Los Angeles, California–Controversial president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Michael Weinstein, aims to be California’s first “porn czar” by passing a 2016 ballot measure, which he wrote, to monitor all adult film sets in California to make sure male performers wear condoms.
The ballot would appoint Weinstein as a deputy to Attorney General Kamla Harris and pay him as a state employee to monitor condom usage, review raw footage of adult productions, and file lawsuits, if necessary, against anyone involved in the production who has a financial interest, including producers, distributors and agents.
Friday in an exclusive to Breitbart News, documentary filmmaker and a spokesperson for the Free Speech Coalition, Michael Stabile, said that the newly created “porn czar” would have unlimited ability to harass adult businesses and would result in the establishment of censorship boards and vice squads.
Stabile said in an article in Eros Media that Diane Duke, head of the Free Speech Coalition, was appalled by Weinstein’s power grab. She told Stabile, that he is planning on using taxpayer funds to pay not only himself, but a group of appointed auditors to monitor the films. “Weinstein has waged a 10-year personal crusade against the adult industry and now wants tax payers to pay him to control it. I’m speechless,” she said.
This isn’t Weinstein’s first time trying to monitor the Adult Film Industry says Stabile. A bill last year, AB1576, was defeated in the state legislature. Moreover, he pointed out that since 2004 there has not been a HIV transmission on a regulated adult film set. The industry mandates that performers test every two weeks for a comprehensive examination of STIs, including HIV.
The Free Speech Coalition reported on Thursday that the proposed ballot measure would redirect millions of dollars that would otherwise go to HIV care and prevention to fund Weinstein’s “personal obsession” with the porn industry.
The legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government estimate that the measure would potentially reduce state and local tax revenue of millions or tens of millions of dollars per year. Moreover it would likely cost a few million dollars annually to administer the law.
Kamala Harris the Attorney General of California summarized the ballot measure as the following:
Requires performers in adult films to use condoms during filming of sexual intercourse. Requires producers of adult films to pay for performer vaccinations, testing, and medical examinations related to sexually transmitted infections. Requires producers to obtain state health license at beginning of filming and to post condom requirement at film sites. Imposes liability on producers for violations, on certain distributors, on performers if they have a financial interest in the violating film, and on talent agents who knowingly refer performers to non complying producers. Permits state, performers, or any state resident to enforce violations.