US Sex Sells News

An established porn producer has vowed to insist on condoms on her set. Tristan Taormino told CNN that she was looking for performers for a new movie when as casting agent recommended a woman named Cameron Bay, whom later was found to have contracted HIV.

From that point on Taormino decided that she was going to require her male actors use condoms while filming - even if she was the only producer of straight porn to do so.

There are those who disagree though. Performer Danny Wylde wrote in a blog post:

We all take risk going to work every day. It's a managed risk. And it's something I choose to participate in so that I can get a paycheck at the end of my day.

In his blog post he wrote about a time when the porn industry did require condoms on set and the drop in sales almost crumbled the industry:

People don't want to see condoms in their porn. In straight porn, they didn't want to see condoms, he wrote. Everybody tried it, and nobody bought the movies.

Taormino told CNN that she is going to require her performers use protection even if she does lose some viewers.

I know there's a lot of talk about how porn watchers don't want to see condoms and sales will plummet and everyone's going to be miserable. But I'm not buying it.

Offsite: Nica Noelle too

28th September 2013. See  article from  business.avn.com

In a long piece just published on Salon.com , noted adult director Nica Noelle has followed Tristan Taormino with a public announcement (on a well-trafficked mainstream site) indicating her intention to henceforth make her sets condom-mandatory. '

...Read the full article

A rule permitting cities to impose different requirements on adult theaters than on mainstream theaters, does not apply to the Guild Cinema's occasional Pornotopia film festival, the New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled. The majority ruling said that zoning rules for adult theaters did not include theaters that rarely or only occasionally feature adult entertainment.

That means the Guild, an Albuquerque art house theater, is not an adult amusement establishment and did not commit a zoning violation, according to the 4-1 ruling.

The opinion reverses prior rulings by the New Mexico Court of Appeals and 2nd Judicial District which sided with the city in imposing a $500 fine for the supposed violation.

The Guild was represented by American Civil Liberties Union attorneys Laura Schauer Ives, its legal director, and Kari Morrissey.

Ives called the decision a victory for free speech:

In essence, the court has said that the city cannot limit speech, even speech it doesn't like, without actual justification.

Peter Simonson, executive director of the ACLU of New Mexico, said it was a common-sense decision:

Hosting one erotic film festival does not make the Guild Cinema an 'adult amusement establishment' any more than a club that plays jazz music one night out of the year is a 'jazz club,'

A bill to require adult film actors throughout California to use condoms when shooting sex scenes has died in the state's Senate.

AB 640 by Assemblyman Isadore Hall would have required porn producers to implement a series of health and safety measures on set to protect performers from sexually transmitted diseases. The measures would include requiring the use of condoms when filming sex scenes, as well as paying for medical testing, training and putting a health protection plan in writing.

After Los Angeles County voters last year approved a similar law at the local level, Measure B, many porn companies said they would film elsewhere in California, prompting efforts by anti-porn campaigners to make it statewide.

But Michael Weinstein, an anti-porn campaigner with AIDS Healthcare Foundation said the bill would be reintroduced in the new session.

Rod Daily has the star tattoo

The US adult trade group, the Free Speech Coalition has confirmed porn star Rod Daily has tested positive for HIV, and is calling for his sexual partners to get tested.

The news comes about two weeks after another porn star, Cameron Bay, announced her infection.

According to the Daily Mail, Daily and Bay were linked romantically on adult film industry website XBiz.com. Neither Daily nor Bay has confirmed the source of their infection.

Update: Third Case

9th September 2013. See  article from  latimes.com

News of a third adult-film actor testing positive for HIV is putting new pressure on both the industry and state lawmakers.

The HIV cases have spurred campaigners pushing for a statewide mandate for condom use in adult films. The new law is being held up by an ongoing court battle.

The adult industry trade group, the Free Speech Coalition initially said that it had not been formally notified of the case, but later called for a new moratorium on production, saying it had been notified that another performer had tested positive for HIV.

Free Speech Coalition spokeswoman Joanne Cachapero said late Friday that the new case involved a third performer. The group said in a statement that the performer whose case prompted the current moratorium had not done a shoot since before the first moratorium. The industry required performers whose last STD test was prior to Aug. 19 to be retested if they wanted to continue performing. The coalition said it would cover the cost of retesting for the performer's partners.

The Palazzo hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip is trying to evict a 10-month-old nightclub for shows it claims are so raunchy that they violate obscenity laws. It says actors, some nearly naked, toss condoms into the crowd and simulate sex acts and bestiality on stage. The casino giant wants to terminate the club's 10-year lease.

The club is opposing the action and is seeking a restraining order to halt the closure, arguing that simulated sex acts don't constitute obscenity.

Sean Dunn, special events director at The Act said that representatives of the hotel-casino have frequently attended shows and did not complain.

The Act remains open for business while a district judge considers its fate.

Cameron Bay is wearing black sporting her trademark sticky up hairstyle

The agency for an adult film star who appears to have tested positive for the HIV infection this week -- prompting an industry moratorium on shooting -- identified her as an actress who goes by the name Cameron Bay.

Free Speech Coalition, a porn industry trade association, issued the moratorium, pending the results of further tests.

Any time any performer tests [positive] to any STD, there are always additional tests to rule out any false positives or contamination. The results of follow up tests were expected to come in by Monday or Tuesday.

The Free Speech Coalition said in a statement that it was working with a doctor affiliated with the Adult Production Health & Safety Services to contact and treat any other performers who might have been exposed.

Update: Confirmed

24th August   2013. See  article from  pvvonline.com

The Free Speech Coalition issued a statement late Thursday confirming adult performer Cameron Bay as HIV positive. The statement adds:

Thus far, there is no evidence whatsoever that there has been an on-set transmission of HIV. First-generation partner identification and notifications are nearly completed. As a precautionary measure, the production moratorium will remain in place until all first-generation partners have been tested and cleared.

Cameron has said in a statement:

As difficult as this news is for me today, I am hopeful that no other performers have been affected. I plan on doing everything possible to assist the medical professionals and my fellow performers. Following that, my long term plan is to take care of myself and my health.

Update: Moratorium lifted

29th August 2013. See  article from  latimes.com

An adult-film trade group has lifted an industry-wide moratorium on porn production that was prompted by an actress' positive HIV test.

Free Speech Coalition said that all performers who worked with the affected actress, Cameron Bay, were tested and cleared and that a panel of three doctors concluded that it was safe to resume filming.