Dennis RomeroYou will indeed get to vote on mandatory condoms for porn stars in L.A. County.
We were a bit premature when we reported previously that the measure was headed to the November ballot. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors had to certify the initiative or enact the rule itself.
Today it voted to let you have a shot:
Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Don Knabe and Michael D. Antonovich voted yes; Gloria Molina just said no; and Mark Ridley-Thomas abstained.
That means you'll get to vote on it during the presidential erection election. The measure would require the county to regulate porn productions in the same way it does massage and tattoo parlors.
Porn's Justine Joli.; Credit: justinejoli.com
The initiative is the result of years long efforts by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to get mandatory condoms in the porn industry, which is mostly L.A.-based.
Here's the heart of the language of the law that AHF is asking you to vote yes on:
The measure would require use of condoms for all acts of anal or vaginal sex during the production of adult films, as well as the posting of the public health permit and notice to performers regarding condom use.
It was successful at getting a similar law passed by the L.A. City Council. That one requires location porn shoots in the city to employ condom use, although enforcement of the rule is still up in the air.
The industry has been fighting the efforts, arguing that audiences don't want to see condoms, and that its once-a-month testing of performers works.
AHF president Michael Weinstein celebrated today's vote:
Today is an historic day. We are extremely pleased that the Board of Supervisors voted to approve the ballot measure, as dictated by the will of the people–including the 371,000 residents of LA County who signed the petition to put the measure on the ballot.
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