Election time is getting close, and despite the fact that there was no Legalize It proposition this time in California, I studied my sample ballot to see if there were any interesting propositions to vote on. Check out Measure B from Los Angeles County:
“Shall an ordinance be adopted requiring producers of adult films to obtain a County public health permit, to require adult film performers to use condoms while engaged in sex acts, to provide proof of blood borne pathogen training course, to post permit and notices to performers, and making violations of the ordinance subject to civil fines and criminal charges?”
In other words, do you want to vote to create new regulations in pornography? Because adult film stars are required, by the nature of their employment, to engage in sex acts which are, by their very nature, prone to spread diseases especially in a multi-partner environment that could allow HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases to spread unchecked, as quickly as a brush fire in Imperial County in the beginning of September? Hmm? Well? Shouldn’t these unsafe acts be regulated somehow? Maybe with some permit-posting and some official inspecting? Wait, is this really a ballot measure? What the hell for?!
I’ve talked about pornographers before. Obviously, there are serious problems in this industry and all this crazy porn (gonzo porn is not the same as gonzo journalism) is changing the way we see a lot of things. But I don’t see the point in spending LA County resources on making sure actors in adult films are wearing condoms, not to mention the actual enforcement of which seems bizarre, like something out of Kafka or a magical realism novel. Rampant drug use and any possible abuse of minors would appear to be much more important areas to focus our concern of the adult film industry, and posting your permit from the public health department is not going to change a damn thing about how porn gets produced.
Tell me: Is this ballot measure crazy or am I? How many times can I use ‘sex acts’ in a post?
*For an unrelated read on Money and Sex, check out L Bee and the Money Tree’s latest post. Blog Post of the Week!