The adult industry testing program is a Harm Reduction program. That means you simply accept that participants in the program are putting themselves and their partners at risk, and they are taking minimal to no precautions to avoid those risks.
Contrary to what you might read, you don’t get tested before you’re allowed to work. You get tested after you work, to see if you caught anything, and are then removed from the pool of workers. This was the basis for the ‘gentlemens agreement’ of performers when AIM was first established. After working for 30 days you come in and get tested. If you’re clean its back to work, if not, you get medicated, retest, and then back to work.
But one part of this particular Harm Reduction program is severely broken. When this program in the straight porn industry was established a major component of the program was the seperation between the gay and straight industry. That seperation no longer exists, as the recent press release from APAC has confirmed. The risk level of straight industry performers is ill served by the current system, where agents and producers knowingly hire males that are also performing in gay productions.
A perfect example of this is Derrik Burts. I use Derrik as an example not to bash him, but to show that this could have been anyone in his shoes. When Derrik was infected he gave a list on names of his industry sexual partners to AIM. That list included performers in the gay and straight industries. Two of Deriks gay industry contacts were contacted by AIM. They both told AIM that they don’t need to come in and test, they had both been HIV+ for more than two years. The agents who booked them, and the producers that hired them were fully aware of this. Then that same agent went and booked Derrik for straight industry shoots.
Again, as APAC has stated, there is no more seperation of the industries, and without this major component of the Harm Reduction program not being honored any longer renders the entire program much less effective. EVERYBODY in the porn industry is at the same risk level as the riskiest peron in the pool. Ladies, think about that next time you’re shooting a scene with a guy who did 3 gay industry gigs in the last week, and you’re being told that his two week old test says its ok.
28 Responses
A Major Flaw In The Testing System http://t.co/CKryvo7Ycl
Why is this even a post? The dum dums in the porn industry don’t want condoms. They’re fine risking their lives for a few hundred bucks. Stop blaming it on gay guys, escorts, whatever. If you have sex without a condom you’re going to out yourself at risk for a std. We learned this in 4th grade.
I would like to correct one thing. Before starting work (at least in the straight end of the biz) most (if not all) producers do require a VD panel test (HIV, chlamydia, etc.) nowadays. However, the point about gay and straight policies being different is a problem. I think the gay end of the biz should require testing and serosort, poz with poz and negative with negative with the those that are positive not working with those that are negative. I cannot agree with mandatory condoms, however, for the problems I have discussed numerous times here on Mike South’s blog inclulding chafing and condom breakage after chafing causing a vastly increased risk of VD transmission over no condom at all or use of a condom only for the short periods of time civilians do.
It is unfortunate that Derrick Burts, Cameron Bay, Rod Daily, etc. ended up HIV positive (whether it was transmitted on a set or in their personal lives). It is also unfortunate that AHF ended up stuck with some of the bills (with Obamacare that problem should lessen now that they will be eligible for insurance either through Medi-Cal or a private insurer although Medi-Cal doesn’t exactly pay well). The Ryan White act in CA also provides assistance with HIV related expenses if income is below approximately $46K annually for services through the county Department of Health (at least in Marin, other CA counties are supposed to have simlar programs), especially important for areas without AHF or another charity offering services (again, like Marin).
However, condoms are not the solution guys. I think the best we can reasonably do is serosorting and harm reduction through frequent testing. Producers should pay for the testing and have workman’s comp for any HIV cases that can be proven happened from a porn set. The talent should have the option to use a condom and lube if he/she wishes (as we have seen that option would not likely be used much). VD tests should be exchanged before a scene starts. Condoms should not be forced on people, however.
@MHarris, Your first sentence here is a perfect desctiption of a major part of the problem. The testing system has NOTHING to do with producers, It is a HARM REDUCTION program for those who participate in it. Producers do NOT participate in the program. Just requiring tests of their performers(employees) is NOT participation in the program.
The program is among the performers,,,,yet producers claim that the PERFORMER program covers their asses. If producers want to make any claim to the program,, then let them pay for it, on which we agree.
In the beginning, ALOT of producers were AGAINST a comprehensive testing program, for financial, and liability reasons.
Testing is a PERFORMER issue, fuck the producers. Maybe APAC will grow some balls and take this issue of their health out of the hands of FSC, who represents producers, not performers. The FSC’s interest in the testing is to cover the asses of PRODUCERS, not performers.
WAKE THE FUCK UP apac!!!! Or are you just another bunch of stooges, toeing the party line, and covering the producers asses, in order to keep getting the minimal amount of jobs available to performers.
If APAC was a serious organization, they would make producers paying for testing their number one priority. Until then they are a nothing organization, or, they could prove me wrong,which I doubt will ever happen.
Harm reduction IG needle exchanges for IV drug users and other life saving harm reduction such as narcan via Good Samaritan laws etc are effective but in no way associated with a workplace. Volunteers as well as employees handing out free harm reduction kits have to go thru training and document the methods used to prevent accidental exposure to the harms they are helping to mitigate.
Harm reduction no way equates to workplace prevention. The fact that FSC & APAC continue to support ‘harm reduction’ vs workplace safety is exactly why mainstream still associates porn with homelessness, diseased IV drug using addicts.
Condom chaffing = bullshit kool aid only made better with the fact that its proponents say condoms are just fine for MSM. The vagina is anatomically designed for penetrative sex with thick flexible walls vs the anus with its much more delicate tissue. Dicks any smaller on gay sets? Do they limit penetration time to avoid chaffing? Would love to hear kool aid stand version of why HIV is so much easier to transmit anally vs vaginally. Or why HepC isn’t considered a vaginal sex risk but is an anal sex risk. Hemorrhoids hang on causing tons of irritation long after vaginas have healed from popping out nine pound babies….lmao smh 🙂
I agree that the FSC is the wrong entity to coordinate performer VD testing. The defunct AIM system was a bit better but the wrong people were involved with keeping it running. I don’t have a perfect solution for that considering some in California are attempting to run the industry out of the state with condom laws (meaning the government can’t legitimately be tasked with VD testing administration). I would rather see another non-profit not mainly tasked with protecting producers set up a viable VD testing regime than for the FSC to operate it. However, Sharon Mitchell, fake Ph. D. and her flunkies need to be kept at least ten states away from the administration of it.
To start an AIM like agency with internal in-house testing and education it would likely cost at least $1 million (to pay for the building rental and renovation, equipment, supplies, salaries and testing costs until revenue starts, etc.). If testing and verification were contracted out to Talent Testing Service (they do have a good system if everyone were to use it) an oversight/education non-profit could be started cheaper (a good DVD explaining risks and explaining how porn works could be produced for $10K or so, appropriate protocols could be created by actual uninterested medical personnel for about $10K, paying an administrator to oversee the system, etc.). As you can see, this is a touchy subject that needs to be taken care of properly — something I don’t see Diane Duke and her in-house boyfriend doing.
Wow 10k for a DVD guess you missed APAC remake of AIM Porn 101.
Noticed glossed over condom chaffing vs tender assholes. 😉
Calling mharris127 out yet again for his bullshit about condom chafing/breakage. He also thinks the average sex sesh for nonindustry ppl is 10 minutes. Not surprising considering he hasn’t been laid since Bill Clinton left office. Stick to shilling for Kink, Matt. 😉
It seems this post pretends that Peter North never happened: he shot loads of gay porn as Matt Ramsey at the same time as straight porn. And that was until 1988 right smack during the epidemic.
So both industries never were completely sealed off from one another. This isn’t a new development!
Every time I read about those hundreds of rampaging male performers (it always sounds like those are the numbers we are talking about) that shoot both gay and straight porn at the same time endangering everybody I want to ask: could we have their names and quantity please?
From the top of my head, among the performers that are active now I can only name Ryan Driller who made a clean break from his past employment and that’s it! So he alone is propagating that life-threatening habit?
And who knows among the active male performers who haven’t shot gay porn but could be bi in their private lifes or could accept the substantial amounts that gay patrons would be offering them to take the jump as escorts? Why are those not singled out/stigmatised?
If the answer is “they’re really, really rare so they don’t count”, I still want to hear about the dozens upon dozens of performers that allegedly straddle both worlds. If they are equally rare, then they don’t get to count either, wouldn’t you say?
Also I thought that 14 days was the new testing window, why does it 30 in the post?
The real truth is that most performers are resisting the 14 day testing and prefer 30 day testing, most companies are OK with 30 day testing and the ones that want 14 day testing are paying a 20 dollar increase passed straight to talent when booked through SOME agencies. The thing that surprised me a little was that the talent is almost universally against 14 day testing and bitch about it constantly. Take what you will from that…
Go fuck yourself, Hop. I will take many multiple porn performers word over yours. When you get your (likely nonexistent since if I recall Hop is a man’s name) pussy fucked with a condom for three hours straight then you can argue that many multiple porn performers are wrong. At least I am honest about not having a pussy and not being able to speak from personal experience.
As for not having been laid since Bill Clinton left office, isn’t that a bit of a stretch for you and your buddies Michael Weinfuck and Izzy “Prick” Hall?
Although the APAC version is much better than nohing one thing AIM did well is their introductory videos. That is what I would like to see updated.
Take = performers don’t want or can’t afford to be on hook for 2x the monthly cost for a protocol they weren’t consulted about or offered a say in its implementation.
As Mharris fully knows, any performer who does not toe the industry condom line will simply never be hired again. Having spent years at AIM i can assure you that many, many, many performers would LOVE the opportunity to use condoms. Like Ernest Greene wrote over 20 years ago when discussing condoms,”…Producers simply stopped giving employment to those they considered agitators.”
This condom chaffing thing, you have got to be kidding. NEVER was this argument ever mentioned until recently. It is patently absurd. But this is one of those lines that the industry has decided to repeat over and over again in the hopes that people eventually accept it as true. The problem is, when this tactic is used it is usually something that is at least semi believable, but this statement does not even pass the laugh test.
Having had conversations, in the confines of a private medical facility with tons of porn performers, you can rest assured that alot of them would rather have the option of protecting themselves. Mharris, you cant bullshit me on this subject, I helped write the book!!!
I will concede that those that insist on condoms are not able to work for some companies. I disagree with those companies stance as I have said numerous times. I believe in condom optional which is also the policy of both Kink and Vivid. Wicked is condom mandatory, their lack of talent working for them leads me to believe that their condom mandatory stance keeps performers from being willing to work for them (it seems like their movies always star the same people, yes they have contract performers but still hire 6-8 independent contractor performers per movie). I will also concede that some performers told you privately that they would prefer to use condoms. I will also concede that in addition to the 30 or so LA based performers that went to speak to the Legislature about 6-8 Kink employees went as well (mainly production), taking the train from SF to Sacramento and back, making a day of it. I don’t know if Peter paid for the train tickets and meals or if Madeline, Lorelei, Fivestar, Danarama, et. al. paid for their own. However, when at least 30 performers spend their own money to go to the CA Legislature and say that condom chafing is a problem I believe it. They could have just stayed home and kept their mouths shut if they disagreed with that statement rather than spending their own time and money to fight the pieces of legislation mandating condoms. If it would have been just a statement to journalists at the AVN awards I would be more apt to believe you that condom chafing is not an issue but no one is going to spend money for gas or airfare ($250 or so for a coach seat from LAX to SAC and back), a hotel room (assuming splitting with one other performer about $100 for two days hotel) and restaurant meals (two days worth, about $75) along with lost work at about $1000 a day (you can multiply that by at least two) to fight something and declare publicly under oath that condom chafing is a real issue — the crux of this is that essentially you are claiming that they lied under oath to the legislators about that issue and spent/lost $2425 each in doing so. I for one won’t spend $2425 of my own money to lie for anyone, I don’t think any of them would either.
LOL, with all due respect Harris, you just jumped the shark. Regarding Wicked,,,,”Wicked is condom mandatory, their lack of talent working for them leads me to believe that their condom mandatory stance keeps performers from being willing to work for them.”
Harris, you have written some pretty good things, and some pretty ridiculous things, but that one statement takes the cake.
While you may believe in ‘condom optional’ the fact is thats a fantasy. It doesnt exist. How can something that does not exist be used as an argument against anything?
And you will concede that ‘some’ performers, in private, are honest about wanting condoms, try a whole lot of performers.
Under oath, I do not believe that you take an oath before testifying at an assembly committee hearing. I might be wrong on that, but I dont think so.
Mharris, like I said above, you cant bullshit me on this subject. Nobody can bullshit me on this subject. I lived in the eye of the storm for years, and directly, firsthand, dealt with the consequences of the industry’s policies, or lack of policies. Here’s the differnce between you and I,,,,In my opinion,,,your opinion comes from the stance of defending the policies of the adult industry,,,,,,mine comes from a medical perspective from what I witnessed FIRSTHAND for years, and from what I HEARD, directly from performers, FIRSTHAND for years.
@jilted
Lol mharris will concede everything EXCEPT the delusional kool aid he’s been into again.
You do take an oath before testifying to the US Congress. I haven’t ever testified to the CA Legislature nor watched a person testify so I assumed it is the same. If an oath is not taken before testimony than IMO it is just an exercise in attempting to convince the legislators that you are right and lying to do so would not be a crime. If you are correct about people testifying to the CA Legislature not taking an oath to tell the truth any testimony (from either side) is just about worthless to the rule of law.
BTW how is “condom optional” a fantasy when both Kink and Vivid are successful in having that policy work for them?
The performers today are nothing but what Jilted described. A bunch of Producer asskissers and pussies. They pay for their own testing and do everything to pay to shoot for the assholes, and get fucked over in the long run. The APAC scam is up. You have assholes like James Deen who claims he never caught a disease as President. WTF?
@Tresbien,,,
Here is some more peter north cross over types right now in porn right now working in?? Straight and now considered gay-straightporn . LOL
Michael Vegas
Christian X
Johnny Castle
Seth Dickens
Wolf Hudson
Seth Gamble
Michael Whiteacre
Yep. They’re you have it for now. More to come.
They supposedly say they don’t fuck guys anymore but we all
know that’s all a bunch of bullshit, just like the LA porn scene is.
Full of bullshit. And Matthew Harris, remember you are a Kink.com fan , not a 70 year old male performer. **Jilted has been around like a
very long time and know what’s up. I’ll bet “Jilted” $600.000 bet there will be another HIV porn incident pretty soon here. LOL…Place you bets.
Shalom!
@mharris
Testimony is sworn as are Depositions, Affidavits etc which relate to investigative inquiry & due process. When you see a ‘witness’ being sworn in for a Senate or Congressional Inquiry (Commission) it is because that ‘testimony’ may be used against that individual or another. For expert opinions the expert is asked to swear to their credentials to prove they are qualified to put for the opinion they are asked to provide.
Pro/Con and related commentary for a legislative bill is not sworn as it is a stance based on opinion even by members of the committee. All state and Federal Agencies as well as Legislative Bodies include (open) public comment during the agenda where any tom dick or harry may offer their two cents.
Despite the use of many stats and facts that go into Legislation the Bill as presented is almost always a compromise of two or more competing factions…hence the term ‘making sausage’
We also swear or attest to our truthful identity and residence for voting purposes but do not in any way swear to the votes (aka opinon/stance) we mark on the ballot.
Harris regurgitates what he reads online in hopes of being viewed as an industry insider. He’s been called out for his bullshit on pretty much every porn forum.
@ Hop Sing;
We know. He used to be the Moderator over at TRPWL
and he got the boot. Now he is over here.
Shalom!
@hopsing
Damn that’s scary cuz it’s more likely he believes that crap vs FSC & APAC who know its bullshit but carefully craft the party lines to support their goal. If he were in his 20’s and just graduated college it’d be much easier to say they were to busy drumming that new math into his head to review basic civics lessons.
I did not claim to be an insider, Hop. I actually base my opinions on information from many places and then decide.
I was never a moderator at TRPWL. That is Sean’s job. I quit posting there of my own volition after Whiteacre started beating on everyone that pissed him off including his wife. FYI I was “over here” at Mike South’s site well before TRPWL was even created.
Yes you were Matthew. And yes its true, Me and Ari Bass alias Michael Whiteacre Alias Uncle Peg were behind the development of PornWikileaks.com. I might as well come clean before everybody goes ape shit about it.
Funny, Fake Sean. I was never a moderator at TRPWL although I did post there for a while.
BTW no one here has accused Sean Tompkins and Michael Whiteacre of being behind the development of PWL (there was a YouTube video from a religious zealot hooked up with Shelley “Crackpot” Lubben that accused Whiteacre but no on takes him seriously). That was Donny Long’s doing.