LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On the heels of successfully qualifying a City of Los Angeles voter ballot initiative tying distribution of adult film permits to condom use, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and members of the group FAIR (For Adult Industry Responsibility) today publicly laid out elements of their election strategy to shepherd the measure to victory in the June, 2012 election—the same election in California’s presidential primary will be decided.
As part of its ongoing campaign to require the use of condoms in porn films shot and produced in California in an effort to reduce the spread of STDs including HIV, advocates collected 70,889 signatures for the ballot measure, which would formally condition the issuance of adult film permits by the City of Los Angeles to condom use in adult films shot and produced in Los Angeles. Late last week, June Lagmay, the City Clerk for the City of Los Angeles officially certified the voter signatures that had been submitted, paving the way for the Los Angeles City Council to adopt the measure as written or allow the measure to be placed on the June ballot.
“We are pleased that the City Clerk certified our signatures for this ballot initiative for the June 2012 election,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation and one of the five named proponents of the ballot initiative. “Now, comes an equally challenging part: successfully shepherding the measure on to victory in June. Toward that end, we intend to bring our campaign for the ‘City of Los Angeles Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act’ citywide—to the Districts of each and every City Council Member. We plan to use this campaign as an opportunity to raise awareness about safer sex in general, and to focus specifically on worker safety and fairness, particularly the safety of these adult film performers. We also will cite the backing of most major medical and public health associations regarding condom use in adult films.”
Over the past year and a half, multiple organizations committed to protecting the public health have called for mandatory use of condoms in the production of adult films, including the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the California Conference of Local AIDS Directors, the California STD Controllers Association, the National Coalition of STD Directors, the National Association of City and County Health Officials, AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the California Medical Association.
In an unusual twist, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich earlier this month filed a lawsuit against the citizen proponents of the measure seeking to block it from being placed on a ballot. However, Cal OSHA’s Ellen Widess, (Chief, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Industrial Relations), took issue with the City Attorney’s assessment, noting in an email to a Deputy City Attorney that, “We (Cal/OSHA officials) remain convinced that the City of Los Angeles is not preempted by Cal/OSHA from asserting its authority to protect the health of employees and others, including volunteers, who may be exposed to health hazards in L.A.’s adult film industry. We believe that cities and counties can regulate under their police power unless specifically restricted by something else…”
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the US’ largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 124,000 individuals in 26 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. www.aidshealth.org