California Voters Reject Condom Requirement For Porn Films

California citizens on Tuesday voted against implementing the so-called Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, which would require porn actors to wear condoms in all porn films made in the state.

VOTERS REJECT CONDOMS FOR X-RATED FILMS

The act, or proposition 60, was defeated 54 to 46 percent, with 99 percent of voters answering the question. The act would have also required that porn producers be licensed by the state, and would also have to pay for their actors to be regularly tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

The L.A.-based AAIDS Healthcare Foundation spent more than $4.6 million into trying to pass the act. Their reasoning was for the protection of the often low-paid actors, some who participate in hundreds of films a year. Much of the porn industry was against the proposition, and spent $540,000 to oppose the measure.

In their argument, the industry already has a rule that actors be STD tested every 14 days, and some asserted that that rule provides better protection that condoms could. Producers also complained that audiences don’t want to see condoms. If the act had passed and actors refused to wear condoms, the actors and producers both could be subjected to fines.

The porn industry is mostly based out of Los Angeles, where in 2012 a similar law was passed, holding that condoms had to be worn by actors in any porn shoots that were filmed in LA. Proponents of proposition 60 noted that the industry did not fail when the 2012 law was passed, but filmmakers said they got around the measure by filming in neighboring counties. Prop 60 would have covered the entire state and potentially hurt the $5 billion industry.