Supporters of mandate on condoms in porn seek 2016 initiative

An effort to require condom use in adult films made in California may be coming to the 2016 ballot.

After two unsuccessful attempts to pass a statewide mandate in the Legislature, advocates for the requirement are launching an initiative campaign. If they collect enough signatures to qualify, the measure would be put before voters in 2016.

In 2012, voters in Los Angeles County approved Measure B, which requires condom use in adult movies filmed in the county. It passed by a 14-point margin.

Michael Weinstein, president of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said his group’s polling shows it would be “even stronger at the state level.”

The foundation had pushed two bills in the Legislature, most recently earlier this year. Supporters said required use of condoms and other protective barriers would stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among adult film performers.

But the measures faced fierce opposition from some in the adult film business, who argued that the industry’s current testing standards do enough to prevent the spread of disease. They also said production companies would leave California if condom use was mandated. The measures died in committee each time.

Weinstein said it is possible his group would work on another bill, but did not want to be “held hostage to that process.”

“We’ve gone through the process and we’ve been thwarted,” Weinstein said. “We believe the public has a right to vote on this.”

Diane Duke, president of the Free Speech Coalition, an industry group that opposes the condom requirement, said Weinstein is “resorting to the ballot initiative process because he can’t get it done any other way.”

“His campaign has failed multiple times in the Legislature, it’s has been opposed by HIV outreach and LGBT groups, it’s been opposed by civil rights groups, it’s been opposed by newspaper editorial boards and, most importantly, it’s been opposed by performers,” she said in a statement. “Why? Because the bill not only takes away performers’ control over their own bodies, it pushes the industry out of California and underground, making performers ultimately less safe.”

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