According to The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), another U.S. porn star was tested positive for contracting HIV, making it the fourth such case in the last 30 days.
AHF told the Huffington Post on Tuesday that the unnamed male performer told the foundation that he tested positive for the incurable virus. In order to protect the actor’s privacy, AHF kept tight lipped when specifying how the actor contracted the disease.
Michael Weinstein, founder of AHF, told Reuters that he was “sad for the person involved.”
“I’m really sad for our community, that we’re treating these people as utterly disposable.”
However, the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), a porn industry trade group that runs an STD testing service and database, believes Weinstein is lying.
“This information came from AHF, who is currently trying to push regulation on the industry and has, on many occasions, reported false information to the media to advance their political agenda,” FSC’s CEO Diane Duke said.
“Again, we have no evidence of a fourth performer testing positive for HIV.”
It is not entirely known who the performer is that has been infected; The Daily Caller believes it may be Anthony Weiner’s sexting partner Sydney Leathers. Until the tests come back conclusive for Leathers, The New York Post reports that there will be a freeze on the making of porn films in the U.S.
Leathers shared a sex partner with Cameron Bay, another porn actress who was recently tested positive for HIV. Bay announced on September 3rd that she contracted HIV, making her the first case in the string of infections:
Rod Daily, a second adult industry actor, announced the same day that he contracted HIV:
A third unknown adult performer, who didn’t work with Bay or Daily, was announced last Friday by the FSC to have also contracted HIV. The FSC announced on The Performer Availability Screening Services (PASS) website, that all the partners involved with the third performer had been tested twice.
“While we don’t have evidence to suggest an on-set transmission as opposed to a transmission from non-industry (off-camera) related activity, we are taking every measure to determine the source and to protect the performer pool,” said the FSC.
There doesn’t seem to be many enforced health regulations surrounding the participatory jobs of porn stars. Rewind back to November 1st, 2012, The Huffington Post published an article that found that 47 out of the 168 adult industry actors in L.A. had gonorrhea or chlamydia (or both.) Back then, The Safer Sex in The Adult Industry Act, or Measure B, was faced with opposition from porno bigwigs. Steve Hirsch, the founder of Vivid Entertainment said that Measure B was a “solution looking for a problem.” Measure B (which passed) orders the mandatory use of condoms by all actors performing sex on the set. Yet, according to Weinstein, the Los Angeles County public health officials have done very little to enforce the condom requirement.
Weinstein told the Huffington Post that, “It’s a slow motion car wreck. Nobody wants to take responsibility. If you don’t wear a seat-belt and you don’t wear a condom, eventually you’re likely to get hurt.”
(Image source: WikiMedia Commons)
