Politics & Government

L.A. Porn Production Halted After Positive HIV Test

Three adult performers tested positive for HIV earlier this year, leading to a series of filming moratoriums, all of which were eventually lifted.

By City News Service

An adult-film industry trade group today imposed a moratorium on porn production after a performer tested positive for HIV.

Details on the positive HIV test were not released, but the Free Speech Coalition said the results were reported by one its testing centers.

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"We are taking every precaution while we do research to determine if there's been any threat to the performer pool," coalition CEO Diane Duke said. "We take the health of our performers very seriously and felt that it was better to err on the side of caution while we determine whether anyone else may have been exposed."

Duke said additional testing will be done to determine when the infection occurred and identify any other performers who may have been exposed.

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"We want to make sure all performers are protected," she said. "The performers' health and safety is the most important thing."

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation responded to the news by again pushing for the county to aggressively enforce a requirement for performers to use condoms.

"Whether this performer was infected in L.A. County or not, this latest news begs the question: how many people need to become infected with HIV for the county of Los Angeles to engage actively in implementing the will of the voters of L.A. County to protect these performers?" said Michael Weinstein, president of AHF.

Three adult performers tested positive for HIV earlier this year, leading to a series of filming moratoriums, all of which were eventually lifted. The Free Speech Coalition announced in September that it was changing its health-check requirements, mandating that adult performers be tested every 14 days.



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