Los Angeles voters decide porn actors must wear condoms
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR AIDS Healthcare Foundation - Supporters of Vote Yes on B in Los Angeles, the condoms in porn measure on the November ballot led by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, hand out voter information and free condoms on L.A's famed Sunset Strip on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Los Angeles, Calif. After an all day caravan to five cities throughout Los Angeles. The 'Yes on B' caravan covered 137 miles through Hollywood, Long Beach, Northridge, Canoga Park and West Hollywood handing out 150,000 condoms with only ten days before election day. (Photo by Joe Kohen/AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation) (AP)
Los Angeles County voters chose safety Tuesday night when they approved a requirement that all porn actors wear condoms -- a move that adult film workers complain will put a massive dent into a booming industry.
With 100 percent of the county's precincts reporting, "Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act'' -- or Measure B -- passed 56 percent to 44 percent.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which sponsored the initiative, said the measure will help safeguard public health as well as porn workers' health.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is a major referendum on the subject of safer sex," AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein reportedly said in a statement.
Opponents, largely members of the porn film industry, which is based in Los Angeles, claim the business polices itself and no one has contracted HIV on a film set in the United States since 2004.
The industry says performers are already required to undergo monthly HIV tests.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Film producers also say the measure could prompt the $1 billion industry to leave Los Angeles, taking thousands of jobs with it.
"Safe sex practices are a good idea. However, they shouldn't be forced on adult film actors,'' according to a ballot argument against the measure. "Our individual rights have been fading fast since the Patriot Act. Do-gooders such as New York Mayor Bloomberg seek to create a nanny state where our behavior is increasingly regulated for our own good.''
"So will the producers just stop making these films? No. They will likely move to areas where they have the freedom to make the kinds of films they want to make,'' according to the ballot argument.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.