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Porn Condom Rule: LA to Require XXX Films to Use Condoms

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. | Last updated on

Condoms make porn less watchable, but the City of Los Angeles doesn't care.

California is home to a large chunk of the country's adult entertainment industry, with the majority of production happening in the San Fernando Valley. Since 2004, state law has required condom usage on set. This law, according to LA Weekly, has gone mostly unenforced.

Instead of using condoms, the industry has been policing itself. It set up the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, which runs a clinic funded by production companies. The clinic conducts health screenings for entertainers, reports The New York Times, and maintains a database that producers can check to confirm that actors have been tested for diseases within the last thirty days. Condoms are not part of the clinic's services.

County officials have repeatedly called the clinic's effectiveness into question, adds The New York Times. It was recently closed for two months after the county shut it down for licensing violations. This occurred after an entertainer tested positive for HIV.

On February 2nd, the county denied a request by activists to make condoms mandatory in the porn industry, citing legal enforcement problems. They primarily questioned how they would enforce it, pointing to the state's inability to already do so.

Porn can be filmed anywhere, presenting a myriad of problems. If officials can even locate sets--which only require a bed--they may not be allowed on the property. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches, which applies to porn sets. This means that officials may have to acquire warrants, which require showing of probable cause. This would be difficult to do.

The City of Los Angeles thinks differently. They believe that in porn, condoms should be mandatory. The city council voted to draft an ordinance requiring condoms on porn sets, reports LA Weekly. It also instructed its counsel to look into any legal barriers to implementation.

In response, the industry is threatening to leave or go underground, further notes The New York Times. Why? Because for those who make porn, condoms mean low viewership. And apparently for those who watch porn, condoms dull sensation.

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