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Derrick Burts is a former adult film performer who contracted HIV while working in the industry. He now campaigns for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's condoms-in-porn initiative. Phil McCarten/AP/Press Association Images
Adult Film
HIV scare shuts down LA's adult film industry
A porn star has tested HIV positive in Los Angeles, leading to a temporary closure of all adult film productions.
PORN SETS IN Los Angeles have been shut down this week as the adult film industry is rocked by a HIV scare.
An industry trade group found out on Saturday that an adult film performer had recently tested HIV positive, the LA Times reports.
The organisation then released a statement to porn industry media calling on film producers to close their sets until further tests were carried out.
Executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, Diane Duke, told the LA Times, “Until we know for sure, we’ve asked the industry to have a moratorium on production.”
Bigger studios, including Hustler and Evil Angel, have already agreed to a temporary shutdown.
Duke said that anyone who has had sex with the potentially-infected person will be notified. Second-generation partners will also be identified and tested, she said.
Earlier this year, the Free Speech Coalition set up the Adult Production Health and Safety Services which provides low-cost testing sites across America and a secure database of test results. Through the site, film producers will not be able to access results but will know if performers are “available” for work. Performers are only classed as “available” if they have adhered to voluntary testing standards.
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