Originally posted on Peeperz
Porn performer Alia Janine is here to discuss the folly of Measure B from the inside perspective of a pornstar, take it away Alia:
With a little over 2 weeks away from voting day, the political “mud slinging” has done everything but slow down. Between the made up names of “Obamalogna” and “RomneyHood,” and just recently, Romney’s “binders full of women,” it is easy to say this election year is different, maybe even special.
If you look a little further down the government food chain at Los Angeles County, you will see something just as ridiculous as Romney’s attempts to discredit President Obama’s “ObamaCare” after he had passed an extremely similar law in Massachusetts. You will see billboards the AIDS HealthCare Foundation’s (AHF), “Yes On B” campaign paid for that say, “Pornographers Say No On B.” “What the hell is “B” and why is the AHF that say “yes” saying pornographers say “no?”” You ask. Those are fabulous questions! I’m sure you have more, and I am here to answer them for you!
“What is B?”
B, better known as Measure B, the “Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act” was something falsely petitioned by Michael Weinstein President of the AIDS HealthCare Foundation (AHF) and his Foundation early last year. It is a mandatory condom law for all Adult Performers that live and work in LA County (all1500 of us). I say falsely petitioned because the people collecting the signatures were not exactly honest with the people signing.
Instead of telling people they wanted all Adult Performers to have to wear condoms while performing in adult films, they were asking people if they think college students should use condoms, or if people think condoms are good, and things of that nature. Of course, condoms are good! Anyone that tries to say otherwise is an idiot. That, however, is NOT the point, not for the Adult Industry at least, because it is not just condom use they want to enforce- they want dental dams, goggles, and so much more. Turning pornography utterly sterile. Complete pun intended.
This fraudulently obtained petition has, for the first time, placed an industry’s health regulations in the hands of the general voting public. Not just an “industry” though, each individual person that performs within that industry. The general public is not just voting on whether “performers” should have to wear condoms, but whether each individual person is component enough to make decisions concerning our own bodies, our own health, and the way we want to make a living. The general public voting our right choice, the general public is on our Constitutional Rights.
“Why is the Adult Industry against condoms? Do they want to be protected?”
For starters, the Adult Industry isn’t against condoms. As a matter of fact, the industry has such companies as Wicked Pictures, that not only is one of the leading companies in the industry but is 100% condom use only. Yet they still say “No on B.” And yes, of course, we want to be protected! What a silly question, but we also want to be able to have a choice. The Adult Industry has one of, if not the leading stringent STI testing programs in the world. Performers are required by law to be tested every 14/28 days in order to perform adult films. Without a clean and verified test, performers cannot perform. Many adult performers might have discovered STD tests through a range of std testing coupon websites to ensure that they get the right testing at the right price. Keeping a close on sexual health is important for everyone, especially if you’re an adult performer.
Being a performer, a college educated woman, and a sexually responsible adult I can vouch for our testing program. It prevents and protects us from contracting and spreading something from and to other performers. Let’s not forget to mention that almost all porn sets have condoms readily available for anyone to use, anytime. The ONLY way an STI can get into the Adult Industry is when someone is irresponsibly sexually active with someone outside of the Adult Industry.
Condoms are not 100% effective, they can even cause more harm than good because of the type of sexual actives we have. Condoms are not built to work with all pornographic performances. Condoms can cause dryness, that can cause tearing. Many females are allergic to latex as well, and many condom companies do not make nonlatex condoms in larger sizes that are need for many male performers. If a performer wants to use a condom though, that is their right and their choice. I have used condoms in scenes because I wanted too, and I have performed in scenes without condoms because I wanted too. It’s about having a choice. It’s about having the right to control our own bodies.
“Why is the AHF so hellbent on getting Measure B passed? Why did they spend so much on their campaign and where did they get the funds from?”
With over $4million spent on the “Yes On B” campaign, with the funds coming from the AIDS HealthCare Foundation itself, you can say the AHF is telling the Adult Industry to take their multi-billion dollar industry and shove it. Why else would they spend money on the infamous, “Pornographers Say No On B” billboards? As my dear friend Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals says, to shame us. They are even paying a former performer that contracted HIV in his personal life, $7,500-$10,000 per appearance to endorse “Yes on B.” The AHF failed to mention any of that in their commercials though. Yet they say they are concerned for our health and are trying to protect us? I do think so.
If Measure B should pass, producers and performers will not only be subject to fines, but possibly up to 6 months in jail for not using a condom and other protective gear. This is not just about performers health and safety, this is about destroying a multi-billion dollar industry. Besides destroying the very Constitutional foundation pornography is built on, it will cost Los Angeles tax payers roughly $300k just to start the program. Makeup artists, film editors, photographers, driving services, set builders, local restaurants and businesses, and so many others will lose income and will drive the already unstable local economy down. Of course, Michael Wientstien and the AHF will profit immensely from all of the condom endorsements, how convenient for them.
“Couldn’t the AHF use the $4million for something more productive? What is the Adult Industry doing about all of this?”
Obviously the AHF could have used the $4million for something more productive than wasting it on 280 local performers in forcing them to use condoms. They could have spent it to help medicate HIV and AIDS infected people, they could have used it for the research of the prevention drugs, and cure that are being worked on now and accomplishing rapidly.
Healthy people do not make money though, so the AHF refuses to support the research of these new prevent drugs and cure. Why else wouldn’t the AHF support the them? They may have found a cure for HIV, and the AIDS HealthCare Foundation itself does want to support it? Instead, they choose to waste $4million trying to tell people the most tested and protected industry is at risk and unsafe. Why, because the condom endorsements are the only thing that will keep them from becoming a support group instead of the multimillion dollar foundation they are now. That just my guess though.
Many members of the Adult Industry have been speaking out against Measure B. Performers like myself, Nina Hartely, Kimberly Kane, and Sarah Shevon have attended meetings and have been speaking out against it dating to last year. Industry bloggers and activist like Sean Tompkins and Michael Whitearce have been digging up dirt and telling people what Michael Wientstien is actually about. Adult Industry lawyer Michael Fattorosi has helped explain the law, what it means, and what it will do to the industry.
The Free Speech Coalition (FSC, the Adult Industry’s guardian of sorts) along with entertainment companies, local business organizations and others, hired James Lee to run their campaign, “No On Government Waste” to help educate the general public about our testing and the economic damages this measure can cost if past. While people like Tompkins, Whiteacre, and myself started a grassroots campaign to further help educate the general public about the performer’s right to choose, our testing, and the economics of it. We are literally going door to door passing out flyers about the measure.
Many more members of the Adult Industry have started speaking against the measure like Tera Patrick, Ron Jeremy, and James Deen because they believe in the right to choose and the right to make a living off of the sexual creations we all help create that are protected under the Constitution. The LA Times, LA Daily Breeze, and the Daily News Los Angeles all endorse “No on B” because they see the measure as “being redundant and a could harm an important local industry…” Many members of local organizations are also speaking out.
It is safe to say that Michael Wienstien of the AHF’s “Yes on B” campaign is actually not that far off from Mitt Romney’s Presidential campaign. They both want the Adult Industry destroyed, they both want to take away people’s right to controlling their own bodies, and they are both looking to make a lot of money while others suffer because of it.
Adult Performers are not just “performers…” We are mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, and brothers. We are functioning members of society, living and working like everyone else. We are Americans, and we should have the right to choose. We are pornographers, and we say “NO on B,” and so should you.
For more information visit NoOnGovernmentWaste.com
Make your voice heard on Twitter: #NoOnMeasureB
See how your favorite pornstar is fighting back: PerformersForChoice.com
Alia Janine on Twitter: Twitter.com/Alia_Janine