The porn industry is vowing to challenge a recently enacted law requiring the use of condoms -- in court, to begin with, and if a legal test is unsuccessful, to uproot itself to another city, possibly Las Vegas. The law, which was strongly backed by AIDS activists, is due to go into effect on March 5, but the Los Angeles Times reports that city officials have not determined how it will be enforced. Losing the porn business could be costly to the city, the Times observed, citing a study indicated that the industry generated $4 billion in sales and provided 10,000 to 20,000 jobs annually. But AIDS activists maintain that it has been costly in terms of public health as well. Michael Weinstein, president of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, told the newspaper, "The fact that porn sends out a message that the only type of sex that's hot is unsafe ... we think that's detrimental." Producers, however, maintain that viewers of their films don't want to see condoms, and Diane Duke of Free Speech Coalition observed that boxers also risk injury when they enter The Ring. "Because our industry deals with sex ... we're vulnerable and easy to attack," she said.

21/02/2012