Porn Panic 2012, The Series Rolls On: Shy Love Proves She Has Some Nukes, Too: Dissolves ATMLA, Rejoins LATATA, Who Then Gives APHSS The Boot

It just got real.  Again.

Yesterday, Shoe #1 dropped when Shy Love announced that she was dissolving her porn talent agency group, Adult Talent Management-Los Angeles (ATM), and rejoining the larger collective of talent agencies, The Licensed Adult Talent Agents Trade Association (LATATA), which comprises the majority of adult trade agencies.

I had initially wondered what that was all about, since Love was the leader of the sternest critics of the moves of the Free Speech Coalition and Manwin, the conglomerate of porn production companies, to consolidate performer testing through their Adult Performer Health and Safety Services (APHSS), and in particular Cutting Edge Testing (CET), the company which was formed by former associates of Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Foundation after the latter was driven out of business by attacks by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in pursuit of their goal of imposing mandatory condom usage by porn performers.

Love and her agency had previously favored a rival testing org, Talent Testing Services (TTS), which had became the go-to agency for testing in the breach between the closing of AIM and the founding of CET.

Problem was, CET had not only the backing of FSC/APHSS, but then got some serious reinforcement when Manwin announced their plans to strengthen and redefine testing protocols across the board...and promptly threw their weight behind CET not only by instituting the APHSS protocols, but endorsing CET as the exclusive source of testing for their shoots.

This is because the APHSS protocols do not currently allow TTS as an APHSS-certified agency, due to some disputes over testing procedures between FSC and TTS...and some other past .

Mostly, over the "outbreak" of last year, in which a performer was originally first tested positive for HIV, then later cleared when the original test turned out to be a false positive due to supplemental testing done by FSC/APHSS. It turned out that the initial testing was done by another agency, but TTS was involved in the follow up that resulted in some confusion over the exact status of the performer...and it wasn't until APHSS intervened with their own tests that the matter was cleared up.

In the minds of FSC/APHSS, this proved that only consolidation of testing to one company with stringent standards across the board would prevent future clusterfucks..and that probably explains why they supported the development of Cutting Edge as the gold standard of testing.

Problem is on that, though?? Many performers and agents were quite happy with Talent Testing, and they feared that FSC/APHSS was attempting to reestablish an monopoly on testing and limit competition and testing..and the actions of Manwin only deepened their fears.

And apparently, Shy's won the rest of the agents over to her view, too...because cue The Other Shoe Dropping...or maybe it should be, The Other Boot Kicking (via AdultFYI):

LATATA Withdraws Support from APHSS Over TTS Issue

Los Angeles, CA– The Licensed Adult Talent Agents Trade Association (LATATA) announces its formal withdrawal of support from APHSS, the subsidiary organization set up by the FSC - (Free Speech Coalition).

APHSS was initiated after the closure of AIM, as a mechanism through which to administrate testing for performers in the adult industry. LATATA believes APHSS position in refusing to allow Talent Testing Service (TTS) to become a member of APHSS to be a grievously wrong one.

LATATA's position is that TTS has provided the industry with reliable and good service for many years and LATATA's hope is that may continue. Many in the industry will recall that during the time that AIM Health Care was providing testing services to the industry, Talent Testing Service was providing this service concurrently alongside them. Performers enjoyed their ability to choose which facility they wished to have provide them the industries required medical testing.

At the time of AIM’s forced closure, after pressure and interference from AIDS Health Care Foundation (AHF), TTS was, for a period of time, the only available testing facility to the adult industry, and the industry was immensely grateful to have TTS available as an alternate for AIM at that time. Without them, one can only wonder where performers would have turned for their testing requirements.

LATATA firmly believes that it is imperative that the industry never again, allow itself to be in such a position where its testing needs are serviced and provided by only one testing facility, and therefore, inclusion of both testing facilities that currently service the industry - Talent Testing Service (TTS) and Cutting Edge Testing (CET) - are necessary in any program that purports to provide assistance and or a framework for performers’ testing needs and related matters.

Despite formidable effort from members of LATATA to bridge the gaps and mediate differences between APHSS and TTS, such efforts have not been successful. Absent APHSS admitting TTS to the organization, it is LATATA’s position that it can no longer support APHSS itself, and announces its withdrawal of support and participation in APHSS. LATATA continues to support TTS’ continued service to the industry and the performers within it.

LATATA also wishes to make clear that withdrawing its support for and participation in, the APHSS program, in no way alters or changes its continued support and gratitude for The Free Speech Coalition itself and the work that it does to benefit all within the adult entertainment industry.

As of June 2012, LATATA members are comprised of the following agencies: LA Direct Models, Spiegler Girls, Foxxx Modeling, Type 9 Models and ATMLA.

There have been two reasons given by APHSS as to why TTS wasn't originally allowed into the APHSS orbit: 1) The lack of an accredited doctor at their testing facilities to verify the validity and accuracy of their tests; and 2) the fear that TTS would report any initial "reactive" or "positive" HIV test to the LA County Department of Public Health, which is required by law, before actually verifying the test with followup testing....which would, in FSC/APHSS's mind, cause not only a protracted shutdown of production, but would also give more fuel to AHF and their condom mandate campaign. AHF already has passed a mandate law in the city of Los Angeles (not being enforced currently pending the LA City Council approving guidelines on enforcement, as well as inevitable lawsuits); and an initiative for instituting the mandate across Los Angeles County is now on the ballot for September.  That fear was reinforced due to the 2009 "panic" involving a positive HIV test of a performer that turned out not to have been infected while shooting; because AIM had been summoned by LACDPH to release to them private records of performers as part of the latter's investigation. A local judge ultimately squashed that effort, citing the federal HIPPA act protecting medical records privacy.

TTS's response has been that the requirement for a doctor can be fulfilled through the performer's private doctor or other authority verifying the test, and that they are bound by California state law to reveal positive/"reactive" tests anyway. They have also questioned the security of the database that is used by APHSS, fearing that someone could breach it and reveal performer's private information, just as was done to Desi Foxx during the bad old days of the original Porn Wikileaks. Mostly, though, they see the alliance of Manwin and FSC/APHSS/CET as not-so-thinly-veiled pressure to crowd out TTS and reimpose a one-company monopoly on testing..and they also fear Manwin's history of buying every porn outlet in sight and also promoting free filesharing -- what others see as a perilous permissiveness towards "piracy" that is draining legitimate performers dry.

You could say that this announcement by the now reunited LATATA is their way of saying to Manwin/FSC/APHSS: "Not. So. Fucking. FAST. Buddies. You may have the bank, but we have some tricks ourselves...let's resolve this, and in a hurry."

There is going to be a grand meeting of agents, performers, and other bigwigs coming up this weekend rehashing the entire brohaha over performer testing. After today, it just got just a bit more interesting. As in...a lot.

UPDATE:..XBiz.com now has a story up at their site on the bustout of LATATA from APHSS, and also adds this initial statement of reaction from FSC:

"The Free Speech Coalition welcomes the opportunity to have Talent Testing Services (TTS) as part of our APHSS program. FSC and TTS have come together on some issues but differ on the necessity of initial physician involvement in ordering the test and the provision of results. In the unfortunate case that a performer may test positive for Chlamydia or Gonorrhea, FSC believes that it is important for a performer to be able to get immediate treatment when he or she receives his or her test results. And if a performer tests positive for HIV, FSC believes it is crucial to get that information from a physician.

"FSC supports having a broad range of providers. To date, APHSS participants include 1 clinic (St James) in San Francisco, 2 clinics (Vegas STD Testing) in Las Vegas, 1 clinic (Cutting Edge Testing) in Sherman Oaks, Calif., and Advanced Medical Testing Center (AMTC) with physicians in every state and 4,000 locations nationwide.

"We encourage a continued dialogue with TTS and believe that ultimately, the health and well-being of our performers is everyone’s priority."

Initial attempts at getting TTS into the system were rebuffed by TTS over those very issues. Let's see if this latest sortie of bombs clears heads enough to settle this.

i[Now crossposted over at The Real Porn Wikileaks]

Porn Panic 2012: AHF Gets Their Sigs For Their LA County Condom Mandate Initiative; And LA City Council Punts City Mandate To Another Committee

Two developments today in The Great Condom Mandate War, and both of them not so good for the good guys.

First off: Michael Fattorosi has just tweeted at his @Pornlaw Twitter stream that AHF has now announced that they now has achieved enough signatures to have their condom mandate initiative sent to the voters of that county later this year.

And now, it has been confirmed by LAWeekly as well:

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation will turn in signatures tomorrow in its bid to put mandatory condom use for the area porn industry before L.A. county voters, AHF chief Michael Weinstein told the Weekly.

The group has more than 300,000 signatures, more than 30 boxes worth, that it will haul to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office in Norwalk Friday morning, said another AHF official.

That means ...

... that you will likely be voting on the matter in November, because the group only needs about 232,153 valid, registered voters to sign on: The Registrar-Recorder still needs to validate the signatures and approve the measure for ballot placement.

The other news actually happened yesterday, when the LA City Council basically decided what they were going to do to enforce their new condom mandate law after the Adult Working Group committee which was supposed to draft new rules of enforcement tapped out without any resolution.

Their solution: kick it to another committee, this one featuring their own!!

The story from the Free Speech Coalition website:

CANOGA PARK, Calif. – Free Speech Coalition (FSC) was notified today by the L.A. City Administrator’s Office that the L.A. City Council has referred development of enforcement strategy for the city condom ordinance to the Arts, Parks, Health & Aging Committee.

Until recently, the development of an implementation and enforcement strategy had been charged to the City Administrator-appointed Working Group on the City of Los Angeles Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Ordinance. At the last meeting of the working group on May 11, the group postponed submitting the results of a report that would have recommended protocols for enforcing condom use on adult productions.

A few days later, it was widely reported that the working group had requested a 90-day extension of presenting the results of the report.

It is unclear why the issue has been referred to the Arts, Parks, Health & Aging Committee. That committee is made up of three L.A. City Council members, including Councilmen Richard Alarcon (7th District), Tom LaBonge (4th District) and Ed P. Reyes (1st District).

I'd say that it's because the council doesn't trust anyone else to voluntary enforce the law, so they want to railroad the process through.

It does mean that there probably will be that 90-day delay in implementation until the new committee reaches a consensus.

That previously mentioned LA Weekly article also noted that Weinstein had said that contrary to other reports, he would not seek a Request For Proposal (RFP) for AHF to bid for becoming the enforcers of the law, rather allowing the committee to resolve the issue. That probably means the committee will browbeat the LA Vice department and FilmLA to do the dirty bidding of being the "condom police". Weinstein also said that he would be willing to accept a 90-day delay; which conflicts with the POV of his legal counsel, Mark McGrath, who wasn't too happy of the "stonewalling" at the meeting today.

The bottom line remains the same: the battle isn't over; it's only just begun. The lawsuits are about to hit the fan the way Hurricane Katrina hit the Ninth Ward levees. Buckle up, Clones.

Porn Panic 2012: Mark Kernes Of AVN Sheds New Light On How The LA "Condom Nazis" Now More Resemble "Keystone Kops" In Pushing Condom Mandate Law

Some new info has now been discovered on the now delayed process of the city of Los Angeles to enforce their new condom mandate law, which was supposed to be in full effect by now, but is now in limbo due to...well, I'll just let Mark Kernes from Adult Video News Online tell the story.

City Administrative Officer Asks For More Time on Condom Regs

After all, they've only had about four months to figure out that the new ordinance is completely unworkable

LOS ANGELES—In a letter issued Wednesday, LA City Administrative Officer (CAO) Miguel Santana has asked the City Council to give his "Working Group on the Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Ordinance" an extra 90 days—on top of the 120 days they've already had—to figure out how to implement and enforce the mandatory condom ordinance which AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) first tried (at great expense) to put on the June 5 city ballot, and then urged members of the City Council to enact preemptively as city law.

The CAO had been scheduled to deliver its final report to the Council on May 16, though at the Working Group meeting of May 11, it was announced that the report was not ready, and that another meeting was to be scheduled the following week. However, that meeting never took place.

As Santana's letter to Mayor Antonia Villaraigosa and the City Council notes, the Working Group has held three meetings, the first of which was not attended by anyone from the adult industry due to the failure of the City Administrative Officer's office to properly advertise it. The second meeting lasted just over half an hour, one third of which was devoted to comments from the attendees, and third meeting (which likewise was not given proper notification) took just 20 minutes, half of which were devoted to speakers from the audience.

Of course, it's likely that some of the CAO office's time outside the meetings was devoted to figuring out how to make the ordinance work, but however much that was, it apparently wasn't enough. Apparently, one of the main problems to be solved, aside from the "complexities of this issue," is figuring out who will perform the inspections—or as the letter puts it, "the need to further address the implementation matters"—that the ordinance requires of adult movie sets, and it was clear at the second Working Group meeting that neither the Los Angeles Police Department, Fire Department, Personnel Department, the LA County Department of Public Health, CalOSHA nor the permit-issuing agency FilmLA wanted the job, which led AHF's representative at the meeting, Mark Roy McGrath, to suggest that the CAO might want to issue an RFP (Request for Proposal) to the public in order to find some group both willing and capable of performing the task... which critics of the law have long suggested might be AIDS Healthcare itself.

In any case, with no resolution to that problem on the horizon, Santana recommended "That the Council, subject to the approval of the Mayor, authorize a 90 day extension for the Working Group to Report to Council on the City's ability to implement and enforce the Safer Sex in The Adult Film Industry Ordinance."

To read Santana's entire letter, click here.

 The most interesting point that Kernes makes is that not even the LAPD's Vice Department is so keen to enforcing this law...even though it was them whom launched the "raid" on Dan Leal's Immoral Productions the night before the third meeting, promptly citing him for a lack of a proper permit.

Actually, the most interesting point is not that, but the offer of AHF to have the CAO do a RFP to outsource enforcement of the law to another group -- namely, AHF or some sockpuppet group, I suppose. Remember that AHF had already agreed to foot the bill for all legal challenges to the law (and rest assured, there will be a plenty of legal challenges). Would they be so willing to invest more of their own money to allow for enforcement?

Or, would they rely solely on the money gained by requiring anyone with a camcorder and a commercial website to buy a permit before they could even shoot a camshow? (Not just major porn companies, Clones....ANYONE running an adult website out of their house who tapes themselves engaging in real sex would be liable to either buy a permit or face harsh fines or even jail.)

And, keep also in mind that California is pretty damn broke right about now, with budget cuts coming down the line that will more than force cutting at the local level as well.

Bottom line is this: would AHF be willing to put its money where Mike Weinstein's big foot is lodged and risk their other enterprises in order to fund their own personal Condom Police Unit? Or...will Weinstein simply double up his thrift stores with more bareback gay porn to sell to make up the difference, or squeeze more AIDS Walks funds...or even more shakedown lawsuits to get more cash??

Curioser and curiouser, sayeth Alice. And I ain't talking Sunny Lane's Alice, either.  Stay tuned....the fun may just be starting.


UPDATE:  Well, The Free Speech Coalition just tweeted this in response to a tweet I did about AHF's fund raising efforts:

FreeSpeechCoalition ‏@FSCArmy

@Anthony_JK @AIDSHealth AHF's annual budget is $187M - they're good at getting funding; other HIV orgs call them the "Walmart" of HIV orgs

FreeSpeechCoalition ‏@FSCArmy

@Anthony_JK @AIDSHealth for enforcement staffing ;-) Does Weinstein want to be the porn czar?

 Yeah....Michael Weinstein as "Porn Czar". With Monica Foster and Shelley Lubben as his aides. And Gail Dines as Chief Policy Advisor. That's not very scary.

Porn Panic 2012: The "Weinstein-Lubben Model" Expanded To Homemade Webcammers; Plus, AHF Volunteers To Become The Official "Condom Nazis"

Just in case you thought that it couldn't get any worse, it gets much worse.

Mark Kernes has now posted at AVN.com his recounting of yesterday's meeting of the LA City Council committee involved in enforcing the condom mandate law, and it confirms two disturbing developments that I first mentioned on my update to my original post.

First off...there is this exchange that is documented between Immoral Productions chief "Porno Dan" Leal and  FilmLA VP Todd Lindren regarding the scope of the new law regarding personal webcamming.  Remember that Leal's company was paid a surprise visit by LAPD Vice the night before, and cited for not having a valid permit under the new law.

The first speaker was Immoral Productions owner Dan "Porno Dan" Leal, who informed the Group that one of his independent contractors had been given a citation by one of the eight members of LAPD's Vice Division who arrived at the location, for shooting a live webcam show without a permit. Leal explained that since the citation has been issued because the show, which was not yet under way when the police arrived, was being done for commercial profit or gain, he surmised that every webcam performer in the city would not be required to get a permit from FilmLA, and asked the FilmLA representatives if that was correct?

"It has been consistent that any commercial production, including webcasts, needs a permit," responded FilmLA's Lindgren.

"So any webcam show shot by anyone in the city of Los Angeles will now need a permit, is that correct?" Leal asked.

"Has always needed a permit, right," Lindgren corrected him.

"Ergo, any married couple shooting in their house, who's shooting a webcam show for profit or gain, which by definition would be every single person that shoots webcam, would now need a permit, is that correct?" Leal pressed.

"Under the city ordinance, if it's for commercial purpose, it needs a permit," Lindgren stated.

"And therefore, they would need condoms under the new regulation, is that correct, that logic?" Leal continued.

"We're in the process of developing that specific—and I can't answer that question," Lindgren responded.

At that point, Santana cut Leal off, stating that the comment period wasn't supposed to include a question-and-answer dialog with Group members, leaving Leal to finish by stating, "We will be happy to comply with whatever the city decides to do."

In other words, it isn't just about intimidating the big studios into wrapping up anymore; it's about forcing condoms on everyone who does any form of adult sexual media for profit.

Indeed, it isn't even about condoms, come to think of it...since the new law now extends the requirement of a permit to include even homemade adult webcamming -- and remember, the new Cal-OSHA regs could potentially require "barrier protection" (read, dental dams and gloves) for girl-girl and even solo scenes) as a means of "protection" -- that means that ANYONE who does an adult webcam in the city of LA is now liable to be required to apply for a permit, or face stiff fines and even jail time.

Now, whether or not the city has the means or the will to enforce this equally on all is a legitimate issue, but the fact remains that the city now has that hammer with which they can stomp anyone not meeting Mike Weinstein's or Cal-OSHA's rigid standards of "protection".

And then, there is the real issue with the collection of such information in the filing and handling of permits. What about the risk of a potential permitter having their information exposed and used as blackmail against them, or exploited by antiporn groups wanting to banish them "for the sake of the children"?? And, what about the very real threat of public exposure of private cammers as a means of shaming them, or outing them to their families?

Anyone who doesn't see the potential mass violation of basic privacy and sexual liberties inherent in this law is either dense or blind. But, hey, they're all just ignorant sluts, and this is for their own good and protection, so who cares??

Of course, the folks who put forth this law in the first place will always complain that even that is not enough, and will volunteer their services to drop the hammer down that much stronger. Witness the testimony of the only AHF representative at this meeting, Mark McGrath, as documented by Kernes:

AIDS Healthcare Foundation's (AHF) Mark Roy McGrath spoke next, and began by claiming that during the investigation of the  2010 Derrick Burts HIV infection, the LA County Department of Public Health had no problem identifying "all the production companies, all the secondary producers... in quick, short order," charging that those companies "continue to violate California law, they continue to act as outlaw entities, and we feel that... it's time that this industry act with legal responsibility and show a modicum of corporate citizenship."

McGrath claimed that the law "does not distinguish between content, but on acts," adding that, "they can create any content they want that's simulated. This law is specifically looking at infectious disease transmission and exposure." (Of course, most adult content fans won't buy simulated sex, but that's not something that worries McGrath.)

While noting that neither he nor AHF is "happy with the draft language," he asked, "How is it going to be logged? How are we going to conduct these investigations? If the fire department and police camn't do it, where are we going to do a Request for Proposal?"

Of course, several prominent adult industry members have suspected all along that part of the reason AHF got the new ordinance put on the books was to eventually offer its services to the city as the only official "condom inspectors," so it will be interesting to see which entities respond to McGrath's suggested RFP.

First off...I thought that the 2010 outbreak featuring Derrick Burts took place in Florida, right?? And that there was really no investigation by either FilmLA or Cal-OSHA, but from the LA County Department of Public Health, which AHF had already dismissed as "stonewalling" to begin with??  (And, dare I mention that even Burts admitted that he was infected in a shoot where condoms were already used??)

And of course, McGrath would say that it's only about acts and that if producers wanted to show authenticity, then they could always rely on simulated sex. Yeah, right...like everyone's going to move over to late night Showtime or Cinemax to get their fix of losing bareback sex.

But, it's the last sentence that is the most important: since AHF obviously doesn't trust the LA Vice squad to enforce their condom mandate the way they want, they wouldn't mind getting paid by the city to do the enforcement themselves.

WOW...outsourcing the enforcement of a public law to a private for-profit entity....that'll go well, and won't be abused. Like bloody hell, it won't. Ask the victims of the original Porn Wikileaks.

To put it simply, this is the Swedish Model for sex work applied to porn, shifted a tad, and then jacked up to heights unknown. Julie Bindel and Gail Dines would proudly support this...and I'm sure that Gail will give her blessings next chance she gets to post a CounterPunch essay. Only thing missing is the "Real Men Don't Buy Bareback Porn" ads and celeb endorsements.

Neoliberal antisex censorship. Just like right-wing fundamentalist antisex censorship....but neoliberal.

Seriously, we have GOT to fight this. To the fucking WALL.

How Defective Condoms In South Africa Directly Affect The LA Condom Mandate (Or...Class, Capitalism, and Sloppy Seconds??)

[Also reposted over at my Red Garter Club blog]

This will take a bit of background to build to the main point..but it’s worth it, I promise. Just stick with me on this, Clones.

One of the many, many talking points put out by those who defend the LA condom mandate law is that since people — especially young people — look to porn as their only means of “sex education, and copy what they see in these videos, only showing condomized sex on screen or online will motivate them to use condoms in real life…and thusly, sexually transmitted diseases and infections will disappear, and global peace will reign supreme.

All that is fine and good….and promoting condom usage amongst the general public as a means of protection against both unwanted pregnancy AND STI’s is NOT a bad thing at all.

However..since condoms aren’t produced out of thin air, but made by corporations who exist first and foremost to make a profit, the inevitable question arises of: “What about the QUALITY of the condoms being issued to the general public? Are they of the top of the line, or are they merely the rejects and scrubs of the condom companies while the good, high-quality stuff remains on a store counter to be sold for an arm and a leg?”

That is not a unimportant question, because it’s the general public, and especially the poor and working class folk, who bear the worst burden of HIV and other STI infections, as well as the greatest risks…and if you are going to tell everyone that condoms are the best defense, you damn well had better insure that that defense isn’t corrupted or compromised.

Because if you slip that shit up, stuff like what happened in South Africa last week is bound to result.

This is what happens when quality control is pushed under the bus and dragged behind at expressway speed:

Some condoms burst. Others leaked like sieves. 

South Africa’s leading anti-AIDS group said Tuesday that allegedly faulty condoms are among more than 1.35 million handed out at the African National Congress’ 100th birthday party.

Health officials confirmed that all of those condoms have been ordered to be recalled. But the Treatment Action Campaign said no warning has been issued to people that they may have carried away defective condoms that could now cause them to unsuspectingly spread or contract HIV. South Africa has the world’s highest number of AIDS patients, some 5.6 million.

The third recall in less than five years raises questions about the quality of some of the 425 million-plus condoms that the government gives away each year, and the competence of the South African Bureau of Standards that is supposed to ensure their quality is up to international standards.

AIDS activist Sello Mokhalipi of the Treatment Action Campaign said he complained to the health department after “we had people flocking in, coming to report that the condoms had burst while they were having sex.”

Some were panicking because they were infected with AIDS and were concerned for their partners, he said.

Spokesman Jabu Mbalula of the Free State provincial health department, which distributed the condoms before the Jan. 6-8 celebrations, said they had recalled the entire batch of 1.35 million condoms around Jan. 18. He said there was no need for a panic.

But he was unable to say how many of the condoms were used or have been recovered.

In 2007, the government recalled more than 20 million defective condoms manufactured locally but recovered only 12 million. The Health Ministry said many of the condoms failed the air burst test.

That came after a recall the same year of 5 million defective and locally produced condoms. In that case, the Ministry of Health said a testing manager at the South African Bureau of Standards had taken a bribe to certify the faulty contraceptives.

[....]

South Africa recalls defective condoms (via SFGate.com)

Now, the article does not state whether the Republic of South Africa manufactures their own condoms, or whether they outsource them from a private manufacturer, but they do state that their Bureau of Standards is supposed to insure that whatever is distributed to the public meets their quality standards.

Apparently, they either looked the other way because they were willing to prove their main point, or they just slipped up on the job.

What does that have to do with the condom mandate law in LA, you ask??

Well…it’s an open secret that the major condom companies here in the US (Lifestyles, Durex, Trojan, et. al.) would just love to tap into the “pro condom”/”safer sex” mood for their own financial advantages. Remember that it was Lifestyles employees who were recruited as “protestors” to follow AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein’s “protests” against HUSTLER and other companies for not banishing bareback sex vids and wrapping their dicks. I would think that such companies would make a nice killing (no pun intended) from scoring exclusive sponsorships or deals with porn companies forced into condom-only vids in order to promote the “safer sex” memes in the larger public. Imagine “Announcing, the 2014 AVN Awards….Brought To You Byyyyyyyy…..DUREX CONDOMS!!!!!!” Or, better yet, imagine you favorite porn starlet sprouting a Trojan necklace and getting paid an endorsement fee for insisting on wrapping up her male partners. Kinda like the decals on the NASCAR racing cars, or the walking ads on World Cup soccer players, except sexier.

The problem with all that, though, is that most poor folk simply can’t afford to buy condoms off the shelf…especially not the top-of-the-line, quality stuff. So, they must go to the local clinic to get their protection…and while condoms there are indeed free, something tells me that they are also not quite so high on the quality factor. I mean, what’s to say that the condom companies don’t just dump their second- or even third-hand product on medical clinics to give to “the poor” while hoarding their quality stuff to sell for maximum profit?? It’s not as if food stores and major retailer chains don’t set the precedent of dumping their excess, close to shelf date product onto food shelters, right??

Do you now see the recipe for disaster here, gangstas and gangstrices??

Imagine if the condom law goes nationwide, thanks to the efforts of AHF and OSHA. Now, imagine AHF and Lifestyles getting a sweetheart deal with the city of LA and a major porn producing company (let’s use VIVID for an example) to put out “FREE CONDOMS!!!!!” to all citizens of that metropolis as a means of promoting “safer sex”. Now, imagine Lifestyles simply dumping its lower quality, excess product onto the streets of LA, using AHF perps to pass out the rubbers to the public.

And now, imagine one or two or five or fifty cases of condoms breaking during use, and as a result, someone gets infected with HIV. Or worse, a performer gets infected during a shoot because he/she didn’t know that the partner was infected but had to do the scene anyway…and the condom accidentally shatters during the main event.

Gee…I wonder how Mike Weinstein will react to THAT.

More importantly, how will this play in the minds of sexual reactionaries who will insist all along that condoms are simply another evil “sex pozzie” attempt to provide false protection for sexual depravity of the privileged wealthy at the expense of the poor, who are merely guniea pigs and cash cows for the “sexual elite”??

The very same arguments, BTW, are being used to slander Planned Parenthood, ACORN, and every other progressive service org delivered to the poor and working class without the approval of the Religious Right.

Be careful of what you ask for…

How To Run A Smear Campaign: The AHF War On Porn..Errrrrrrr...Condom Mandate Campaign EXPOSED Via Email Dump

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

LA Porn Panic 2012: The Requiem - LA City Council Clears Way For Condom Mandate Bill...The End Or The Beginning?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.