A measure mandating the use of condoms on all adult film sets in California will remain on California’s fall ballot after its proponents declined to withdraw it prior to Thursday’s deadline.
The California Condoms in Pornographic Films Initiative will remain on the state’s November 8 ballot after it collected the required number of signatures in November 2015.
The measure would mandate condom use on all adult film sets in California and would require pornographic film producers to pay for performer vaccinations, medical examinations and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
The measure would also allow any California resident the ability to enforce the law by reporting violations by performers or producers who fail to make condoms visible in their films to state regulators, a provision that the adult film industry believes is far too strict.
“Even if you think the adult film industry needs to have stricter condom laws, this isn’t the way to do it,” adult performer Ela Darling told the Los Angeles Daily News. “It’s about our personal privacy and our safety.”
The measure has its roots in 2012’s Measure B, which mandated condom use on all adult film sets in Los Angeles County. Both that measure and the upcoming statewide measure were sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and its president, Michael Weinstein.
Critics of the measure, including porn industry trade groups like the Free Speech Coalition, contend that Weinstein wants to make himself into a self-styled “porn czar” who could single-handedly monitor and enforce violations against all adult films shot in California.
The measure’s financial impact statement predicts the state of California could lose tens of millions of dollars annually in state and local tax revenue if it becomes law, while the initiative could also cost the state “a few million dollars” per year in administration fees.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has contributed more than $2 million to promote the initiative, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission. The measure’s opponents have not yet reported any financial contributions in their effort to stop it.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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