A bill that would mandate condoms for porn performers in California passed a key hurdle in the state legislature this week.

See also: Porn's Condom Law to Get Important Hearing

L.A. area Assemblyman Isadore Hall's AB 1576 was passed unanimously by the Assembly's Committee on Labor and Employment yesterday.

The industry hates this bill:
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The adult biz argues that because it requires producers to protect workers from blood-borne pathogens, it would mandate gloves, goggles and other unsightly safety gear.

Hall's office, as well as the bill's main supporter, L.A.'s AIDS Healthcare Foundation, told us that's not true – that it's just about requiring condoms to protect sex workers from STDs.

At yesterday's hearing before the committee, performers Cameron Bay and Rod Daily, who contracted HIV last year (though not on-set, it would seem), testified in favor of the law.

Hall sounded triumphant, stating:

 … A strong reaffirmation of the California Legislature's commitment to protect workers in the state, regardless of the type of work performed. For too long, the adult film industry has thrived on a business model that exploits its workers and puts profit over workplace safety.

The bill still has further legislative hurdles. And, interestingly, it would essentially be redundant in most of porn's capital, L.A. County, where voters passed a mandatory condom law in 2012.

The industry has said that consumers don't want to see condom porn and that requiring them would force production, worth billions of dollars to California, out of state. Porn's business leaders also say that the industry's twice-a-month STD testing protocol works.

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