California voters rejected a ballot provision Tuesday that would have required all performers in porn movies to wear condoms, and created a variety of legal repercussions for filmmakers who did not comply. With 97 percent of precincts reporting in, Golden State voters opposed the measure by a margin of 54-46 percent.
The proposal was pushed as a matter of public health. Advocates argued that the regulation would have prevented sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Critics, including many porn performers, argued the proposal would have harmed the industry without protecting performers. The ballot measure was promoted by the nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which had reportedly spent $5 million to promote it.
“Finally good news,” tweeted Daily Beast columnist Aurora Snow, a former porn actress who opposed the measure.
In addition to requiring condom usage, the proposal would have created a state office to monitor the industry, created a licensing regime for the industry, and, in the most far-reaching aspect, would have empowered California residents to file civil suits against porn producers who didn’t use condoms.
Most U.S. porn films are produced in southern California, making it a significant industry in the state. The industry warned that if the measure passed, many companies would have likely moved out of the state. Both the state Democratic and Republican Parties came out against the measure.
“You’re incentivizing the viewer to sue us,” porn actor Tommy Gunn told the Hollywood Reporter.
Porn actress Carter Cruise said the condom requirement was not needed. “Supporters of Prop 60 claim that requiring condoms during porn production will help prevent the spread of [sexually-transmitted infections] and that it’s for the protection of performers. However, the industry already has a strict testing policy (albeit voluntary) and California has required porn stars to wear condoms since 1992,” she wrote in an op-ed for Nylon.
