FSC Announces Moratorium To Lift On Friday, September 20

The Free Speech Coalition’s (FSC) PASS (Performer Availability Screening Services, formerly APHSS) Program announced today that the moratorium will be lifted Friday, September 20^th. All performers must test on or after Thursday, September 19^th in order to be cleared to work. Additionally, all performers will now be required to test every 14 days in order to be cleared for work.

“Our industry protocols are designed to be conservative and our doctors support a conservative approach, for the health and well-being of the performers,” said Diane Duke FSC Chief Executive Officer. “That is why moving forward, the physicians have recommended and we have implemented, a 14-day testing protocol.”

The change in policy comes after three performers tested positive for HIV. Subsequent tests of scene partners established that the virus did not originate and was not transmitted on-set, and PASS doctors worked closely with the performers to identify 1^st generation exposures. No additional incidences of HIV have surfaced.

September 19^th marks 14 days since Patient #3 tested positive for HIV. The window period for the HIV RNA Aptima test is seven to ten days, but industry protocols dictate that retests occur 14 days or later as an added precaution.

In addition to the change to a 14-day testing period, FSC’s PASS program plans to work with doctors, workplace safety specialists and performers to support a performer education program.

“We can do more to help our performers learn how to protect themselves, on screen and off,” Duke stated.  “While the increased testing will further ensure safer sets, it is important that we remain vigilant. Going forward, we need to constantly look to both performers, producers and health care professionals to find ways to improve our protocols.”

Adult Entertainment Industry Files Suit Challenging Measure B

Lawyers for the adult entertainment industry filed suit today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California challenging the recently passed Measure B which makes it mandatory for adult actors to wear condoms while shooting adult films in LA County.

The complaint states that Measure B is unnecessary because of rigorous and effective self-regulation by the adult industry and that it imposes an unconstitutional system of prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment.  Numerous provisions of Measure B are excessively vague and burdensome, and thus place an intolerable restriction on freedom of expression.  The lawsuit also challenges the County’s jurisdiction to regulate adult production on performer health and safety.

The adult industry plaintiffs include adult production company Vivid Entertainment along with adult performers Kayden Kross and Logan Pierce.  “Overturning this law is something I feel very passionate about.  I believe the industry’s current testing system works well, said Steven Hirsch, founder/co-chairman of Vivid.  “Since 2004 over 300,000 explicit scenes have been filmed with zero HIV transmission.  The new law makes no sense and it imposes a government licensing regime on making films that are protected by the Constitution.  Measure B will have vast unintended consequences which may undermine industry efforts to protect the health of our actors and actresses.”

Attorneys Paul Cambria of Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria, Louis Sirkin of Santen Hughes, and Bob Corn-Revere of Davis Wright Tremaine are representing the plaintiffs.  Mr. Cambria stated that this Law not only infringes on free expression but rather than protect performers as it currently does it will drive production overseas or off shore where no protection exists.

FSC Announces Newly Elected Board Members

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) is proud to announce new members to its Board of Directors. The Board election was open to all active FSC members and held during the month of December.

Incumbent board members that were re-elected include Evil Angel General Manager Christian Mann and Eldorado Trading Co. founder Larry Garland.

Adam and Eve General Manager Bob Christian is newly elected to the FSC Board. Adult entertainment performer and director Kara Price also was elected.

“Bob brings a strong business component to the Board, while Kara will bring a performer perspective,” said FSC Executive Director Diane Duke. “Those skills coupled with their leadership ability will be a valuable addition to FSC’s Board.”

Members of the board in good standing include Peter Acworth, Jeffrey Douglas, Mara Epstein, Sid Grief, Alec Helmy, Joel Kaminsky, Mark Kernes, Reed Lee and Lynn Swanson, bringing the total number of seats to 13. Those elected serve two-year terms.

FSC congratulates its newest Board members – their participation will help FSC to develop resources and better business practices for the adult industry.

(Photo: Some rights reserved by Cemf)

Get Ready for January Because It’s Gonna Get CRAZY!

Here at FSC, we realized how confusing the adult show schedule is for January, and we were thinking  you’re probably trying to figure it out, too.

For the first time in its history, the Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE) will take place the week after the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and in its new venue at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel. Also for the first time, XBIZ LA and the XBIZ Awards Show will be held the week before the AEE Show – and this year, the XBIZ Retail Show will be held immediately after the ANME Founder’s Show (which kicks off on January 7), and both novelty shows will be held at the Burbank Airport Marriott. Sandwiched in between the XBIZ and AEE, Adultcon will take place in Las Vegas, during the CES show.

That’s a whole lot of shows between Jan 7 and 21, so to make things a little easier to follow – here’s the bullet-pointed version:

• Jan 7-8 – Adult Novelty Manufacturers Expo (ANME) Founder’s Show, at the Airport Marriott, Burbank CA.
• Jan 9-10 – XBIZ Retail Show, at the Airport Marriott, Burbank, CA.
• Jan 9-12 – XBIZ LA Show, at the Sofitel Hotel, in West Hollywood, CA.
• Jan 10 – XBIZ Awards (venue TBA)
• Jan 12-14 – Adultcon, at the Riviera Hotel, in Las Vegas.
• Jan 15-17 – Internext, at the Hard Rock Hotel, in Las Vegas.
• Jan 18-20 – Adult Novelty Expo (ANE), at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
• Jan 18-21 – Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE), at the Hard Rock Hotel, in Las Vegas.
• Jan 21 – AVN Awards, at The Joint, located in the Hard Rock Hotel.

We hope that helps with some of your travel plans for the month of January. In fact, FSC has compiled a list of adult industry trade/fan/award shows for 2012, which you can download as a PDF here – 2012 Show Schedule.

We’ll see you on the floor!

(Photo: Some rights reserved by OakleyOriginals)

A Few Photos from the 2011 AVN Adult Expo

Getting a photo opp at the Girlfriends Films booth. Girlfriends donated more than $14,000 to charities last year, on behalf of their models

 

Signing for John Stagliano's Evil Angel; starlet Bobbi Starr

A female fan has her picture taken with Digital Playground starlets Stoya and Kayden Kross

Starlet Tori Black is a fan favorite; here, she's signing for studio Elegant Angel

MILF star Deauxma appears in many Girlfriends Films releases

As all-American as hot dogs, apple pie and ... adult entertainment!

FSC had a great time last week, at the AVN Adult Expo held at the Sands Expo Center, in Las Vegas. Lots of fans and stars attended the annual convention, which features the best and the next in adult entertainment. The companies featured above are all strong supporters of FSC – and one of the best things about the Vegas show is it’s the one time of year that we get to see friends, old and new. The adult entertainment community is tight-knit, and we are proud to be a part of it. – jc

Cartagena, Patient Zeta and Who Do YOU Want Running Your Industry?

What a week, last week.

Between the ongoing campaign waged against the adult industry by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), and the 10-year struggle to defeat the proposed .XXX sTLD – today seems like the aftermath of a siege staged on multiple fronts with a nonstop barrage of bullshit bombs being lobbed by our opponents. We are still trying to dig ourselves out from under the debris.

And this week, more than ever, we would like to ask the question: Who do YOU want calling the shots for the adult industry? People that are your colleagues and represent your better business interests? Or people like ICM’s Stuart Lawley and AHF’s Michael Weinstein?

On the AHF front – seems like strange timing that on Dec 9th, Patient Zeta, aka Derrick Burts/Cameron Reid/Derrick Chambers, would go public AND within 24 hours, Adult Industry Medical Healthcare (AIM) was shuttered by the county over a paperwork issue.

And while the LA Times took advantage of sensational headlines and published Burts’ tawdry confessional via video verbatim, the LA Weekly raised some interesting questions, including whether or not the adult industry was in danger of being run out of California. LA Weekly writer Dennis Romero also asked some questions as to the credibility of Burts’ claims – like any skeptical journalist might.

On the 13th, AHF President Michael Weinstein praised LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl for making a motion to the city attorney for an explanation of the process the city’s employs to make sure that adult production sets are “safe workplaces” before being issued necessary permits. Weinstein also wrongly stated that FSC and FSC Executive Director Diane Duke called for “the industry [i.e. AIM and adult production studios] to continue to operate outside the law.”

FSC’s position is the same as it’s ever been – we are working with lawyers, CalOSHA’s Board of Directors, experts in regulatory procedure, industry businesses and INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS to help develop industry-appropriate regulations. If adult content producers are “operating outside the law” whatsoever, it’s likely because the regulations imposed on them were written for medical clinics, not adult production sets. We are calling for regulations that are appropriate and acceptable to concerned parties. Mr. Weinstein seems interested in calling attention to his campaign.

And as for AIM “operating outside the law,” it quickly was apparent that the clinic was briefly closed due to a paperwork error. AIM has until the end of January to correct the error, according to a letter issued by the county. Not exactly the perfect storm of opposition against AIM that Weinstein seems to want to call down on the clinic and spin for his own purposes.

Meanwhile, FSC’s Diane Duke and FSC Board Chair Jeffrey Douglas were in Cartagena, Columbia, when Patient Zeta broke his silence – another bit of strange timing.

The pair were there to oppose the .XXX “sponsored” Top Level Domain, proposed by Internet registry ICM and its President Stuart Lawley. We are happy to report that, after battling against approval of the domain for ten years, Internet regulatory organization ICANN decide on Friday to put off any decision until it can consult with its Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC).

Some blogs today say that a decision won’t be made until ICANN’s next meeting in February. And, surprisingly, some newspapers are reporting, complete with quotes from Lawley, that .XXX was passed – specifically, papers located in Florida where ICM is based.

Well, we can say that we are certain .XXX has not been approved as of last week. And we hope that it is never approved because it will provide no benefit to the thousands of adult webmasters that will have to pay fees for domain addresses that they don’t want; that .XXX will make it much easier for anti-adult entities to block adult websites; and it will be easier for underage users to locate adult material. And that’s just for starters. It sets a dangerous precedent to classify domains by content, and for fees from those domain addresses to go to fund a regulatory board that gets to call the shots in regards to that content.

Over here at the FSC, one of our mottoes is an old one: “The truth will set you free.” And while some industry members may not have warm and fuzzy feelings for FSC or may not understand what we do over here – we hope that you can see that we are working hard to defend your rights, promote your better business interest and protect your businesses and way of life. Because there are people out there that have their own agendas and could profit from targeting the industry with weapons of mass confusion.

As the adult industry trade association, we are a pro-adult voice for the industry to our opponents, the media and the public at large. And without a voice, you might not have a choice. We should mention here that the 2011-12 FSC Board of Directors election is now taking place; if you are an active FSC member and have not received you ballot, please contact joanne@freespeechcoalition.com. This your opportunity to choose who will represent you, as the industry faces many challenges.

Last, but not the least bit of news from last week – sadly, on December 5th, legendary performer/director John Leslie (aka John Leslie Nuzzo) passed away. Many touching tributes were written about Leslie but in the Marin Independent Journal, a quote from his wife Kathleen stood out, as she commented on his career.

“I never had a problem when I met him with what he did,” Kathleen Nuzzo said of her husband’s career. “It was our livelihood. It’s an incredible industry with people fighting for First Amendment rights and freedom of expression.”

Thank you Mrs. Nuzzo. They had been married for 23 years.

A memorial for John Leslie will be held at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, CA, on Dec. 15 at 7pm. – jc

(Photo: Some rights reserved by James Yardley)

RIP: John Leslie, 1945-2010

John Leslie, at the AEE Show in Las Vegas

Performer/director John Leslie passed away yesterday, Dec. 5, from an apparent massive heart attack he suffered while at home. He was 65-years old.

Leslie began his performing career in 1973, in “Sensuous Delights,” and went on to perform in more than 300 movies. Perhaps his one of his best-known roles was as the seductive lead in 1980’s “Talk Dirty to Me,” directed by Anthony Spinelli.

Later, he was one of the first performers to move into the director’s chair, with 1987’s “Nightshift Nurses.” When he passed away yesterday, Leslie was a long-standing member on the Evil Angel roster of directors, alongside good friend and performer/director Joey Silvera. His obituary appeared in the Marin Independent Journal, or for more on the story visit AVN.com or XBIZ.com.

He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Kathleen.

Suave and sophisticated, Leslie was a legend of the Golden Age of erotic film and a pioneer in the adult industry. He will be missed. – jc

(photo: Some rights reserved by Rick Hall the_toe_stubber)

Pornification: When the Thrill is Gone, What Then?

In an article from the Boston Globe, author Don Aucoin gives some interesting perspectives of the “pornification” of America. As sexual imagery becomes more and more mainstream, what effect is it having on society? And if sexual imagery has become so commonplace – we wonder – what are they repercussions for pornographers?

While feminists and moralists decry the misogynistic effect that “porn” imagery is having on young men and women, some media analysts say that the increase in sexually explicit content is just a function of trying to make messages stand out from the never-ending flow of media that assails us everyday. Are we becoming desensitized?

Pamela Paul, author of “Pornified,” compares pornographic imagery to cigarette smoking – once glamorized in movies and music; when the unhealthy effects were exposed to the public, people quit their pack-a-day habits. Paul hopes it will be the same with porn – though, we dare say, that no one ever got lung cancer from looking at XXX-rated magazine or movie.

But with Paris, Brittney, Christina, Gaga and other starlets ponying up to play like porn stars – what happens to the real porn stars, when you take away the thrill? -jc

(Some rights reserved by NykiM)

Diane Duke Speaks at UCLA Condoms in Adult Films Panel

FSC Executive Director Diane Duke addresses the participants and audience at UCLA’s “Condoms in Adult Films” Panel. Duke and performer Mr. Marcus represented the adult industry at this debate with representatives from the Pink Cross Foundation, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, UCLA’s Reproductive Health Interest Group and the Los Angeles County Health Department. -jc

Ignorance is the Disease: Thoughts on the UCLA Condoms in the Adult Industry Panel

The only way to combat ignorance is with education, and never was that more apparent than at today’s “Condoms in the Adult Industry” panel hosted at UCLA’s School of Law. Thankfully, long-time performer Mr. Marcus and FSC’s Diane Duke were there to represent the adult industry. Otherwise, no one from the industry may have been there at all.

It was a last-minute gig.

It’s difficult to have an intelligent, open debate under the best circumstances. In this situation, the adult industry – which is what the debate was centered on – was allowed only two seats out of a panel of six. That seems suspect, but not to be unexpected since there was virtually NO outreach to the adult industry community to attend or speak at the meeting. Duke, who was able to muscle her way onto the panel at the last minute, aptly pointed out during the discussion today; the adult industry is not against workplace regulation – but we demand to be asked to the table in discussions that so greatly affects OUR industry.

It also is difficult to have a conversation when the audience (mostly UCLA law students, public health activists and members of the public) knows little on the topics being discussed. Except for public health activists and representatives, most people have very little correct information about sexually transmitted diseases or what the adult industry does in terms of self-regulation or business practices.

In that type of atmosphere, the danger is that misinformation will be spread or that agendas will be pushed, without the people whose interest are at stake ever being included in the discussion at all.

Aside from Marcus and Duke, the only other panelist that could comment on the adult industry from the standpoint of a former performer was Pink Cross Foundation’s Shelly Lubben – but more about her later.

Other panelists included UCLA Bixby Program Director Dr. Paula Tavrow, AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Director of Public Health Whitney Engeran-Cordova, and Los Angeles County Public Health (LACPH) STI program Director Dr. Peter Kerndt. All of them were touted with full biographies including their many accomplishments and credentials.

Funny how Diane Duke’s bio – including her work as a director with Planned Parenthood and the American Heart Association – was somehow “lost” in the email so that she had to explain to the audience, herself, the credentials that she has in speaking on the topic of public health.

In fact, the audience could have learned a lot about sexually transmitted infections from the panelists today. Instead, the focus was on statistics for adult industry performers that LACPH has “gathered” from Adult Industry Medical Healthcare (AIM), since the AIM clinic is required to share data with the county. But how many people in the audience recalled that last year, after a performer was diagnosed with HIV, that LACPH claimed, since 2004, there have been as many as 22 cases of HIV in the performing population? The LA Times later retracted the statistic, presumably because it’s not verifiable. But by then, it was too late to stop the spread of misinformation.

No one on the panel spoke more about STIs than Pink Cross’ Lubben, who issued a laundry list of diseases that she claims she contracted “while working in porn,” including herpes, HPV, as well as “extensive reproductive damage,” 12 years of hemorrhaging and severe anemia, due to unprotected sex that she was forced to have on adult production sets. She used the word “rape” liberally to describe her on-set experiences. She also claimed to have contracted HPV during a gangbang shoot with four male performers. Lubben also claims that 66% of adult performers have herpes and that 111 adult industry members have died from AIDS – without citing the statistical sources for this information.

When an audience member forced the question to Lubben, that she had been a prostitute for six years prior to being in her first adult movie (and during her time as a performer, and after she retired from performing), Lubben replied that she had always had “protected sex” as a prostitute, but was “forced” to not use a condom on-set.

Well, here are some FACTS about various STIs from the Centers for Disease Control website:

• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is so common, at least 50% of sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives.

• For those that choose to be sexually active, condoms may lower the risk of HPV… But HPV can infect areas not covered with a condom – so condoms may not fully protect against HPV.

• Results of a nationally representative study show that genital herpes infection is common in the United States. Nationwide, 16.2%, or about one out of six, people 14 to 49 years of age have genital HSV-2 infection.

And that’s the thing – the only way to fight ignorance is with facts.

It’s a fact that FSC and most in the adult industry are NOT against regulations for workplace safety. But we do demand to be included in developing industry-appropriate regulations that work to keep the industry safe and viable. Right now, the current CalOSHA regs require mandatory condom use and the on-set protocols are based on standards developed for medical settings like clinics. Well, when they developed regulations for the construction industry, did they base them on regulations for crab fishermen? And what industry would allow regulation to be imposed upon it, without having a voice in developing those regulations? FSC has been working with CalOSHA to make progress in developing industry appropriate standards.

And as long as we’re talking about the facts here, perhaps we should ask why UCLA, AHF and LACPH are so determined to see the adult industry regulated and by whom? Aren’t there other industries that also have risks inherent in employment? Are there are other sexually-active groups with higher rates of HIV transmission that may present a greater threat to the public health than the approximately 1,000 active adult performers in California?

AHF’s Engeran-Cordova wisely observed that the topic gets complicated when you involve sex, HIV and the workplace. That’s not a subject that can be fully discussed in an hour on a campus, or in four meetings with the CalOSHA Board of Directors, or without the input of the people who are most affected – the members of the adult industry.

As Mr. Marcus said, it really has to do with education. I just want to add that knowledge doesn’t come from an ivory tower and real communication doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Otherwise, ignorance will spread like a disease. – jc