A US porn actor has tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, the third such case reported in less than three weeks, leading a Los Angeles-based trade group for adult filmmakers to call a fresh nationwide moratorium on Friday on productions.
The infections follow a vote last year by Los Angeles county residents to require porn actors to wear condoms when having sex on set, a measure that proponents of the requirement complain is largely going unenforced in the county.
In the latest infection, a doctor affiliated with health screening facilities used by the pornography industry reported that a performer had tested positive for HIV, said JoanneCachapero, membership director of the Free Speech Coalition, the trade group for adult filmmakers.
Details on the porn performer, including gender and any adult film company that employed him or her, were not released by the group, and Cachapero said she could not discuss in which part of the country the person was based.
“While we don’t have evidence to suggest an on-set transmission as opposed to a transmission from non-industry (off-camera) related activity, we are taking every measure to determine the source and to protect the performer pool,” the Free Speech Coalition said. The group called for another moratorium on porn productions to remain in effect indefinitely, Cachapero said.