US Court Upholds Condom Law for Porn Stars
A U.S. court dismissed an appeal Monday against a law that requires actors in the Adult film industry in the Los Angeles County to wear condoms.
The federal appeals court ruled that asking porn stars to wear condoms does not violate freedom of expression; instead it protects public health and workers on the set.
"Here, we agree with the district court that, whatever unique message plaintiffs might intend to convey by depicting condomless sex, it is unlikely that viewers of adult films will understand that message," said Judge Susan P Graber, BBC reports.
At the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a panel of three judges in their 30-page ruling aimed at ending a long standing debate in the adult film industry that 'Measure B' - a voter-approved law that requires porn stars to wear during porn shoots in Los Angeles County - would compromise an actor's artistic expression and ruin the fantasy aspect of pornography.
In 2012, the L.A.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation pushed the law after the city's health department informed it about the widespread transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among workers in the industry.
Vivid Entertainment and iother producers of adult erotic movies had appealed against the law.
"The requirement that actors in adult films wear condoms while engaging in sexual intercourse might have 'some minimal effect' on a film's erotic message, but that effect is certainly no greater than the effect of pasties and G-strings on the erotic message of nude dancing," the ruling states, San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.
It is not clear as yet if further appeals are planned.
