Thanks, Harry. Selma ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harry Pollard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Selma Singer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 5:32 PM Subject: [Futurework] Porn Revisited.
> Selma, > > I found this most interesting - but practically unreadable. It looks like a > forward. > > What I do to avoid the loss of paragraph breaks and suchlike is to copy > from the newspaper (or whatever) into NoteTab. I'm sure that windows > Notepad would do equally well. Then I copy from NoteTab into my E-Mail. > > All the paragraph breaks are there and it provides an opportunity to take > out all the odd bits that copy as well. > > Anyway, here it is again. Your work deserves a proper read. > > To show how behind the times I am, I had never heard of Chlamydia! > > Harry > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- > > > SAN FERNANDO VALLEY > PORN > > > By P.J. Huffstutter, Times Staff Writer > > During production of the 1997 movie "Mimic," American Humane Assn. > representatives wandered through the Los Angeles set, ensuring that a herd > of cockroaches was well taken care of. Licensed animal handlers were to > follow state and federal anti-cruelty laws designed to protect the insects, > which had been trained to swirl around actress Mira Sorvino's feet. The > roaches had to be fed at a certain time. They could only work a few hours > each day. They could not be harmed. > > At the same time, in studios in the San Fernando Valley, scores of other > actors and actresses were working on movies. They put in long hours, > commonly without meal breaks. They often worked without clean toilets, > toilet paper, soap or water. More importantly, they were exposed to a host > of infectious, and sometimes fatal, diseases. > > These performers were making heterosexual adult films for an industry that > in California is entirely legal, and utterly unregulated. Its producers > take in several billion dollars annually from cable television programming, > videos and Internet sites watched by a public whose appetite seems > insatiable. They pay taxes, lobby in Sacramento and contribute to political > campaigns. > > Yet actors and actresses are discouraged from wearing prophylactics during > filming because porn producers believe the public wants to see unprotected > sex. So adult porn stars commonly engage in sexual acts with scores of > partners, and then return each evening to their private lives--dating or > having relationships with people across Southern California. > > In the words of former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, when told > about the lack of oversight of the adult film industry: "These folks are a > reservoir. They don't just have sex with one another. They have sex with > regular people outside their business--doctors, lawyers, teachers, your > next-door neighbor." > > But California regulators and political officials don't believe the public > is worried about protecting the porn stars themselves--despite the enormous > popularity of the films they produce. As David Gurley, staff attorney for > the California Labor Commissioner's office, says: "Porn stars--people think > they're not worth the time. The public sees these people as disposable." > > Told of those remarks, and similar ones by other California officials, > former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said: "That's ridiculous. That's the > same thing we heard about the gay community back in the early days of > AIDS." Koop was an early crusader in the fight against the disease. > > Koop and others note that in Nevada, legal brothels are subject to > stringent state oversight--and the spread of sexually transmitted disease > in that industry has been reduced to trace amounts. In California, the > adult film business, which has expanded to include the most risque forms of > sex widely referred to as Triple X, is remarkably similar in scope to > Nevada's legalized prostitution in terms of the number of people employed > and the nature of the job. Yet the only monitoring in Triple X is a form of > modest self-regulation by some companies that request health tests before > performers go on camera. But even that practice is neither widespread nor > tightly monitored. "The fact that no one's watching this industry is > shocking," Koop says. "How many people have to be infected with an STD > before someone does something?" > > > > ANNE MARIE BALLOWE: PORN ACTRESS > > Actress Anne Marie Ballowe is a former porn star who flourished in the > burgeoning business. She was born in Taegu City, S. Korea, the daughter of > a U.S. serviceman and a South Korean woman. The family moved to the United > States, where her parents soon divorced. Her mother gave her to her father, > who was living in a small Missouri town, when Ballowe was 7. She says she > was raped by schoolmates at age 16. The following year she ran away to Los > Angeles with dreams of a better life. > > She found it. Sort of. > > Ballowe became famous, paid thousands of dollars to grin for the camera, > prance beneath the hot lights--and have sex with strangers. For years she > enjoyed the perks of her job, shuttling around town in limousines, > attending hot Hollywood parties, dating famous athletes and rock 'n' roll > gods. During her seven years in the business, she starred in scores of > Triple-X films. > > Legal and medical records show she walked away from the business in 1998 > with chlamydia, which could make her sterile; cytomegalovirus, which could > eventually make her blind; hepatitis C, which has damaged her liver; and > HIV, which could cause AIDS and probably kill her. According to medical > records, her liver is too damaged--in part because of the hepatitis--to > allow her to take the anti-viral drugs that could delay the onset of AIDS. > > Along the way, she also became a drug addict, and she has exhibited > symptoms of schizophrenia. Today the 29-year-old former actress lives in > Honolulu. There, sitting inside an AIDS clinic for homeless patients, > waiting for medication, she hides her past behind an engaging smile. "I > know people hate what we do," she says. "But porn stars make a lot of money > for other people. If farmworkers have rights, so should we. The laws need > to change." > > ANNE MARIE BALLOWE: HIV POSITIVE > > Hours later, staring at the TV screen inside a friend's apartment, Ballowe > watches a clip from a 1998 video she made for Hard Core Television and > K-Beech Video Inc. It is the film in which Ballowe has alleged she was > infected with HIV by an actor named Marc S. Goldberg. She was paid $10,000 > for her work, but records show the check bounced just days after she > learned that she was HIV positive. > > As the video plays, Ballowe quietly excuses herself and walks into the > bathroom, locking the door behind her. Water runs into the sink, nearly > muffling the sound of retching. > > Ballowe's rise and fall in the business is not unusual, but her reaction > is. She filed a lawsuit with the California Workers' Compensation Appeal > Board against Hard Core Television, the producer of the video, and K-Beech, > the distributor. Ballowe alleges that Goldberg faked a test showing he was > HIV negative. Included in the lawsuit is a copy of an HIV test supposedly > taken by Goldberg on March 21, 1997, nearly a year before the two actors > worked together. The result is negative. > > The document says the test was conducted by the Medical Science Institute > in Burbank--a laboratory that filed for bankruptcy in 1995, and whose > assets were purchased by Physicians Clinical Laboratory Inc. in February > 1997. The document also shows that Goldberg's blood sample was taken at > Northeast Valley Health Corp.'s Pacoima offices, by a physician identified > only as "Martinez." > > Officials from Northeast Valley told The Times that no doctor by that name > worked at their facilities during this time. "We had a doctor named > Martinez, but he left and moved out of the area back in 1985," says > Kimberly Wyard, chief executive officer. > > Goldberg could not be reached for comment despite nearly two dozen attempts > to contact him by phone and in person at his home and at the video company > where he works. No response from Goldberg to Ballowe's lawsuit is on file > with the state. Hard Core Television and K-Beech have filed papers denying > responsibility. > > Ballowe's suit says that during several days of filming in Chatsworth in > February 1998, the actress had sex with about 25 men--a mix of actors > established in the business, would-be stars trying to get a break in the > industry and adult-film fans who had been recruited at adult video stores. > Most of the men showed up at the set with paperwork that declared they were > HIV-negative. Some wore condoms. Others, like Goldberg, did not. > > "I had known Marc for years, so I didn't make him wear one," Ballowe says > in an interview. "I was going on good faith" that he was not infected. In > her lawsuit, Ballowe says that K-Beech and Hard Core failed to provide a > safe work environment, as required by state law. Specifically, she claims > the businesses failed to "verify the health certificates provided . . . to > ensure their accuracy and reliability." She also claims the companies > failed "to furnish and use safety devices and safeguards for the benefit of > the employee . . . with knowledge that serious injury to applicant would be > a probable result." > > "If I was a prostitute in Nevada, I'd still be alive," she says in an > interview. "If I'd been a migrant farmworker, I'd still be alive. As it is, > I'm dead. I'll be buried before I get wrinkles." > > Ballowe's lawsuit has become the leading example cited by all those who > argue for regulation of the industry. It was filed in 1998, at a time when, > one by one, porn actresses were testing positive for HIV. Among industry > veterans, those years are now known as "the dark times." In January of that > year, actress Tricia Devereaux tested positive. She was followed by Ballowe > in March; a Hungarian performer, who used only the stage name Caroline, in > April; and Kimberly Jade in May. > > "I could have given this to my boyfriend," Jade says. "Any of us could have > and not known because we were getting tested only once a month, for HIV. > The only thing we all have in common is Marc. But we had no idea how to > prove that he did it." > > Some companies, such as Vivid Video Inc. in Van Nuys and VCA Pictures in > Chatsworth, insist performers bring a recent HIV test to the set and use > condoms when they perform. But dozens of Triple-X filmmakers have no such > requirements. Even at those that do, the rules can be easily overlooked, > according to interviews with more than three dozen actresses working for > various Triple-X companies. > > "It's up to the talent to say [to other performers], 'Let me see your HIV > test,' or 'Hey, I need a condom,' " says Robert Herrera, production chief > of Simon Wolf Productions in Chatsworth. "It'd be great to have everyone > wear a condom and a good thing to force everyone to test for everything. > But it's impossible to do that in this business." > > Gay pornographers abide by a different set of rules: No condom, no HIV > test, no audience. Nearly all gay Triple-X production studios throughout > the industry demand condom use and other protections. The decision is > rooted in financial concerns. While there is a niche audience for films > that depict unprotected sex, few retail and Internet outlets will carry > such movies for fear of drawing public criticism. > > "They all wear condoms," says Roger Tansey, former executive director of > Aid For AIDS, a West Hollywood-based nonprofit that provides financial > assistance for people with HIV. "Gay actors and gay viewers don't see > unprotected sex as a fantasy. They see it as watching death on the screen." > > Though the porn industry is huge when measured in dollars, it has > relatively few employees. Talent agents say there are typically 500 > Triple-X actors and actresses working at any given time in Southern > California. But because the average career lasts just 18 months, the number > of people who have worked on Triple-X sets over time is actually far > higher, exceeding thousands per decade. > > HIV TESTING > > The extent of infection among those performers is unknown because no > government or regulatory medical agency has ever tracked the industry > consistently. The limited data that does exist is alarming. The Adult > Industry Medical HealthCare Foundation (AIM), an industry-backed clinic in > Sherman Oaks, administered voluntary tests to a group consisting primarily > of adult film workers. Of 483 people tested between October 2001 and March > 2002, about 40% had at least one disease. Nearly 17% tested positive for > chlamydia, 13% for gonorrhea and 10% for hepatitis B and C, according to > Sharon Mitchell, a former adult actress who founded AIM. None of the tests > came up positive for HIV, Mitchell said. The testing was funded in part by > the Los Angeles County Health Department. > > By comparison, 23,277 cases of gonorrhea were reported statewide in 2001, > less than one-tenth of 1% of the state's population, according to the > Department of Health Service's division of communicable disease control. > For chlamydia, 101,871 cases were reported for the year, or about > three-tenths of 1%--a rate health officials consider epidemic. The > chlamydia rates in the porn world are about 57 times higher than those > epidemic proportions. But that and other statistics can also be explained > by the small size of the population and its abnormally high rate of sexual > activity. > > The industry agreed to start AIM under pressure from Mitchell and others, > after Ballowe and several other actresses contracted HIV. "We don't test > everyone in the business," Mitchell said. "People come into this business, > and they leave this business. We can follow many of them, but not all." For > every positive test, the clinic contacted the performers' partners and > tested them as well. On average, said Mitchell, one positive STD test for a > porn star led to the discovery of four other infections. > > BEHIND THE SCENES > > The figures obtained by AIM are "clearly an indication of what's > happening," says Dr. Peter Kerndt, the county health department's STD > control director. "We support AIM's effort, but we can't help them very > much financially. Our budgets are tight, and there's no public outcry over > this. > > "But even we wonder why we don't have the same legal requirements in > California that they have with legalized prostitutes in Nevada." > > It's a point that comes up repeatedly about health conditions in the porn > industry: Why not regulate as Nevada does? > > The answer is that on the evolutionary chain of vice--from gambling to > sex--California now seems behind its neighbor state. It is Nevada that > imposes strict controls on and derives healthy revenues from legalized > gambling. It is Nevada that has devised a way to keep the legal sex > business healthy. > > The worlds of legalized prostitution in Nevada and adult films in > California are strikingly similar. Nevada's legal brothels employ from 250 > to 400 licensed prostitutes at any time and they typically stay in the > business only a short time, says George Flint, executive director of the > Nevada Brothel Owners Group. The women who work in the state's 26 legal > brothels are required by state law to practice safe sex. Doctors and > epidemiologists alike say the rules have all but eradicated the > transmission of STDs within the workplace. > > In 1999, for example, there were 28 cases of prostitutes who tested > positive for either gonorrhea or chlamydia, according to officials with the > Nevada Department of Human Resources Health Division. Government officials > say that most of those who were infected contracted their diseases outside > the brothels. > > "What we've found is that the positives are nearly all from women who are > being tested [for STDs] as they enter the system for the first time," says > Dr. Randy Todd, Nevada's state epidemiologist. "On the rare case that > they've contracted after being in the system, we've found that they've had > unprotected sex with a boyfriend or husband, and that's where the > [infection] occurred." There have been no cases of HIV since Nevada's > brothels were ruled legal in the mid-1980s. > > "If we had the numbers you're seeing in California, our phones wouldn't > stop ringing," says Rick Sowadsky, health program specialist for the Nevada > State Health Division. He says the infection rates in California's adult > film business "are unreal. What a public health crisis." > > In Nevada, the state health department's Bureau of Disease Control and > Intervention Services began requiring customers in brothels to use condoms. > A violation is a misdemeanor. To have HIV and not wear a condom is a felony. > > AT MOONLITE BUNNY RANCH > > The brothels also have a huge financial incentive to follow the law. "If > the police catch one of the workers not using a condom, the house gets hit > with a fine," says Dennis Hof, owner of several brothels, including the > Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Carson City, Nev. "The second time it happens, the > house gets shut down permanently. That will not happen to us. That's why we > hire people to go in and test the girls [on using condoms] ourselves." > > Brothels keep health and test records for each prostitute. Once a week, the > women are required to visit a doctor, or the doctors arrive at the brothels > themselves. Blood and urine are drawn and sent off to one of a handful of > state-regulated labs. Local authorities can--and do--stop by for periodic > checks on the paperwork. > > A main objective of the monitoring is to keep the operation thriving. "If > we had the disease rate you see in the porn world, we'd be out of business > tomorrow," says Flint. "All it would take is one customer saying he picked > up an STD in one of our houses, and our industry would be gone." > > To offset the state's regulatory costs, prostitutes pay a host of > fees--ranging from the required medical tests, as well as state > registration and licensing fees. Last year, those brought in about $175,000 > in Nye County, where a dozen brothels operate. That's a relatively small > amount in a county with a general budget of $50 million. But the impact is > clearly felt: The county's emergency services received $60,000 from the > licensing fees, which was used to pay for new ambulances. > > Prostitutes regularly face pressure to avoid using condoms, says Dr. Alexa > Albert, author of "Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women." Her research, > detailed in the book and in reports for the American Journal of Public > Health, showed that more than 65% of the women said at least one of their > customers had balked at wearing a condom each month, offering as much as > $1,000 to do without. None of the women Albert interviewed said she had > agreed to unprotected sex. > > "Each brothel has to have the disease status on file from their workers," > says Albert, a gaduate of Harvard Medical School. "There's too much at risk > legally." > > In California's Triple-X world, there is no legal risk because no one is > watching over the business. "If California is the only state where it's > legal to be paid for having sex in front of a camera, it's going to be up > to the state of California and the local agencies to do something about > regulating it," says Frederick S. Lane III, an attorney and author of > "Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age." > > "But it would be political suicide for anyone in government to come forward > and try to start regulating the porn industry," Lane says. "That's why > nothing's been done." Though there are labor laws in place that could be > enforced, new legislation would be needed to bring California in line with > Nevada's regulations. > > Actresses Britni Taylor and Savannah Rain lean against the back wall of a > crowded North Hollywood soundstage. They listen, occasionally yawning, as > cameraman Glenn Baren and his all-male crew from the production shop > Extreme Associates try to figure out how to reconfigure the small set to > accommodate various camera angles. Baren paces across the concrete floor, > listening to suggestions from the crew. The actresses stare at the ceiling. > No one asks their opinion. Finally, it's decided: The first scene will be > shot from the foot of the bed. > > There are no condoms on the set. There's no toilet paper in the bathroom. > The performers brought boxes of baby wipes. Soiled sheets litter the > ground, creating a trail to the bed. For more than two hours, Taylor and > Rain engage in unprotected sexual acts with a male performer. > > During a break, Rain asks director Thomas Zupko for her co-workers' HIV > tests. Handed a stack of papers, she flips through the documents. One is > missing--Taylor's. Rain asks repeatedly for her paperwork, but she balks. > "I don't have [expletive] AIDS," Taylor finally says. "I am not [having sex > with] you." > > Stunned, Rain says nothing. Minutes pass, then Baren picks up the camera > and filming continues. > > Off to the side, an actress mutters: "That is why we take so many > prescriptions." > > What happens on these sets is invisible to elected officials in Sacramento, > where each spring pornographers travel to meet with state legislators in a > daylong lobbying blitz. Under the banner of the Free Speech Coalition, a > 900-member San Fernando Valley-based trade group for the adult > entertainment industry, moviemakers and former actresses knock on doors and > stump over taxation issues. They have lobbied against regulation and pass > out industry-funded research that touts their economic impact on > California: an estimated $31 million in state sales tax from the rentals of > 130 million adult videos and nearly $1.8 billion in Internet sales and Web > site traffic nationwide. > > Among the lobbyists at last year's meetings was porn actress Julie Meadows. > She wandered the hallways with a list of politicians she would visit. Her > task: talk about pending legislation, including debate over tax breaks and > real estate laws that could either hurt or help adult filmmakers. Meadows > begins knocking on doors, including those of Democratic Sen. Kevin Murray > of Culver City, chairman of the Select Committee on the Entertainment > Industry, and Democratic Sen. Richard Alarcon of Van Nuys, chairman of the > Senate Labor Committee. > > "They didn't ask a lot of questions," Meadows, who works for VCA Pictures, > said afterward. "When they did, it was all about the business. There were > no questions about the day-to-day activities of our job, or what happens on > the set." > > Months later, when asked about Meadows' visit to Murray's office, his > spokeswoman, Yolanda Sandoval, told The Times that the senator "doesn't > remember seeing them this year." Alarcon declined to comment. > > Other lawmakers who chair health or labor committees in Sacramento also > declined to comment on the lack of regulation of the Triple-X industry. > Among those called by The Times were Democratic Assemblyman Paul Koretz of > West Hollywood, who chairs the Labor and Employment Committee; Democratic > Assemblyman Dario Frommer of Los Feliz, chair of the Health Committee, and > Democratic Sen. Deborah Ortiz of Sacramento, who heads the Health and Human > Services Committee. > > Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the lobbying is how fast it has > become unremarkable. Little more than a decade ago, appearances by Meadows, > or anyone in the industry, would have been unthinkable because > pornographers were battling a Justice Department crusade against > transporting "obscene" materials across state lines. > > Then, in California, the industry caught a break. Harold Freeman, who was > president of Hollywood Video Production Co., contested pandering charges > against him, basing his argument on a 1973 ruling by the U.S. Supreme > Court. In Miller vs. Calfornia, the high court had defined obscenity as > material that depicted sex in a "patently offensive way," lacking in > literary, artistic, scientific and political merit, and appealing to an > average person's "prurient interest," as determined by the local standards > of each community. > > In effect, the court said that if a locality deemed sexual content > sufficiently artistic, it was not obscene. > > To the California Supreme Court, ruling in Freeman's case, that definition > meant that an adult filmmaker could hire actors and actresses to perform > sexual acts as long as they were being recorded on film. In its 1988 > decision, the California court said there is no evidence that Freeman paid > the acting fees "for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification, his > own or the actors'." Instead, he hired them simply to make a non-obscene > movie--an act protected by the First Amendment. > > Just like that, making porn was legal in California. The industry exploded, > thanks also to the VCR revolution, which made it possible for people to > watch in private rather than at seedy adult theaters. What's more, anyone > could buy a video camera and go into the filmmaking business. A cottage > industry of "amateur" pornographers cropped up in the San Fernando Valley. > They competed against several major adult studios: VCA Pictures Inc., > Wicked Pictures, and Sin City Films, all in Chatsworth, and Vivid Video > Inc. and Evil Angel Productions in Van Nuys. > > Over the years, the companies grew larger--and politically smarter. They > help fund the Free Speech Coalition, a Chatsworth-based national nonprofit > organization that has dues-paying members ranging from Web site operators > to porn actresses to adult cabaret chains. With an annual budget of > $750,000, the coalition's lobbying effort has focused on protecting free > speech and guarding the business interests of the Triple-X world. > > "Our focus is not just about the rights of the adult industry, but the > rights of you as an individual to have choices," says William Lyon, > executive director of the coalition. The organization has opened offices in > Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. By next year, > the group expects to expand into the South with five more offices. > > Today's pornographers maintain that the adult film industry is no different > from other lucrative businesses based on vice, such as tobacco and alcohol. > Sex is merely a commodity to be sold and branded, like Microsoft software > and Chrysler minivans. "We are a mainstream business, pure and simple," > says Steven Hirsch, chief executive of Vivid Video Inc., a leading supplier > of erotica to major entertainment companies such as AOL Time Warner Inc., > AT&T Corp. and DirecTV, the satellite TV service controlled by General > Motors Corp. "We are nothing more than widget makers." > > They are widget makers with one exception: Other industries are monitored > for health and safety violations in the workplace. > > In the heterosexual adult film business, producers may not demand the use > of condoms, but they do require actors and actresses to sign documents > meant to excuse the filmmakers of liability. A typical contract from Vivid > says the company is not responsible, and will pay no medical costs, for > "sexually transmitted diseases . . . . such as acquired immune deficiency > syndrome (AIDS), herpes, hepatitis and other related diseases." > > Ballowe and Goldberg signed similar waivers on the movie they shot > together. "I represent that I am in good health, with no known sexually > transmittable diseases. I understand that the benefits of the workmen's > compensation laws do not apply," the waiver said. > > Ballowe's lawsuit alleges that Goldberg lied when signing the document, and > that the attempt to force her to waive worker's compensation rights was not > lawful. > > Legal experts called by The Times agree. Employees cannot be forced to sign > away their legal rights to work in a safe environment--or to earn a minimum > wage, overtime pay and enjoy the protection of workers' compensation insurance. > > "You cannot have a provision that goes against public policy," says John > Laviolette, an entertainment lawyer who represents numerous mainstream > Hollywood producers. "If you're an employer and one of your employees > experiences an injury while on the job, those injuries will be covered." > > Producers, however, do not concede that performers are employees. Instead, > producers claim performers are independent contractors who are not subject > to workers' compensation laws. > > Elliott Berkowitz, a Los Angeles workers' compensation attorney who is > representing Ballowe, counters: "They're employees. The companies tell them > when to show up, what to wear, where to go, what acts to do. If Hollywood > studios consider their actors and actresses an employee during the length > of their film shoots, there's no reason why adult studios should be held to > a different standard. They're both making movies. And I guarantee you, > studios like Disney have paid their taxes and workers' compensation policies." > > The issue has yet to be decided by the compensation appeals board. But if > it is, another obstacle awaits Ballowe. Hard Core Television, the producer > of the video, did not have workers' compensation insurance for any > employees. The distributor, K-Beech, had taken out a workers' compensation > policy describing its employees as clerical workers. TIG Insurance Co., the > Texas-based underwriter, insists the policy does not cover porn stars--and > therefore won't cover Ballowe's medical bills. > > Officials with Hard Core Television and K-Beech could not be reached and > attorneys for TIG declined to comment. > > Whose job is it to track the San Fernando Valley pornography industry? > > There are two leading candidates. One is the L.A. County Health Department. > It relies heavily on state and federal money, but the federal funds are to > end in 2004-2005. "Of course there's concern," says Kerndt, the county's > STD control director. "We know that if a disease enters this population, it > could rapidly spread." Health department officials say they don't have > enough staff or money to monitor the industry and point to a budget deficit > that, by 2005, is on track to hit between $350 million and $400 million > annually. > > The other candidate for oversight is the California Division of > Occupational Safety and Health, whose monitoring effort includes oversight > of Hollywood stunt work but not the porn industry. It is "too fragmented, > too hard to track," says Dean Fryer, a Cal-OSHA spokesman. "We rely heavily > on employees to give us tips about unsafe working conditions." > > Deborah Sanchez, supervising attorney for the Los Angeles City Attorney's > special enforcement unit, is sympathetic to the plight of porn performers > but sees little support from the public. "This reminds me of all the other > types of businesses that have traditionally been oppressors--the garment > industry, for example," Sanchez says. "The difference is, there are unions > for garment workers" these days. > > Mainstream Hollywood actors have a union that oversees wages, health > insurance, retirement benefits and residual payments. Screen Actors Guild > officials say they would never allow their members to work on an adult set. > > Some adult-film actors know that they are entitled to employee protections > such as workers' compensation and overtime, but they see no way performers > could organize. "You would have to get every actor and actress in adult to > sign up at the same minute," says an actress who goes by the stage name > Wendy Divine and has worked on Vivid and K-Beech productions for several > years. "Even if that happened, the studios could easily find replacements. > They control everything." > > Before Ballowe filed her lawsuit, she and Jade reached out to law > enforcement and other government agencies, asking that they investigate > working conditions in the industry. The first stop, in 1998, was Cal-OSHA. > "They told us they didn't track our business," Ballowe says, and sent her > to the state health department." > > The California Department of Health Services, however, doesn't track their > industry. "It's a local issue controlled by the local county health > department," Ballowe says she was told. > > The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, when contacted by The > Times, said the case was a criminal matter, not a public health issue. > > So they went to the Van Nuys office of the Los Angeles Police Department, > where they met with Det. David Escoto, then with the department's Crimes > Against Persons unit. "I told them there was no way we could prove who did > what," recalls Escoto, now in the department's Foothill office. "I don't > know how the industry works. And I don't think there's a way to prove they > all got HIV from the same person. > > No one would believe them anyway." > > "That's utter rubbish," counters Dr. Michael Gottlieb, the former UCLA > medical researcher who identified the earliest AIDS cases. "There is a way > to track that information. It just takes money." > > Gottlieb pointed to the case of Dr. David Acer, a Florida dentist who was > found to have infected six of his patients with HIV. Federal > epidemiologists used molecular sequencing studies of the viral strains of > the patients to see if there were any similarities in the virus carried by > the seven people. > > The results showed that the patients' strain was similar to that of the > dentist--and vastly different from other HIV strains collected elsewhere in > the community. > > But there was an important difference with the case of the dentist. "People > cared what happened to those patients," Gottlieb says. "They were seen as > innocent. No one sees porn stars as victims." > > Correction. Almost no one. Somewhere in Los Angeles is one office worker > who does care. In the words of an adult-film actress: "I picked up > chlamydia on an Extreme set. I gave it to my boyfriend by accident. I had > no idea that I had it. I didn't have any symptoms." > > She learned that she was infected nearly a year later, long after she and > the boyfriend had broken up. By then, he was in another relationship and > had unknowingly infected his new girlfriend. "She had it, too," says the > actress, who agreed to speak only if not identified. "The girlfriend worked > at some insurance company. She's a secretary." > > ****************************** > Harry Pollard > Henry George School of LA > Box 655 > Tujunga CA 91042 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Tel: (818) 352-4141 > Fax: (818) 353-2242 > ******************************* > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.434 / Virus Database: 243 - Release Date: 12/25/2002 > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
