Pornography is a huge industry in this country. Primarily based in the San Fernando Valley in California, porn movies make far more money annually than Hollywood or made-for-TV movies. The supply of porn (either online, on DVDs or pay-per-view television) is huge because the demand is huge. Despite the controversy that the topic of porn brings, the fact remains that Americans are huge consumers of porn and their appetite is growing.
Porn generally is “bareback” – meaning no condoms are used. Consumers simply don’t want to see condoms in these movies. Porn actors are tested every month for sexually transmitted diseases and many do test positive for diseases like chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV, and herpes because they have multiple partners in between tests and many of these diseases/infections take several months to show up in tests. STDs are found in about 25 percent of porn actors, which is no more than the general public, although for some unknown reason infections of gonorrhea and chlamydia are huge – seven times more than the general population. So no matter the testing, these two diseases are running rampant in the industry. Testing doesn't stop the spread of STDs - it merely does its best to diagnose them.
An HIV diagnosis in the porn industry usually brings filming to a temporary standstill in the studio/s involved, while partners before, during and after the diagnosis are found and tested. But within a few months, it’s back to business as usual. An HIV diagnosis is now rare in the porn industry, with only five documented cases since 2004. Before 2004, many cases of HIV were documented, particularly in women.
The last case of HIV caused the closing of a main testing clinic in the San Fernando Valley, causing actors to test in other places, and tracking of results has become more difficult. Local government has now decided that the high rates of STDs in the industry are unacceptable and is fighting to enforce condom use in porn.
Condom use has been a controversial topic for many years in the industry. Many actors who have been diagnosed with a variety of diseases have fought for condom use but industry heads refuse, based on the huge market preference for movies showing unprotected sex. There are so many actors trying to get into the industry that those fighting for condom use can be shoved to the side, while aspiring porn stars come in and willingly accept the terms of agreement from their bosses. And while come companies did switch to movies with condoms, they saw their profits decrease quickly and significantly.
Los Angeles County officials have complained that their limited resources are stopping the passage of any kind of law regarding condoms and for various other jurisdictions with laws in place, the only punishment seen were small fines that the industry could easily afford.
But in the wake of the most recent diagnosis of HIV late in 2010, officials have finally stepped up and promised to actively fight for the use of condoms. Last week, lawmakers in LA passed a draft that will now be voted on, to make condom use mandatory. So while the law isn’t here yet, it may happen soon.
The porn industry, that makes over 13 billion dollars every year, up from 10 billion in 2004, has threatened to move its sets out of these jurisdictions if the law is passed.
Tell Us
Porn is a controversial subject but leaving that aside for this article - if you watch porn, would you watch it with condoms in use? Would it make a difference? Do you think this law should and will be passed?