A Fourth HIV Positive Porn Star? Industry Trade Group Refutes Claims
The porn industry called for a second moratorium on shooting on Friday after a third unnamed performer tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Now, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an advocacy group, says that a fourth performer contacted the organization last week, claiming to have also tested positive for HIV. The adult film industry, however, is calling these claims false.
Concerns over HIV infection originally arose when 28-year-old porn star Cameron Bay tested positive for HIV, bringing the porn industry to a standstill, and causing the porn industry trade group, The Free Speech Coalition, to call for a weeklong moratorium. Almost two weeks later, Bay’s boyfriend of a year, Rod Daily, who is also an adult entertainer, announced via Twitter that he had also been infected with the disease. There wasn’t another moratorium, however, because his case was not officially reported to the group. On Friday, a third performer came forward saying that she had tested positive for HIV—the Free Speech Coalition says he didn’t work with Bay or Daily.
Now, Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, told the LA Times that the organization was “approached by a male performer who told us he had tested positive.” However, he withheld any other details and said that the question of whether the performer contracted HIV through porn was missing the point of the question. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation successfully led a 2012 campaign to require condoms in porn productions in Los Angeles County, however, public health officials haven't done much to enforce the requirement, The Guardian reported. Now, the organization is pushing for a statewide requirement.
The Free Speech Coalition, however, denies these claims. “None of the facilities, nor the doctors associated with the facilities, have any results of a fourth performer testing positive. This information came from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, who is currently trying to push regulation on the industry, and has, on many occasions, reported false information to the media to advance their political agenda,” the website says.
“Just last month, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation started a media frenzy and industry scare over false information of a positive syphilis result claiming an “outbreak,” when in reality, no performers were positive for syphilis.”
The Los Angeles County Health Department logged over 3,200 cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea between 2004 and 2008. Additionally, the department reports that up to one-fourth of all performers are diagnosed with at least one of either infection each year. When it came to cases of HIV, the department found that eight adult performers were employed in the industry at the time of their diagnosis between 2004 and 2010, with four of them becoming infected during the production of a film.
The industry currently requires performers to be tested monthly, but the coalition is considering more frequent tests, shortening the in-between time from 28 to 14 days.