Sword Poll: Does California Need a Law Requiring Condoms In Porn?

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation Cryptkeeper Michael Weinstein will not stop in his crusade to put a condom on every cock in porn. And in his relentless moral outrage over all sex that is not visibly safe, he’s now pushing for both eye protection (like goggles) for porn shoots, and he’s now officially putting a statewide condoms-in-porn law on the ballot in 2016.

As the Associated Press reports, via an announcement by the California Secretary of State, AHF collected the necessary 365,880 signatures to get the condom measure on the ballot next year, setting the stage for expensive campaigns on both sides.

Weinstein says the ballot measure is necessary after state lawmakers have failed to pass legislation that AHF has previously backed — one such bill died in committee last year.

The law will ensure that both gay and straight performers have to use condoms on any porn shot in the state, likely leading to a continuing exodus to Nevada and elsewhere. As you may know, Falcon Studios Group has already shifted much of their shooting to Nevada, and Kink.com has opened an administrative office there as well, along with a slew of formerly LA-based studios — LA County, thanks to Weinstein, passed their own condom initiative three years ago.

Also, instead of arguing for workplace safety as he has in the past, Weinstein is now framing the law as being about the safety of teens who watch porn. “The No. 1 way that young people learn about sex in this day and age is pornography on the Internet. In porn, real people are having real sex. They’re transmitting actual diseases, and the audience knows it.”

As the non-partisan Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance for the state confirms, the measure, if passed, will cause “Potentially reduced state and local tax revenue of millions or tens of millions of dollars per year.” And it will incur “likely state costs of a few million dollars annually to administer the law.”

Porn trade group the Free Speech Coalition, and its director Diane Duke, says that this is all just Weinstein’s moral crusade, and has nothing to do with performer safety. “It does not seem to matter to him that this initiative endangers performers’ lives, nor does it matter that his previous attempts to force condoms on porn stars have been opposed by legislators, HIV activists, editorial boards and the performers themselves.”

They’re going to have the tough job of explaining this to the broader population, however, many of whom likely still believe in the condoms-only mantra of the AIDS era (and haven’t heard of PrEP), and many of whom may be grossed out by having to vote about the nitty-gritty of porn production at all.

Meanwhile, the porn industry in California continues to mandate STD testing every 14 days to ensure the safety of performers, and no performer has been recorded as having contracted HIV on set in the state in over a decade.

Two gay male bareback performers, however, may have contracted HIV on a Nevada set in 2014 — at a shoot which the Free Speech Coalition later said was not compliant with the industry-accepted testing protocols.

So, what do you think? You may be a fan of bareback porn, or you may not. But do you think that condom use ought to be mandated by the state?

Previously: CALIFORNIA’S CONDOMS-IN-PORN BILL, AB 1576, IS DEAD

6 thoughts on “Sword Poll: Does California Need a Law Requiring Condoms In Porn?”

  1. It’s not only that the models themselves (mainly women) may be at risk, especially in some of the more unscrupulous studios, but that increasingly, especially among kids who look at porn on-line, there’s a disturbing tendency toward ‘monkey-see-monkey-do’.

    Some studios — old Corbin Fisher was particularly good at this — showed that putting on rubbers can be incredibly hot foreplay. What I can’t stand are ‘magic condoms’ that just seem to appear at the moment of penetration. CockyBoys is notorious for these scenes.

    1. Agree. Some try to say “No one takes their cues from porn,” while defending barebacking…but lets not pretend that people who log many hours looking at bareback porn don’t become desensitized to it and will develop a desire to want to experience it for themselves. Back in 2000, 20-somethings would carry condoms everywhere — in their wallets, glove compartments, etc., etc. Just so they’d be prepared for any random sexual situation that might occur. Now the people the same age MIGHT simply ask “are you clean?” Then proceed to either bend over for a raw fuck or will fervently try to take jizz in their mouth. Don’t tell me that this isn’t happening. I’ve experienced it first hand. And why is it happening? Because a) they were being born when Ace of Base was on the radio, didn’t live through the worst of times and therefore don’t know any better…and b) because they’ve seen one too many of the himbos at SC and CF do the same thing. Those disclaimers at the beginning mean nothing.

    1. I don’t know why Kink.com entered into this article since, on the gay and trannie side at least, they seem committed to safe-sex.

  2. So Diane Duke says “this initiative endangers performers’ lives” but fails to give any explanation of exactly how. This is what politicians do all the time – make some grand statement with no evidence whatsoever and then just barrel on before anyone has a chance to question them on it, hoping that people will just believe what they are told.

    For the record, Michael Weinstein is only saying exactly what I’ve been saying all along. Condoms are good for both the performers and the audience. It’s good for performers because testing is not always 100% and Prep does not cover other STDs, so they should use all possible precautions at their disposal together. It is good for the audience because there is no sexual education for gay kids except porn, and they can’t see Prep whereas they can see condoms.

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