LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Safer sex advocates affiliated with AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), and the group, FAIR (For Adult Industry Responsibility), are pleased to announce that the office of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has completed and cleared a random sample of voter signatures on The California Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, a statewide ballot initiative that would expand the power of Cal/OSHA and local California public health departments to enforce condom use on adult film sets throughout the state. The Secretary of State’s office is projecting 414,423 valid voter signatures on the measure—enough for the Secretary to declare the initiative ‘eligible’ to appear on the November 2016 election ballot.
The measure is intended to prevent thousands of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that occur among performers each year in the industry and comes after nearly two dozen adult performers became HIV-infected while working in the industry between 2004 and 2014.
“We are extremely pleased to learn that Secretary of State Padilla has cleared the signatures on the California Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, our statewide ballot measure regulating condom use and safer sex practices in California’s adult film industry,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the citizen proponent of the state measure. “We submitted a total of 557,136 signatures in the fifty-eight counties throughout California in order to qualify the measure—almost 185,000 more than needed—so we were fairly confident that we would qualify; however, it is always heartening when it becomes official. We now look forward to the next steps, both in the Legislature and before voters in November 2016, if necessary if the Legislature fails to act, in the process of making this initiative the law of the land.”
What Happens Next with ‘Safer Sex in the Adult
Film Industry Act’ Ballot Initiative?
As to what happens
next with this ballot initiative (1668. 15-0004), here is a synopsis:
After the Secretary of State’s office announced earlier today that the projected number of valid signatures on the initiative crossed the 402K signature threshold (110% of the 365,880 signatures legally needed to qualify), the measure moved from the ‘signature verification’ stage on the Secretary of State’s website and is listed as being 'eligible for the ballot.’
‘Eligible’ is the new term that applies to initiatives during the time frame beginning today and ending when the measure formally “qualifies” for the ballot—131 days before the (November 2016) election.
However, during this eligibility time frame, California’s Legislature is now required under recently enacted law to conduct hearings on the measure, and Michael Weinstein (the citizen proponent of the measure) is permitted, if so desired, to withdraw the measure (i.e., if the Legislature passes and the Governor signs a similar law such that the measure no longer needs to be voted on by the people). If the Legislature fails to act before the 131-day window prior to the election, the measure will be placed on the November 2016 ballot.
California Statewide Condom Ballot Measure
The
California statewide condom ballot measure, known as ‘The California
Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act,’ is modeled on Measure B, a
similar measure officially known as the ‘County of Los Angeles Safer Sex
in the Adult Film Industry Act,’ which passed with overwhelming
voter support—57% to 43%—in the November 2012 election in
Los Angeles County. Initial polling on the proposed statewide measure
that was conducted in September 2014 suggests as many as 71% of the
state’s voters would back the measure.
"Porn producers tell the media that performers have a choice when it comes to condoms. What they don’t tell you is that if a performer wants a condom, they’re paid less. Sometimes, producers will fire you for asking. We’re replaceable. They’ll say, 'I have three girls waiting to take your place, and they’ll shoot without condoms.' So where’s the choice in that?" said Cameron Adams, a former adult film performer who became infected with HIV while working in the industry in August 2013. "I worked in the adult film industry for just a few months. Each month, the industry said I had to get tested for STDs and pay for them out of my own pocket. $300 a month. They told me testing would keep me safe. Prevent infections. What they didn’t tell me is that those tests aren’t complete. They miss infections all the time. Plus, testing doesn’t stop infections. Testing only tells you what you got. And I got HIV."
The advocates’ push for a statewide California law via ballot initiative came about as means to expand the safety regulations protecting adult film performers working anywhere in the state. It also came about after the delayed implementation and roll out of Measure B in Los Angeles—delays that advocates largely attribute to legal challenges from the adult film industry as well as bureaucratic indifference by L.A. County officials.
The adult industry filed a lawsuit soon after Measure B passed in 2012 alleging free speech infringement of the First Amendment rights of the performers and adult producers. However, in a December 2014 decision, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the adult industry’s First Amendment claims and upheld Measure B, noting that, “…Measure B, passed in 2012, was designed to address the spread of disease and is narrowly tailored to that end.”
The title and summary issued by the State of California for the measure reads as follows:
'The California Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act’
“Requires performers in adult films to use condoms during filming of sexual intercourse. Requires producers of adult films to pay for performer vaccinations, testing, and medical examinations related to sexually transmitted infections. Requires producers to obtain state health license at beginning of filming and to post condom requirement at film sites. Imposes liability on producers for violations, on certain distributors, on performers if they have a financial interest in the violating film, and on talent agents who knowingly refer performers to noncomplying producers. Permits state, performers, or any state resident to enforce violations. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Potentially reduced state and local tax revenue of millions or tens of millions of dollars per year. Likely state costs of a few million dollars annually to administer the law. Possible ongoing net costs or savings for state and local health and human services programs.(15-0004.)”
Confirmed support for the California “Safer Sex” 2016 ballot
initiative:
1 American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists - District IX
2 American Sexual Health Association
3
Beyond AIDS
4 California Academy of Preventive Medicine
5
California Communities United Institute
6 California State
Association of Occupational Health Nurses
7 San Francisco Medical
Society
8 Southern California Coalition for Occupational Safety and
Health
Policy supporters for condom use in the adult film industry:
1
American Medical Association
2 American Public Health Association
3
California Conference of Local AIDS Directors
4 California Division
of Occupational Safety and Health
5 California Employment Lawyers
Association
6 California Industrial Hygiene Council
7
California Medical Association
8 California Public Health
Association – North
9 California STD Controllers Association
10
Health Officers Association of California
11 Journal of Sexually
Transmitted Infections
12 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
13
Los Angeles County Medical Association
14 National Coalition of STD
Directors
15 Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
16
San Francisco City and County Department of Public Health
17
Ventura County Board of Supervisors
18 Western Occupational and
Environmental Medicine Association
19 WORKSAFE
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 495,000 individuals in 36 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare
