SAN DIEGO – Adult performers and producers joined with infectious disease specialists and public health experts on Thursday to voice opposition to proposed Cal/OSHA regulations that would require adult performers to use condoms, dental dams and goggles while shooting adult films.

The regulations under consideration are intended to clarify existing rules governing workplace safety by specifying additional procedures the adult industry must institute. Industry trade organization Free Speech Coalition and its members believe the new measures will be unworkable and have a negative impact on California taxpayers, according to the FSC’s chief executive officer. In addition, the proposed regulations could endanger the health of performers by sending adult productions underground.

“These are regulations designed for medical settings and are unworkable on an adult film set — or even a Hollywood film set,” said FSC CEO Diane Duke. “We’ve come to San Diego with ways to amend the regulations, with input from both performers and public health officials, in ways that protect adult film performers without stigmatizing and shutting down an entire industry.”

Among those voicing opposition to the regulations are the American Civil Liberties Union, the County of Los Angeles Commission on HIV, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Equality California, the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee, which represents adult performers.

Duke said the proposed regulations are the result of a five-year campaign by Michael Weinstein, president of the controversial AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit HIV advocacy and treatment organization based in Los Angeles. Weinstein has called adult performers a threat to public health and is currently funding a statewide ballot measure that would require a statewide, taxpayer-funded “porn czar” to review all adult films to ensure performers employ barrier protection during shoots.

A Weinstein- and AHF-backed condoms ordinance was approved by Los Angeles County voters in November 2012. State legislation that would have mandated condoms on adult sets was defeated in the California Senate in 2014 after widespread opposition from performers, HIV outreach organizations and civil rights organizations.

Weinstein’s campaign has drawn criticism from local and national health officials, who have accused him of fomenting a crisis where none exists. The County of Los Angeles Commission on HIV recently voted to oppose the new regulations unless amended. At a commission meeting earlier this month, Mario Perez, director of HIV and STD programs for Los Angeles County, was vocal in his opposition to the proposed regulations:

“As we think about the HIV and [sexually transmitted disease] epidemics in our county, there continues to be … a disproportionate amount of energy and attention on an area that is not contributing to new HIV infections,” Perez testified. “The epidemiology just isn’t there for folks to continue to harp on this issue.”

The adult industry’s proposed amendments to the regulations include multiple options for STD prevention, including the industry’s current testing protocol, biomedical prevention methods, and condoms for performers who prefer them. In an industry shift, producers would bear the cost of production-related STD testing for employees.

“We need to empower performers to take control of their own health and sexuality,” said Maitresse Madeline Marlowe, a San Franciso-based adult director and performer who attended Thursday’s hearing. “We want to keep our sets safe, but you can’t regulate sex the same way you regulate surgery. We’re here to present amended regulations that make sense for performers and are based in reality rather than stigma.”

There has not been a confirmed on-set transmission of HIV on a regulated adult set since 2004, Duke noted.

The industry’s amended regulations, additional testimony, data analysis and statements from public health officials can be found at OurBodiesOurChoice.com.