Steve LaGiven the subject matter, we're playing it safe: NSFW.
Around two dozen protesters showed up at Larry Flynt Publications headquarters Thursday slamming Larry Flynt and his company Hustler Video for allegedly enforcing an unsafe work environment by not having their performers wear condoms. (Our post this morning summarizes the pro-condom arguments made by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.)
Protesters held signs that read “Condoms in Porn Now” and “Condoms Save Lives” and showed images of Larry Flynt flashing his middle finger.
“Hey Hey Ho Ho, Unsafe Porn Has Got To Go!” they chanted.
The protesters were mostly volunteers and employees of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit HIV/AIDS health-care group. AHF has led the fight for condom use in porn.
Credit: Steve La
“The industry has been ignoring the regulations that are supposed to protect actors,” Brian Chase, assistant counsel for AHF told the Weekly. He cited the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health's regulation, which requires that employers protect workers if there is risk of exposure to pathogens, including bodily fluids.
“This is not an underground industry,” Michael Weinstein, president of AHF, said at the press conference following the protest. “The industry should and can be regulated if the political establishment has the courage to do it.”
“How much blood money do you need?” Weinstein asked the crowd.
Weinstein stressed that AHF was not against porn or free speech and only wanted to protect workers. He also displayed a stack of one hundred Hustler adult films depicting unsafe sex that would be presented to CAL/OSHA at an October meeting to back up their claims that Hustler has broken the law. (Talk about an awkward meeting.)
Credit: AHF President Michael Weinstein showing a stack of one hundred porn films by Hustler
In response, Larry Flynt Productions' spokeswoman Julie Messing sent the Weekly a statement countering AHF's claims of unsafe work conditions. She stated that the adult film industry has safeguards in place to protect performers and that Cal/OSHA is a “complaint driven organization” with most complaints filed by AHF and not adult industry performers.
Also in the statement were remarks by LFP President Michael Klein, which read:
…We won't budge when it comes to condomless productions.That's what the consumer wants and we deliver it. LFP follows every safety procedure, including testing during specific time frames, and we haven't had one incident of infection.
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