HIV Crisis in Porn Industry

[mattevil]

Link to Article

US porn industry hit by HIV fear
PA in New York
Friday April 16, 2004
The Guardian

Leading figures in the US pornography industry have called for all adult movie production to cease for two months because of fears of an HIV epidemic among its stars.

The porn business in the US is believed to be worth billions of dollars every year and its stars are frequently monitored for HIV.

For four years it is claimed that not a single porn star gave a positive test, but earlier this month actor Darren James, tested positive. It is now feared that the San Fernando-based actor may be one of many infected stars. A dozen women he has appeared with on film recently are being tested.

The Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation called for production to cease for two months while all actors were tested for the virus. The proposal has been seconded by the industry's trade publication, Adult Video News.

Jill Kelly, a former porn star who runs her own production company, said: "Anyone who continues to shoot at this point are complete idiots."

Just a sad situation and I can only imagine what this might bring about in the way of government crackdowns for morality in the wake of the Janet Jackson incident.

[zxello]

That really sucks, I dont understand why they dont use condoms more, I know some people say that it "lowers the quality" or whatnot but I dont think it makes that big of a difference and it keeps the actors/actresses safe..... just my 2 cents.

[KellyC]

all the more reason why they should do all lesbian scenes and non guy-girl

[Asuka{eve}]

woah. Yeah they really sbould use more protection.

[BigGov]

There have been pornstars with HIV, I remember many many years ago on MTV (yeah, yeah, shaddup) they had a True Life episode and one of the people in the show was an ex-porn star that had to retire after she contracted HIV during a movie where she had unprotected sex.

[mattevil]

Originally posted by Asuka{eve}
woah. Yeah they really sbould use more protection.

That's the thing they are usually pretty safe only alternating so many partners,usually not dating outside the industry, and getting tested regularly. Evidently some guy came back from filming in brazil with it.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/...s_x.htm?csp=27

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...uarantine.html

[H12]

Condoms, people. Protection is a friend that's always there.

[Aletheia]

Saw this on MSNBC, it really blows (heh pun).

[qtpye4u84]

yea they really need more protection.
They should have some kind of fast way to test if they have HIV before they do the scean, that would be cool cause then they can test them and then get the results fast. I wonder if they have some thing like this maybe.

[moonstrucksoul]

don't exactly know what to say. i just think of all those porn companies that don't test regularly, or not at all. all the "safe" porn, was probably predominate in SoCal.

thanks for the reminder, Jill Kelly is supposed to be a huge porn store near me this weekend.

[dimbulb]

it would be terrible to be one of those on the list......

practically waiting for a death/life sentence here.......

[odu_sonar_AE]

As for them using condoms more, the story I read said that they get paid more if they don't use them. It also mentioned that Vivid requires HIV tests within 30 days of the start of production...I would think they would want the tests completed before production started.

[odu_sonar_AE]

Originally posted by dimbulb
it would be terrible to be one of those on the list......

practically waiting for a death/life sentence here.......

I agree with you there. Nothing like changing a person's world in a split second.

[MaGlC_MaN]

halx, u feelin' ok? :P

Now, how am I not surprised about this?
No offense, Halx
Just seems like a risky business, especially if they are not taking tests and what-not beforehand, which seems like a very wise & professional thing to do.

[Cynthetiq]

Debbie Diamond. I thought she had the bug...

http://pornstar-address-book.com/por...dpornstars.htm

[Redlemon]

I'm impressed at the speed at which the companies are responding; I don't think the government chased SARS or mad cow at this speed. There's lots of good links over at:
Porn's New HIV Crisis (site NSFW)

[Jim Kata]

STDs are just a risk in the business (not that I know anything about the business, just an opinion).
Its kind of like a roofer taking the chance that he will fall. Or a race car driver taking the chance that he will crash which in turn causes other crashes and casualities.

It does suck though....I'm worried about Jenna Haze, that dirty lil slut.....I meant that in a good way.

[onetime2]

Originally posted by redlemon
I'm impressed at the speed at which the companies are responding; I don't think the government chased SARS or mad cow at this speed. There's lots of good links over at:
Porn's New HIV Crisis (site NSFW)

They've had plenty of practice at responding to this type of thing. Of course some are going on with business as usual.

[animosity]

i dont think that you people are concerned about the real problem... no porn produced for 2 months!

i knew all my hoarding of porn would come in hand...(no pun intended)

[txlovely]

Originally posted by Jim Kata
STDs are just a risk in the business (not that I know anything about the business, just an opinion).
Its kind of like a roofer taking the chance that he will fall. Or a race car driver taking the chance that he will crash which in turn causes other crashes and casualities.

That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.
Multiple, high-risk sex partners+unprotected sex=risk of contracting a terminal illness.

You know it's said that for every person you sleep with you are sleeping with every person they have slept with, and so on and so on and so on...
For those in the porn industry, that's a lot of sex-havin'.

[JStrider]

man that has to suck for those on the list...

i have the ron jeremy documentary... and it talked about the testing...

hes only had crabs and chlamydia... and both were before he got into the industry...

[onodrim]

Thats really too bad. Like others have said, it is just an unfortuante reality of the business, but that doens't change how terrible it is for those people who's lives have now been dramatically changed.

[World's King]

Should it be a surprise that a group of people that fuck for a living aren't healthy?

I guess this shatteres my dreams of being a pornstar... well, unless they all die from AIDS then I can get in easy.

[ARTelevision]

One would think that if there was ever a no-brainer, this would be one.

[Bobaphat]

The real shame is that condom use is discouraged in porn. Not that the porn industry is where you should go for example, but honestly, kids aren't getting that education in school (as long as Bush has his way) and parents aren't doing the job. When kids and young adults see this, it just affirms the idea that condoms are bad. I don't know what happened, a few years ago there was a big push in porn to get everyone to wear condoms. This really sucks but hopefully it will be a wake-up call.

[Kaos]

Even if you take AIDS out of the equation...the porn industry and the "actors" have been passing around STD's for years.

I had just read an article about Belladonna having Chlamidia (sp?) yesterday.

[yournamehere]

Originally posted by Bobaphat
The real shame is that condom use is discouraged in porn.

That's because "Making Money" is encouraged, and market research tells the industry that most porn consumers do not like seeing condoms being worn. Imagining what the onscreen action feels like is how a lot of people get their pleasure from porn - and we all know it feels better without the glove.

I certainly don't wish AIDS, or any STD, on anyone - but if your only marketable skill is extracting semen, and you get paid very well to do it, then you've just got to weigh the risks.

Personally, I like my porn without latex; but if they all decide to go condom-only, I'd certainly respect their right to not play sexual Russian roulette - but I doubt it'll ever go that way.

[Hrothgar]

They should use condoms and then via clever editing not show the condoms or something.

[moonstrucksoul]

Originally posted by The Original King
Should it be a surprise that a group of people that fuck for a living aren't healthy?

IMO, they live healthier than most, but as for wise? even now i still have to realize there are alot of other trades that have a high possibility of a fatal accident, even the high risk of killing others.

[anleja]

Originally posted by Cynthetiq
Debbie Diamond. I thought she had the bug...

http://pornstar-address-book.com/por...dpornstars.htm

Man, what a depressing list.

[bermuDa]

probably less than 5% of the porns I've seen had condoms in them, this doesn't surprise me at all. These are consquences that should've been obvious back when AIDS first reared its ugly head.

at this point, why not just pair up pornstars that have already tested positive, if they wish to continue shooting.

[GuttersnipeXL]

People don't REALLY get AIDS do they?

[Halx]

FYI, I dont mess around with any of the models for this very reason.

[World's King]

Originally posted by Halx
FYI, I dont mess around with any of the models for this very reason.

And we love you for it.

[anleja]

Originally posted by bermuDa
at this point, why not just pair up pornstars that have already tested positive, if they wish to continue shooting.

I read once that 2 people with HIV who continue to have sex with each other can actually increase how sick they are. The article I got this from described how in some gay communities some people would actually strive to get infected. I forget the reason, perhaps so they wouldn't have to bother with screening people or something like that.

Anyway, it was described that they would get sicker at a much faster rate if they continued to swap the virus.

Of course, a video starring only infected porn stars would probably turn out to be a really big seller, considering this psychotic world we live in...

[minyn]

I dont want to say that this surprises me but it is sad when it happens but there had to be a point when there was a slip up i fear.

[dcbullet]

This happened a few years ago with a male porn star Marc Wallus (sp?) and a couple of his female co-stars. It will blow over in a couple months.

People don't stop racing cars because they die in accidents, etc. with a million more comparisons.

[analog]

Originally posted by Halx
FYI, I dont mess around with any of the models for this very reason.

I always thought it was because they were intimidated by your giant... web forum.

[Chingal0]

I'm watching Leno, and he brought up this exact same subject. Why does everyone think that if women just do girl-girl that everything will be dandy? Unless I was hiding under my rock when they announced that this is no longer true, can you not get AIDS from any bodily fluid transfer? I could have swore that you could, .. I lost myself in my own post. Goddamnit. ..

To sum..

Girl + Girl could still yeild aids - yes or no? I say yes.