Safety-based Moratorium Lifted on Adult Film Production

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A moratorium on adult film production was lifted Friday after tests were completed on partners of an adult performer who tested positive for HIV.

The moratorium was put into effect Dec. 5 at the request of the Free Speech Coalition, a Canoga Park adult industry trade group. Tests results determined that partners of the infected performer were not HIV positive.

This is the third moratorium on adult entertainment filming, much of which is centered around the San Fernando Valley, in the past 16 months. There was one in August 2012 after a performer tested positive for syphilis and again in August 2013 after performer Cameron Bay tested positive for HIV.

Diane Duke, executive director of the coalition, said that suspending filming is one of the most effective tools the adult industry has to protect adult performers.

“While we understand that a moratorium is difficult for both performers and producers, it’s important that we’re cautious when dealing with HIV,” she said in a prepared statement.

However, this latest episode has prompted the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Hollywood-based organization critical of how the adult industry self-polices for sexually transmitted diseases, to renew its call for enforcement of Measure B. AHF was the main backer of the voter-approved law requiring condoms be used in all adult productions filmed in Los Angeles County.

In August, a federal judge in Los Angeles determined that spontaneous searches to enforce Measure B were unconstitutional, but ruled that adult productions must get no-cost permits from the county, adult performers must use condoms and criminal charges can be brought against violators. The case, brought by the adult industry, remains on appeal.