Industry Reacts to Mandatory Condom Ordinance
LOS ANGELES — Adult producers reacted with strong feelings to the news that the L.A. City Council voted Tuesday (1-17-2012) to make condoms mandatory while filming within city limits.
The ordinance, when it goes into effect, will allow the LAPD to perform spot checks on any set once a film permit is issued.
As a result of the vote, officials from LAPD, Cal/OSHA and the city attorney’s office will make recommendations on how to implement the ordinance. The process of enforcement remains unclear.
Many studio executives contacted by XBIZ after the vote declined comment, however several others weighed in.
Steven Hirsch, founder/co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment, told XBIZ Wednesday, “History has shown that regulating sexual behavior between consenting adults doesn’t work. Testing procedures are already in place and have worked well for years. Vivid is a condom optional company and we leave it up to the performers to decide, without repercussion, whether or not they want to use condoms.”
Hirsch continued, “We don’t believe that trying to police thousands of movie sets a year is the best use of taxpayer money. Public funds should be spent on things that matter. We do not believe that this is a public safety or health issue, but rather an attempt to regulate an industry that is already operating quite well with self-regulation. We will look into our options.”
The City Council vote was a second procedural vote on the ordinance and required only a simple majority of the council to give final approval. The Free Speech Coalition said that it is in discussions with industry leaders and also considering options for next steps. Read the rest of the story >>
