An open letter to Assemblymember Isadore Hall and the thousands of porn performers and producers who are concerned about Bill AB 1576 aka “The Condom Mandate”
To California State Assemblymember Isadore Hall,
and the thousands of porn performers and producers who are concerned:
As a woman of color-owned and operated company based in San Francisco, run by sexual health educators and filming the sexual desires of the local and national LGBTQ community, Pink & White Productions intelligently and passionately urges that you dismiss Bill AB 1576 for a number of reasons, most importantly that the language and implications of its actions create an unsafe environment that will harm those it claims to protect.
The condom law is not about condoms. It’s about policing the industry in a way that is completely unfair, making crimes against it a federal offense, and one that can incriminate any company employee and in an incredibly cruel twist, even incriminate the performers.
The issues pertinent to company liability are the largest concerns for performers and company employees. In what other industry do you have a work place accident that can make every employee in the company go to jail? Even the Food, Sports, and Medical industries aren’t held to such rigid restrictions.
Performer-safe porn is achievable. Our company sexual health policy for CrashPadSeries.com and other productions includes professional conduct, sobriety, communication, and informed decision-making. Education is key for sustainable sexual health. We provide resources such as information about subsidizing industry standard tests, sliding scale clinics who are respectful to marginalized patients, and which Sexually Transmitted Illnesses (STI’s) are known to be transmittable by specific sexual acts. We encourage participants to have a clear industry standard test within 14 days of the shoot date and provide safer sex barriers*. Because many couples we hire are in committed, long-term relationships, and with respect to their educated choices, performers have the right to waive tests and/or barrier use at their own risk. Additionally, we allow them to have sex in the ways they prefer, including lower risk sex acts such as mutual masturbation and stimulation over clothing, should they so choose. We also pay performers equally regardless of sex act, minimizing the influence of performing higher risk (and often higher paid) sexual acts. This policy was formed collaboratively by porn performers, sex educators, and medical professionals.
While we have company policies for performer protection, should the bill pass, we may be forced to produce outside of California, out of concern for the health and legal safety of all of our employees.
Despite the best intentions, it will not keep performers safe. Please dismiss Bill AB 1576.
Pink & White Productions
*Safer Sex Barriers: condoms (both “external” and “internal” FC2 condoms), dental dams, gloves and finger cots, which we provide in latex and non-latex variety, along with over two dozen brands of liquid, cream, gel, silicone and water-based lubricants.
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