California May Require Condoms in Porn

California's AIDS Healthcare Foundation will file a petition to amend state law to mandate that all adult-film stars use condoms.

The change would be made to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board's policy on blood-borne pathogens.

"Although workers in adult films should enjoy protections under the current phrasing of the regulation, the adult film industry has steadfastly refused to take any steps to protect its workers from diseases spread by blood-borne pathogens, resulting in thousands of employees becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

In August, AHF filed 16 worker-safety complaints with the board over the lack of condom use in adult films made in California. The Los Angeles Department of Public Health has documented an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases among workers in the adult film industry, according to the petition. Porn stars are 10 times more likely to be infected with an STD than the rest of the population. The department has documented 2,013 individual cases of chlamydia and 965 cases of gonorrhea among workers between the years 2003 and 2007.