Los Angeles: the city of angels … and boobs, big dicks and bukkake. The United States produces 80% of the world’s pornographic material and L.A. is our epicenter of porn production.

In January, a ground breaking
piece of legislation rocked the porn business’s world by being the first to
pass local regulation on the industry. Beginning April 16th 2012, all
adult film actors will be required to wear condoms while working in any L.A.-based
studio that requires a city film permit. The ordinance comes after years
of lobbying on behalf of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and a string of
HIV-positive porn stars.

Sex Out Loud, UW-Madison’s
peer-to-peer sexual health resource, held a “pillow talk” session in their
office on February 16th in commemoration of National Condom Week to discuss the
nuances of the law with students.

Students at the “pillow talk”
compared the condom law to federal seat belt regulations on automobile
companies. The United States has the
highest incidence of STIs of all industrialized nations; Chlamydia is now our
leading cause of infertility. Some might
argue this officially constitutes sexual health and STI prevention as a public
health concern meriting regulation.

Reactions to the ordinance are varied. Health agencies are rejoicing, while big names in porn production are infuriated. Christian Mann, the general manager of Evil Angels Productions says that politicians cannot “compel an industry to create a product that the market doesn’t want” and that this law is a violation of first amendment rights.

Drafters of the legislation
insist that the intent of the law is to protect the health of the workers.
Many places of employment include policies on safe work environments for
their employees. Reps from the Foundation say that this work just happens
to include sex. So how do the workers feel about the law? “They just want to get paid,” says one Sex Out Loud staff member.

The public reaction begs some key questions: Why don’t we want to see condoms in our porn? Would regularly seeing condoms being used in porn normalize their use in real life? What responsibility do porn producers have in shaping our views of sexuality, considering how many Americans use porn as their reference for sexual behavior? Is condom use already normalized among young people and should porn be left as an untouched realm of fantasy?

My own predictions? Since
the law only applies to one city within the larger county of Los Angeles,
production companies will likely just hop the border to avoid the law.
The law says nothing about distributing condom-less porn from within the
city, so long as it is not actually filmed there. Or directors may get
creative with their film edits to avoid showing the barriers, something I fear
could perpetuate visuals of incorrect condom use. Crown Lightly Lubricated condom sales, the
one used by most porn studios, will sky rocket and increase their prices,
propelling Crown into brand name recognition alongside Trojan and Durex. Since the law prohibits “ejaculation outside
of the workers’ bodies” and does not apply to studios not requiring film
permits, porn enthusiasts may see a decrease in cumshot scenes and a rise in
amateur genre. And if nothing else,
ass-to-mouth scenes will hopefully become much more sanitary.

To view the ordinance, click here: http://documents.latimes.com/los-angeles-porn-condom-ordinance-signed-mayor/

Comment below with your own thoughts on the condom law!