This News Just Rocked the Porn Industry

Well this is scary news. The LA adult film industry has instituted an indefinite moratorium on filming after an adult film actor tested positive for HIV. Which is not good at all. Even worse, it's the third time in the past year the industry has shut down due to a positive HIV test.

The chief executive of the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult film industry, said in a statement, “There was a positive test at one of our testing centers. Confirmatory tests are not yet back, but we are taking every precaution to protect performers and to determine if there’s been any threat to the performer pool." She added, “We take the health of our performers very seriously and felt that it was better to err on the side of caution."

The news comes at a bad time for the LA porn industry. For one thing, it's doubtful anyone has forgotten the positive HIV tests that hit the LA industry starting in August of last year. But for another, adult film production in Los Angeles has declined sharply in the past year and a half after the county passed a law in 2012 requiring porn actors to wear condoms. The bill has been understandably bad for business, and also doesn't appear to be preventing HIV infections, either.

A similar, state-wide bill, which would have required all porn stars in California to wear condoms during scenes involving anal or vaginal intercourse, failed to pass the state senate committee earlier this August.

In light of the most recent positive test, adult film studios nation-wide have been asked to halt production until the results have been confirmed and other performers tested. After last year's rash of HIV infections, performers are now automatically tested every 14 days instead of every 28 days, meaning this infection was hopefully detected early enough that few other people will be affected. Still, the incident highlights the risks that still plague the industry in spite of the precautions that both lawmakers and the industry itself try to take to protect the performers.