn't go over well with me. I sought out the director and asked for the test results. No one could produce a test and the scene was canceled. I didn't get a kill fee, neither did the male performer, the director lost out shooting a scene that day, not to mention the location fees he paid. Will they hire me again? I don't know. That's a risk I take when I speak up for my own safety concerns.
Credit: @MissAuroraSnow
She says the “money” can make other performers ignore the lack of a partner's test results. Snow's declaration comes as the industry has formulated a No on Measure B campaign, with some of its biggest names — Ron Jeremy, Tera Patrick — speaking out against the ballot measure.
The industry has argued that its regular STD testing protocol works. When a dangerous STD is detected, the business in Porn Valley shuts down until the infected are treated or taken out of circulation.
Measure B, spearheaded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, would require massage-parlor like permitting and mandatory condom use on-set in most parts of the county, the capital of adult video.
The editorial boards of the Los Angeles Times and the L.A. Daily News endorsed a no vote on the measure yesterday, with the Times saying it would be “bad law” because it …
… puts government, or voters, on a track toward regulating all kinds of conduct without any hope of enforcing the requirements …
Indeed the city of L.A. has yet to figure out how to enforce a similar rule and the state of California doesn't seem to have the resources to police porn even though it says federal workplace safety rules mandate prophylactics in adult video regardless of local regulations.
The industry says you, the consumer, won't buy condom porn. And Snow notes that such fare is rare (she says a majority of her career was shot sans prophylactics and only one major straight-sex porn company that she knows of mandates them).
Snow writes:
There are no groups within porn protecting performers; it's always been up to performers to keep track of their scene partners, to check tests for themselves, and to make those phone calls no one wants to make.
Tough words for and industry that vows that its stars are safe without this law.
See also:
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.