Condoms: AHF to Target Florida Porn Industry with Health Complaints to State Officials

As Part of Its Ongoing Adult Film Worker Safety Campaign to Require Condom Use in Film Productions, Advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation Will Submit Health and Safety Complaints Under Florida ‘Sanitary Nuisance’ Statutes Against Florida’s Growing Adult Film Industry over Condom-Less Films

Group to Submit 10 Adult Films from 4 Florida Production Companies Filmed Without Condoms That Demonstrate Unprotected Exchange of Bodily Fluids which can be dangerous.

As part of its ongoing campaign to require the use of condoms in the production of adult films in an effort to reduce the spread of STDs including HIV, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a press conference tomorrow, Monday, January 11th at 10:30 AM to announce its filing of ‘sanitary nuisance’ health complaints with the Florida Department of Health over the fast growing Florida adult film industry’s lack of use of condoms in film production. The press conference takes place in Miami at AHF’s Biscayne Boulevard Out of the Closet thrift store and free HIV testing site (2900 N. Biscayne Blvd, cross street 29th St).

“We previously focused our campaign for adult film worker safety and condoms use by targeting producers and health and regulatory officials in California. In light of the tremendous growth of adult film production in Florida, particularly in Miami, and in response to repeated threats from California producers who say they will leave California and take their productions—and jobs—to other states including Florida, AHF decided to expand our adult film worker safety campaign to include Florida,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “This is why we are filing ‘sanitary nuisance’ complaints with Florida health officials: to press for the enforcement health statutes which we believe should require the use of condoms in all adult films produced in Florida.”

In August 2009, AHF filed similar adult film worker safety complaints against 16 California adult film production companies with Cal/OSHA, California’s workplace health and safety regulatory agency. AHF will support its Miami complaints—which will be filed under Florida ‘sanitary nuisance’ statutes (as the Sate of Florida does not have a designated occupational safety and health division) with 10 adult DVDs and additional internet streamed videos filmed or produced in the Miami area in which many performers do not wear condoms. The Miami-Dade complaints will assert that the films demonstrate unsafe—potentially life-threatening—behavior in a Florida workplace, as the sexual acts filmed without participating performers wearing condoms depict the unprotected exchange of bodily fluids.

“AHF sees it as our duty to pursue action on the issue of safety in the workplace—in these instances, unprotected sex acts taking place in albeit non-traditional workplaces in and around Miami—adult film sets located throughout Florida that are churning out billions of dollars of adult fare each year,” said Scott Galvin, a member of the Board of Directors of AIDS Healthcare Foundation and a City Council Member (District #1) in the city of North Miami. “I fully support this campaign to require condoms in all adult film production, and believe putting public pressure on Florida production companies via these complaints to health officials can only help the health and safety of performers who are forced to work in unsafe work conditions every day.”