Porn performer tests positive for HIV, filming moratorium sought

Word of a porn performer’s HIV-positive results Friday prompted an industry group to call for a moratorium on filming and further fueled the debate over condom use in the industry.

The moratorium would be the third such shutdown this year.

“Are we still going to be having this argument when there’s the 10th shutdown or 20th? Or the 50th infection?” said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an advocacy group pushing for a statewide condom rule.

The Free Speech Coalition did not release the name or gender of the performer, but said the HIV-positive results came from a testing center in Los Angeles, and they are working to identify any first-generation partners.

“We take the health of our performers very seriously and felt that it was better to err on the side of caution while we determine whether anyone else may have been exposed,” said Diane Duke, the coalition’s chief executive.

There was nothing to suggest the case is linked to any from earlier this year, said Joanne Cachapero, a spokeswoman for the Free Speech Coalition.

The coalition called for a shutdown this summer after actress Cameron Bay tested HIV-positive. Eventually, a performer romantically linked to Bay, Rod Daily, announced on Twitter that he also was HIV-positive.

His announcement did not trigger a separate moratorium because it was not reported officially.

The second shutdown occurred in September, when an industry-affiliated doctor contacted the coalition with results of a third HIV-positive performer.

Weinstein said he hoped the call for the latest moratorium would nudge county officials, who he said were not diligently enforcing Measure B, the voter-backed law requiring condom use in adult films in Los Angeles County.

“The lion’s share of the responsibility of what’s going on now lies with government agencies, who aren’t enforcing the law,” he said.

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marisa.gerber@latimes.com