You don’t often see 100 porn stars at a state safety board meeting, but that’s just what happened yesterday at the Harris State Building Auditorium in Oakland. A huge turnout of adult film actors, directors and producers seems to have swayed the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) Standards Board to deny a proposed measure that would have required condoms, dental dams and eye protections in adult film sex scenes.
At the conclusion of a hearing that went for six wearying hours, the board declared the proposal would not pass and the assembled porn industry superstars whooped it up in celebration as seen below.
#calosha votes against mandatory condoms and goggles, and adult performers erupt pic.twitter.com/ATp4PsmdBP
— Mike Stabile (@mikestabile) February 19, 2016
Technically, the measure received 3-2 majority vote from the Standards Board. But four “yes” votes were required for passage, so the measure is likely to be kicked back to Cal/OSHA staff to be reworked.
"I'm actually more torn over this than I can ever explain," said board member Dave Harrison.
Adult performers felt the measure unfairly targeted their industry as opposed to other fields where workers are potentially exposed to pathogens. “My wife is an emergency room nurse,” said performer Maestro Stefanos, whom you may recognize from Kink.com’s (Very NSFW!) Upper Floor website. “My wife goes to work every day and comes home occasionally with blood all over herself and her scrubs. My wife spends every day working with people that don’t have a known (STI) testing status... Why are my safety protocols more stringent than my wife's, as an ER nurse?,” he argued to the board.
That feeling when you care more about #calosha than the mountains of porn flooding your feed. #mybodymyrights
— SylviR (@SylviRAD) February 18, 2016
Still, this all might be seen as an early climax. The board's rejection of the proposal does not necessarily mean the end of the condoms in porn legislation. The measure will likely go back to Cal/OSHA management to be revised “with more input from the affected industry”, according to board member Patty Quinlan. Additionally, a measure requiring condoms in porn will be on the California state ballot in November 2016. And oh, are Fox News and Drudge going to have a field day with that one.
Previously: SF Democrats Urge Party To Oppose Ballot Measure Requiring Condoms In Porn
