Back in March, the mayor of Los Angeles signed a city ordinance requiring adult performers to wear condoms on all adult shoots within the city limits that required a film permit – which was a limited restriction, since few porn shoots shot in places where they needed a permit, and could just move outside the city. But on the ballot yesterday was Measure B, a law that would extend the ordinance county wide, which ended up passing, with 55.85 percent of the vote.

The measure would require producers of adult films to obtain a public health permit from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which could be revoked or suspended if county inspectors found on-set violations of the new law.
According to the measure, anyone on set found to be in violation of the law can be fined up to $1,000, jailed up to six months, or both, adding that each violation found will be punishable as a separate offense.
Producers would have to apply for the permits, prove they completed a training course on blood-borne pathogens and submit a plan for exposure control before they could receive a permit. [NBCLA]

The law was funded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, who poured $1.65 million into the campaign. Their own numbers cited eight cases of adult film-related HIV infections since 2004, only half of those having contracted it during adult films. And, as far as I can tell, none having contracted it while complying with current HIV-testing standards. Some of the retarded loopholes in those standards (which basically included having an HIV test every 30 days) included that they weren’t doing it in gay porn, despite 80 percent of new HIV infections coming from the gay community. Basically, instead of strengthening enforcement of the current standards, which were working when they were enforced, they created an entirely new one, which performers are probably going to avoid by shooting somewhere else anyway. As a Californian, I can assure you, this is a perfect example of California politics in action.

Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation which advocated for mandatory condom use, said it remains to be seen how the county plans to enforce the new law.

And remember, that’s coming from the guy who was trying the hardest to get it passed.

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A public health campaign in Southern California could soon change the way we masturbate.

In response to pressure from AIDS Healthcare Foundation officials, state regulators are poised to consider amending state law to require condom use in adult film production.
On Thursday, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health standards board is scheduled to consider a petition the foundation filed in December to change state law and require condom use and other safe sex protections for adult-film workers, including increased safety training and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
The foundation, a Los Angeles-based advocacy group, has been pressuring regulators and the porn industry to better safeguard the health of adult-film performers since an HIV outbreak among Los Angeles-based performers in 2004, Weinstein said. [LA Times]

Since I happen to know a little something about the porn industry, I know that the outbreak in question started with Darren James, who had been filming in Brazil.  When he came back, he took a test (currently required for all porn actors) too soon, it came back negative, and he ended up infecting a Canadian porn star named Lara Roxx, who’d only been in the business three months.  Yes, that really sucks.  But perhaps I’m biased, seeing as how I like seeing condoms in my porn about as much as I like seeing condoms in my poop (too far?), but it seems like requiring condoms in all porn is kind of like killing a gnat with a bazooka, when better testing regulations would do the trick.  Or maybe they should just stop filming scenes with such dirty sluts.  I mean half the time it’s right there in the title, they’re practically advertising it.

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I was looking for a clip of Mickey Rourke presenting at the BAFTAs when I covered it morning, because having seen the guy’s past award-show speeches (sample quote from last year’s BAFTA speech: “Thanks to Marisa Tomei.  It was brave of her to taker her clothes off… all the time… I enjoyed looking at her.”), I figured this one would probably be pretty good.  Sadly, so far, all I have is the short clip above, in which Rourke complains about not being able to see the teleprompter, then ask the audience:

“You want this bareback or with a raincoat?”

Which everyone knows is creepy uncle for “Shall I don a prophylactic?” So how say you, England?  And remember, no one likes a prude.  Anyway, the audience was said to have responded, “Whoa whoa whoa, Mickey, you’re just here to present an award, wearing a condom won’t be necessary.  Now a tie, that might’ve been nice…”

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I’m about as sick of hearing about Watchmen as a person could be, but I have to admit blue condoms is kind of clever.

A source told WatchmenComicMovie.com that he and his friends were “handed a few of these Watchmen condoms in Columbus, Ohio over Valentine’s Day weekend.”

The condoms come in a package that resembles a matchbook with the iconic blood-stained smiley badge on the front, and the film’s name and release date on the back.

When opened, the neon blue colored condom is presented in a clear plastic wrapper with the tagline, “We’re society’s only protection.”

I guess that’s better than my idea for Billy Crudup dildoes. Subtler, I suppose.  I tried to ask him if I could get a plaster mold, but he just kept acting all touchy about me being in his stall.  Well la di da your highness.

Friday Free For All is the time of the week when newsworthiness goes out the window and I post videos for no other reason than because I like them. Send your tips to lance@filmdrunk.com.

I feel bad bumping beltboy and his homeless ninja video again at the last minute, but I think you’ll agree that this Indian condom PSA sent in by Burnsy is pretty sweet. In it, Bollywood reminds Indians to use condoms in the way only Bollywood can: through elaborate song and dance numbers and a condom who pleads his case in the first person.

“I am good natured and provide satisfaction. I am for you do not neglect me. I help in stopping unwanted childbirth. I save you and increase longevity. I am the condom friend, ever useful to you.”

It’s a good thing he’s good natured. I mean, preventing disease and pregnancy and all that is pretty cool, but not if he’s gonna be a dick about it.

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