Picture the scene… Your two favourite porn stars are lying naked on a bed. As they start to kiss passionately the camera pans away, and when they next come into focus they’re both wearing protective goggles! Sound bizarre?
Well, according to American media, if new legislation, proposed in a 21-page document by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHA) come into force, then porn actors in the US State could soon be forced to don protective eye wear in an attempt to keep film sets safe from sexually transmitted diseases. People in the industry are calling the new proposals ridiculous, saying they will force the production of adult films out of the state completely. For decades, California has produced the vast majority of America’s adult films. However, in recent years there has been a crackdown on the state’s porn industry, and in 2012 a controversial law was passed requiring porn stars across California to use condoms. As a result, production of porn in the State has plummeted by more than 90 percent! The proposed rules would also require producers to pay for performers to get medical visits and hepatitis B vaccines. “These are regulations designed for medical settings, and are unworkable on an adult film set – or even a Hollywood film set,” said Diane Duke, the CEO of the Free Speech Coalition. While the limits would not just be on gay porn, Duke says her organisation and other groups wants to see the proposed regulation be amended after consulting with performers, production houses and public health officials. This way, she says, this will ‘protect adult film performers without stigmatising and shutting down an entire industry’.