L.A. County To Vote On Whether Porn Actors Must Wear Condoms

In a classic case of where government regulation and public health concerns must be balanced against individual liberties and business interests, voters in Los Angeles County will decide in November whether porn actors will be required to wear condoms during their film shoots. 

The advocacy group, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is behind the proposal, which received enough signatures to get on the ballot. 

This issue became a concern after porn actors and actresses have been found to have infected fellow performers with sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and AIDS. 

According to Reuters, the initiative “would require porn producers to get a health permit from Los Angeles County to make their movies showing explicit sex and nudity,” and “using condoms on the set would be a requirement of the permit, whether the shoot was in a studio or elsewhere.”

If Los Angeles County voters approve the measure, many porn businesses may, like other businesses that have been over-regulated in California, move out of Los Angeles — and, in particular, the San Fernando Valley — to places like Nevada or Florida where such laws are much looser or nonexistent.