Posted by Condom Depot on 04/19/2004
The partial shutdown of the adult video industry following revelations that two of its stars tested positive for HIV is only one of several problems facing the industry, according to one of its loudest critics.
HIV-LINKED SHUTDOWN OF ADULT VIDEO INDUSTRY RENEWS PORN DEBATE
April 19, 2004
(CNSNews.com) - The partial shutdown of the adult video industry following revelations that two of its stars tested positive for HIV is only one of several problems facing the industry, according to one of its loudest critics.
Morality in Media (MIM) was quick to pounce following the news that porn stars Darren James and Lara Roxx had tested positive.
"There's just such a high level of sexual activity -- I mean it's what they do for a living -- both hetero and homosexual, that it was almost inevitable," said Patrick McGrath, spokesman for MIM.
The adult video industry's largest company, Vivid Entertainment Group, reportedly requires its porn stars to wear condoms and take tests for HIV before they are able to go before the cameras. Vivid was one of several companies Friday that agreed to a 60-day moratorium on the production of videos while more testing was done.
Dozens of porn stars also reportedly submitted to voluntary quarantines because they had had sex with James or other people with whom he had had sex.
"We are in the process of containing it, we are in the process of being duly diligent, we are in the process of letting the world at large know that we are responsible," said Tim Connelly, publisher of the adult video industry magazine AVN.
People working in the adult video industry "are probably more aware and in control of things like this (HIV testing) than the average American person is," Connelly said, adding that, "We always like to say that there's probably more lawyers that have HIV than there are porn performers."
But McGrath said adult video companies also face "the matter of renewed obscenity prosecution." MIM is urging the U.S. House to pass a resolution that states, "Federal obscenity laws should be vigorously enforced throughout the United States." An identical measure has already passed in the Senate and is supported by the Bush White House.
Passage of H.Con.Res.298 "will help dispel the notions that the widespread availability of hardcore pornography is proof that this vile material has become as acceptable and mainstream as apple pie," a press release from MIM president Robert W. Peters stated.
McGrath added that, "If done right, the obscenity prosecutions ... ought to be RICO (federal racketeering) prosecutions because obscenity is a predicate crime under RICO."
Convictions could result in the government seizure of assets, McGrath said. "That we know is something that the (adult video) business fears, possibly even more than AIDS."
Connelly denied that the adult video industry is guilty of obscenity.
"If we're obscene, why is it an $11 billion a year industry?" Connelly asked. "Why is it everywhere you go?
"The fact of the matter is - sex has been here as long as we've been here. And considering nobody's getting hurt and nobody's disapproving of this other than these people (Morality in Media), they should really think about the fact that they're living in a free country."
Connelly said about 40 percent of the adult video businesses are participating in the 60-day moratorium, but he said the companies themselves would feel only a minor impact from the temporary shutdown. The adult video actors and actresses are the ones who will be hurt, according to Connelly.
"It's toughest on them because they are essentially day laborers, you know independent contractors. So it will affect them more than anybody else. But we're all trying to band together to help them get some work."
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