CANOGA PARK, Calif. – An HIV alert issued Monday by the California Department of Public Health is a sterling example of the human cost attendant upon the state’s overregulation of adult film productions, according to a Free Speech Coalition statement issued Tuesday.
The DPH report advised that a male performer who worked in two gay films shot in Nevada in September tested positive for HIV immediately following hardcore bareback scenes with “several other” males. Although the HIV-positive performer tested clear prior to the first shoot, he developed “symptoms of a viral infection” during the second. Subsequent blood tests confirmed “he had recently become infected with HIV,” the department’s notice stated.
Another performer from the second shoot since has tested positive for HIV. The health department stated the first performer “probably transmitted” the disease to the second.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, adult industry trade organization Free Speech Coalition called the Nevada film set “non-compliant” with the industry’s voluntary medical testing protocols and characterized the situation as “not a current threat.” The statement implied California officials are partly to blame for the incident, as the increasing number of ordinances requiring condoms on porn sets is chasing producers out of California and into other states where the industry’s self-regulation guidelines are seen as optional. The resulting environment is rife with potential for disaster.
“At the time of the [Nevada] incident, the Free Speech Coalition immediately cooperated with the Department of Public Health and called a [filming] moratorium to determine if there was any risk of transmission to performers on [Performer Availability Screening Services]-compliant adult sets,” the FSC notice stated. “Non-complaint shoots are one of the chief dangers of pushing the adult industry out of state and outside the established testing protocol.
“While the [gay adult film] set did use a degree of HIV testing, it fell below the standard set by PASS protocols, including the use of an ELISA HIV test rather than the highly sensitive RNA tests required by the industry,” the FSC statement continued. “The ELISA tests have large window periods that delay how early an infection can be detected and have not been accepted within the adult industry for over a decade.”
The FSC statement also indicated the Nevada film’s producers elected not to consult the PASS database of performers declared healthy and available for work before casting the production.
“The adult film industry has been working with government agencies, including Cal/OSHA, to bring remaining producers shooting outside of the PASS protocols into compliance,” the FSC statement noted. “The PASS system utilized by the industry is a proven testing protocol that has been effective in preventing any on-set transmission of HIV for more than 10 years.”
