AIDS Healthcare Foundation Pays People to Protest Outside Oakland and L.A. Offices of Cal/OSHA

Here’s some more porn-world Inside Baseball for you regarding the fight over condoms: Reviled L.A.-based organization the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) paid a bunch of people $25 each today to protest outside the Oakland headquarters of Cal/OSHA calling for condoms in porn.

On the scene was anti-AHF spokesperson and Mr. L.A. Leather Eric Paul Leue, who came out strongly against the AHF — for whom he’d formerly been a poster-boy for a HIV testing campaign — after their director Michael Weinstein called Truvada a “party drug” in an interview this past spring.

According to Eric, after meeting the protesters, “None of these people know what’s going on… Most of these people don’t even understand the concept of what is happening.”

AHF staged a similar protest Wednesday in downtown L.A., and as you can read here, the reason for the protest is Cal/OSHA’s delaying of hearings on making changes to their own Bloodborne Pathogens Standards to include condoms for porn performers. The hearings are now set for March 2015.

You can see video of Eric infiltrating the protest/performance here, at BehindKink.

And yet again, we don’t know what horse Michael Weinstein and AHF have in this fight — and in the PR fight against PrEP/Truvada — unless it’s funding from the condom industry itself that AHF depends on.

An earlier attempt by the AHF to get a bill passed in the California legislature requiring condoms on all porn shoots, straight and gay, failed to make it out of committee in August.

Previously: MICHAEL WEINSTEIN IS A BACKWARDS, OUT-OF-TOUCH SLUT-SHAMER WHO NEEDS TO RESIGN, SAYS NEW PETITION

15 thoughts on “AIDS Healthcare Foundation Pays People to Protest Outside Oakland and L.A. Offices of Cal/OSHA”

  1. PUP, I’m sorry but I feel you are so wrong on this subject. There are many, many HIV/AIDS organizations quietly doing all the hard work right now that AHF has cast aside to pursue a political-power agenda which is why the time has come to cut off their funding until Weinstein resigns and there is a complete change of leadership at the organization. Under Weinstein’s leadership AHF has VIGOROUSLY lobbied the FDA against the approval of Truvada as PrEP. AHF puts out FALSE and misleading information about PrEP effectiveness, condom use, and bareback sex. AHF advertises that condoms are the ONLY proven method of HIV prevention, which considering the lack of use and/or failure rate, is false with the advent of PrEP. AHF is using the porn industry and recently infected porn models, who did NOT contract HIV during the filming of any movie, to push fear=mongering about HIV/AIDS as part of their “condoms only” mantra which only causes harm and stigma to those who are poz. AHF as an organization allowed its leader to single-handedly slut-sham gay men around the world who have a RIGHT to make choices about what is best for their sexual health in consultation with their doctors. AHF insinuates we don’t know what the long-term effects of Truvada are which is false considering it has been on the market since 2004 and is one of the most well-tolerated HIV meds on the market, let alone being extremely well-tolerated with no side-effects for those who are HIV negative used as PrEP (of which I know many people who all agree.) This is today’s AHF reality and why people like Eric Paul Leue are so important right now leading the fight on this entire issue.

    1. I know several people who work for AHF along with other organizations and most of everything you said is incorrect. And condoms ARE the only proven method of HIV prevention. And I don’t think advocating that slut shames anyone unless they choose to have unprotected sex without knowing their HIV status or not disclosing this to their partners. AHF has been calling for more education and research around prep. Truvada has been used as an HIV med since 2004 yes, but only recently as a precaution. And again it needs to be used daily and responsibly. As Prep it has only been tested for a year and was ONLY effective in those who used it as directed. AHF knows how difficult it is to get people to take their medication responsibly and i can see a whole slew of people getting infected thinking they are protected when the meds aren’t working correctly because they are missing doses. What AHF is pushing for is responsibility on the part of the drug makers. It costs roughly $10,000 a year for prep and I think it is being marketed as a magic pill without presenting the facts. The drug company that makes it is the largest supplier of HIV meds in the world. I seriously doubt they care if someone contracts HIV while on prep since they stand to make even more money at that point. Also there has been absolutely no talk about other STD’s. Without condoms you are putting yourself at risk of a slew of other diseases. i think this whole campaign has been handles irresponsibly.

      1. Clearly this is a case where we’ll have to disagree. I will point out that AHF is alone when it comes to taking a stand against PrEP, every other health care organization and medical professionals have all come out in support of PrEP and its effectiveness. One has to ask why AHF chooses to move one direction when everyone else is moving in the opposite direction.

        1. A good friend of mine who has worked for AHF for years and is in close contact with MW regularly says that if the company came out with a injection that could be administered once every 3 months, AHF would back it immediately. But at this point, relying on individual adherence every day is a slippery slope for reasons I’ve already stated.

  2. I think people need some perspective here. You are all calling for a boycott of a company that has done SO much in the way of HIV treatment and prevention. The good they have don FAR outweighs the topic of this article. There’s a reason they’re the largest HIV prevention, treatment and education organization in the world.

    They are not calling for more education and research for Prep. At this stage it’s unknown what the long term effects are. The studies were only a year long. There could be side effects, tolerance build up, etc… AHF also recognizes that there are many people who will look at this drug as a golden ticket to go out and bareback at their will. Furthermore, the drug needs to be taken on a DAILY basis in order for it to be effective. AHF knows first hand how difficult it can be to make people keep up with their HIV meds, let alone taking Prep on a daily basis.

    If you read more carefully on this instead of making uneducated judgements based on one article you would see that AHF isn’t against Prep, they’re merely pushing for responsibility and caution since there are many factors at play here. It isn’t just a magical pill.

  3. @andrew Out of the Closet is the thrift store chain formed by AHF, whose profits go to AHF and HIV testing, much like Goodwill stores support their programs. However, Junior is correct, it is offensive that they are paying protesters.

    1. I just find if offensive how people purchase from there with good intentions and AHF uses this money for their lobbying efforts to force people to do what they want. Plus use that money to pay off protesters.

    2. Thanks for the info. I patronize an Aids Thrift store in my area. I don’t approve of Michael Weinstein’s comments about Truvada. It’s unfortunate that AHF has to hire people to picket for their cause. I personally wish the National OSHA would use its power to see that workers,in the porn industry, are provided a safe and healthy work place, by requiring ALL Porn Studios to use condoms. I doubt they will because treating the porn business like other legitimate businesses would be a kind of endorsement of porn as a legitimate business. I think we should encourage the models in the porn industry to join together and demand that the Porn Studios stop the risky BB sex. USE A CONDOM OR USE TRUVADA AND A CONDOM.

      1. If only. If they did want to cause a change why not somehow pave the way for models to unionize. Currently there are no benefits if you’re a model no retirement no nothing. Sure the money might be “great but once you become too boring your career’s over.

      2. I believe it should be the performers right to chose. Not OSHA telling them what to do. It is their body. And it isn’t yours. If you do not like that type of porn, don’t watch it. Otherwise, just shut up because everyone should have the right to chose not to be told to do it. Who are you to say they have to wear them?

  4. @Andrew with a capital A: What is the Out of the Closet store? Where is it located? If it is a store owned by LGBT folks who are Out, it sounds like a place with which this Out gay man would like to do business.

  5. The makers of Truvada say, in their literature, that it should be used along with condoms and not instead of condoms. The advantage of using condoms is that unlike Truvada alone, it helps prevent the transmission of other STDs. There should be no fight between supporters of Truvada and supporters of condoms. USE BOTH FOR MAXIMUM PROTECTION>

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