Adult film producers across Los Angeles County will now have to pay more than $1,600 every two years for health inspections in their studios, after the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to set fees meant to enforce condom use on all porn sets.
The 4-0 vote by the board was made after about a dozen performers from the adult film industry spoke out against the effort during a public hearing in downtown Los Angeles. Many asked the board to consider how those fees could hurt smaller businesses and studios, especially solo operators or couples who use webcams.
“A $1,600 tax and excessive regulation is an undue burden for performers like me,” said performer Rum Dolor. “$1,600 is six months of income for us.”
Brad Armstrong, who said he owns a larger production company, called the health permit fee fine for him but unfair for others.
“I’m a bigger company … $1,600 isn’t going to kill me either way,” he said. “It’s these people who aren’t of the norm. There are so many trying to make a living.” Jessica Drake, performer, writer and director for Wicked Pictures, also urged the board to allow another proposal.
“Though we are often stigmatized, we are a real industry and we employ real people,” she added.
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The vote was made without Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who was absent and without much comment from other members, except for Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who asked public health officials why all studios, no matter the size, were asked to pay the same amount.
Los Angeles County public health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said the fees followed Measure B, approved by voters in 2012. That means the department will charge adult film producers $1,672 for a permit. In addition, the department will charge $65 for each visit public health inspectors make to a set to ensure condoms are being used.
Health officials also have said the fee doesn’t mean inspectors will make unannounced visits or watch filming, but it means inspectors will visit sets only to make sure producers have health and safety signage posted on the walls of sets. Inspectors also will visit sets if a performer lodges a complaint, but such complaints are rare, health officials have said.
Formally known as the Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, Measure B requires condoms to be used on all adult film sets countywide, to apply for public health permits and pay fees that will fund inspections and enforcement led by the county Department of Public Health.
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Though the law was passed five years ago, the fee schedule is only now being released because of delays caused by legal challenges, health officials have said. Legal battles between the adult film industry and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which introduced and supported the provision, tied up the ordinance in court for years.
The adult film industry, led by the Canoga Park-based Free Speech Coalition, opposed Measure B, saying self-monitoring and regular testing of performers for sexually transmitted diseases are more effective than condoms. Universal City-based Vivid Entertainment filed a lawsuit against the county health department over the regulations. AIDS Healthcare Foundation stepped in as the defendant.
The issue landed in federal court, where a judge said he was concerned about some parts of Measure B, including that health officials might perform searches of adult film sets without warrants. But the judge did not believe the provisions under Measure B violated freedom of speech or expression.
Last year, a tentative agreement was reached in federal court between the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Vivid Entertainment and Los Angeles County on the terms for Measure B, including inspections and health permits.
It’s unclear how many adult film studios are in Los Angeles County, but the industry has always been largely based in the San Fernando Valley. After the passage of Measure B, film permits for adult films taken out through Film LA by the industry fell dramatically, from 480 in 2012 to 26 in 2015.
Eric Paul Leue, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, said he was troubled by the board’s vote because industry members had inadequate time to meet with the health department to find another solution. He also said the board’s vote provides incentives for those shooting outside Los Angeles County or in the shadows.
“This is terrible health policy, rushed through under political pressure,” he said. “Make no mistake: Like Measure B, this vote was done based on bias and ignorance, an attempt by moralists to punish an already stigmatized minority.”
He said the industry was not opposed to permit fees nor condoms but wanted the opportunity to offer proposals “to encourage compliance with the law, and better health outcomes,” based on new technologies in testing.
“Despite today’s vote, we will continue to fight for the rights of performers,” Leue said. “This was one battle in an ongoing struggle for science over stigma, and facts over fear. We will continue to fight for solutions that increase, not decrease, workplace safety for adult performers.”
But officials with AHF said Tuesday that condoms have been mandated nationwide as a result of federal office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines, and the permitting fee affects employers who have employees. Measure B, added AHF spokesman Ged Kenslea, is law, too.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Kenslea said. “We are empathetic to the industry, but the industry continues to operate.”