Would you watch a porno if the performers were required to wear condoms? Wicked Pictures requires all of its performers to wear condoms, and up until earlier this year, Vivid Video also required its performers to wear a rubber (Vivid now has a condom-optional policy). Both companies have sold exceptionally well with its soft-core sex scenes and plot-oriented features. But, would the sex scenes be even hotter with the performers not using condoms at all?

It’s still too early to tell what kind of effect, sales-wise, the condom-optional policy will affect Vivid, but both companies still manage to capture the top spots on Adult Video News (AVN) sales chart. Performers and industry insiders say if there was an industry-wide policy of using condoms, the skin biz would suffer. It’s the appeal of seeing performers go at it, bareback and all, that consumers want to see, is the usual argument from the industry. But are the performers paying a high price and risking their health when they go at it with multiple partners? All performers are required to have a PCR/DNA test every 30 days, and while the adult industry has gone to great lengths to reduce the performers’ chances of catching or spreading sexually transmitted diseases, there’s no guarantee there won’t be another HIV scare to hit the adult industry. Could it be a matter of time or has PCR/DNA testing come a long way in the past two years that the risk of another outbreak has significantly reduced?

The Last HIV Outbreak in the Industry: April–June 2004

The adult industry in the U.S. has been at the forefront of educating, not only its workers, but the general public about HIV. As a result, HIV outbreaks are rare. Year 2004 was the last time an outbreak occurred, giving adult industry critics an excuse to criticize the industry as unsafe and immoral. Likewise, the industry vigorously defended itself by stressing its mandatory health screening policy and halting productions for a time (which almost all production companies abided by). All performers who had sex with the infected performers had all agreed to quarantine themselves to prevent further outbreak. “It is amazing that an industry turning out thousands of X-rated films for an insatiable market does not generate more victims of the life-threatening virus that leads to AIDS,” stated the San Francisco Examiner in an April 20, 2004 editorial. “Much of the depicted activity is unprotected by condom use, which is discouraged by filmmakers who say it makes the product harder to sell.”

During the last outbreak, veteran performer Darren James was diagnosed as HIV-positive after returning from a shoot in Brazil. It is there where James caught the HIV virus, possibly from actress Bianca Biaggi, who is believed to have caught the virus after working with an infected transsexual performer in a Brazilian porn shoot. The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIM) immediately went into motion to make sure that the virus was contained, first quarantining 12 women who had been identified as first-generation performers. Among the females identified as first-generation performers included Jocelyn, Lara Roxx, Annie Cruz, Vanesca, Persia, Miss Arroyo, Kayla Marie, Jessica Dee, Skyler Banks, Patrice Petite, Candy Ray and Desiree Clark. Among the women listed, Jessica Dee, Lara Roxx and Miss Arroyo were the only females to test positive with HIV during the scare. The industry immediately took steps to keep the virus from spreading. AVN, a publication dedicated to serving the adult industry, even went so far to suggest industry-wide mandatory condom use until the virus has been halted, or stop productions on adult films for a period of two months following the outbreak. It was the fear of government interference and negative sentiments shared by aforementioned of the already marked adult industry in which AVN spoke of desisting operation until the virus has been contained.

The Condom Debate

So, why risk the fate of adult performers by not issuing a mandatory condom policy throughout the adult industry? As stated before, adult production companies and performers believe consumers prefer watching unprotected sex scenes; thus, it will hurt the production’s bottom line by having their performers wear condoms during sex scenes. But are company profits more important to them than the health and safety of the performers they hire? Maybe the answer to that would be to hit these production companies where it hurts—their wallets. As Sharon Mitchell, founder and director of AIM, said in an editorial in the New York Times: “With the explosion of the industry, the business has changed drastically. Films have become increasingly hardcore because that is what sells. Rejection of condom use is purely and simply a financial issue. Filmmakers believe that viewers prefer the ‘reality’ of unprotected sex. But the reality of unprotected sex is risk of HIV infection.”

Mitchell further went on to say that adult films have been around for a while and it’s not going anywhere. In essence, if the industry workers can be convinced to use condoms the chances of infecting someone they know offscreen is lowered drastically. Mitchell mentions that it wasn’t legal to film actual penetration until the 80s. To evade the law, gonzo filmmakers made their films underground and reaped big benefits through such operations. “If Los Angeles County mandates condom use, the filmmakers who refuse to follow these regulations will just move elsewhere, avoiding even the opt-in testing we have at my organization. Then we would truly have a public health issue. Remember, these men and women have nonprofessional sex lives with husbands, wives and partners who are not in the industry,” said Mitchell.

The AIM founder suggests organizations, like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, collaborate with AIM to create a “seal of approval” to films that practice safe health care practices. If big corporations, like Time Warner and the Hilton chain, only showed films with this seal, film companies would have one good financial reason to enforce safe health care practices in their films, Mitchell believes.

Vivid and Wicked, the two leading production companies of plot-oriented adult films, certainly haven’t suffered financially. But, consider their audience. Both Vivid and Wicked cater to couples and adult aficionados who enjoy watching erotic sex scenes that involve compelling storylines, character development and special effects. They are also nominated each year with numerous adult awards, and their contract stars are among the most beautiful and well-known adult actresses in the world. Their audience enjoy soft-core sex scene. Now, take gonzo porn. The sex is much rougher, little or no plot or dialogue, just two or three or more performers going at it. Would the sex be as appealing to watch if the performers had to stop to put a rubber on? Imagine this scenario: you have a hot-looking girl getting ready to go at it with two guys in a double-penetration scene. Would the scene be spoiled with both male performers covered? Would it be a distraction? Can you really get turned on seeing a girl giving oral if her male co-star was wearing a condom? Gonzo fans would probably revolt.

Satisfied with the testing procedure of AIM, and giving performers a choice in whether or not to wear condoms, Vivid Video announced back in January that it would allow a condom-optional policy on all its productions. As Steven Hirsch, CEO of Vivid, stated, "It's something we've been discussing with our actresses and directors for a long time. And, we feel comfortable giving people their choice. The testing by AIM is effective and has been working well. Most of the talent wants to work without condoms. We have a close relationship with our stars and directors. We thought about it, discussed it and felt that this was the right time to make the change."

Hirsch insists that money had absolutely nothing to do with Vivid changing its policy on condom usage. "I never had a problem with the potential financial loss," he admitted. "I'm sure we left a lot of money on the table. The way we make movies now, we're perceived to be a couples-oriented and condoms added to that. But it was never about financial loss or gain."

Interestingly, Vivid had a condom-optional policy before going condom mandatory in 1998. Concerns about an HIV scare was the reason for Vivid instituting a condom mandatory policy. As Steven Hirsch explained to Luke Ford in an interview in 1998 that even though there was no upside to going condom mandatory where money is concerned, he firmly believes in the safety of the performers. Hirsch went on to say, “I feel that it is the best long-term interest of the industry to have a condom policy, just as the gay industry went condom-mandatory. We've never tried to bully anybody into using condoms. We don't have that kind of power.”

The Gay Adult Industry’s Stance on Condom Use

Gay pornographers have long been aware of the dangers of HIV and have been promoting safe sex within the industry since the early 90s. But while most gay pornographers publicly rally against anal sex without a condom, it still goes on. However, the scare did not affect the gay porn industry as much as it did the straight industry.

Rob Novinger of ChiChiClicks.com explained to AVNOnline.com that "the gay community has never followed the same procedures as the straight community. We practice safe sex every day, and everyone is told to assume your partner is HIV positive, so it doesn't matter whether we are shooting for video or on the Web because we only use condoms. Most of our Web content is solo anyway, but if there is sex there are condoms required.” A major reason the 1998 HIV bomb did not affect the gay adult industry is that they’ve already experienced a bigger HIV scare for 24 years. That’s when the condom-mandatory was placed, and for 10 years now that community has been actively engaged in staunching the deadly virus. Most gay adult companies implement the condom-mandatory policy, and most directors, like Chi Chi LaRue, will only direct films with condoms in it. The only community among the gay genre who do not use condoms are the studios who shoot bareback films. The bigger gay adult companies, such as Titan, Falcon, Raging Stallion and Lucas Entertainment, have always abided by these safe sex practices.

As a result of Vivid’s decision to go condom-optional, Chi Chi LaRue stopped directing straight productions exclusively for Vivid. “As a person who has been very vocal about condom usage in every aspect of the gay business as well as the straight and as a person who went to work for Vivid because of their mandatory-condom policy, I had to stop directing for them once it became condom-optional.

“It’s my policy to use condoms and it would be very hypocritical of me after how vocal I’ve been in this industry in the gay and straight sides to continue to do movies and not use condoms. I love directing straight porn and I’m going to miss it greatly but hopefully, there will be something I can do down the pike for Vivid or another company that lets me use condoms,” said LaRue.

Conclusion

As the issue is being debated in the adult industry about having a mandatory-condom policy or not, companies should realize that performers’ health should come before profits. The mandatory PCR/DNA testing that performers must go through every 30 days has proven to be effective to stop the spread of HIV and other STDs. Otherwise, HIV outbreaks in the adult industry would be commonplace, effectively shutting down the industry, and possibly returning it to the days when porn directors went underground to shoot their films. Scares like the one that occurred in 2004 are actually rare today, but no test or rubber is 100 percent foolproof. However, many performers would rather work without condoms. Perhaps while the issue is being debated, the industry can work on how to make adult videos with the performers wearing condoms lucrative, or work harder to educate the public on the dangers of HIV and put more resources into finding a cure, and making the PCR/DNA test even more effective than it already is. Until then, the safest sex is still the kind you can enjoy by yourself when you pop a good porno into your DVD player.