# Mandatory condom use on all porn films: not just a good idea, it's the law! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 13, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411 "2013-07-13T18:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/1 "2013-07-13T18:04:15Z")
If you film porn in Los Angeles County, [the law now requires performers to wear condoms for all vaginal and anal scenes.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measure_B) Many porn stars have spoken out against the measure, saying that they should decide for themselves what risk to accept. Former porn actress and current born-again Christian/anti-porn activist Shelley Lubben joins several health organizations in speaking in favor of the measure. Those against the measure have said, in effect, “Get your laws off my body.” The law makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/2 "2013-07-13T18:05:31Z")
Why just porn actors? Why not everybody? Edited to add: If it is legal to do it in real life, how can you possibly justify banning it on film? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/3 "2013-07-13T18:14:16Z")
I’m against it. The obvious solution is for the industry to simply stop filming in Los Angeles County, and let the nanny state do without the jobs/tax revenue etc that would have otherwise been generated there. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/4 "2013-07-13T18:22:53Z")
I am against the law. I would possibly support mandatory risk waiver forms to be signed by the actors but I do agree with them in that if they wish to take the risk it is their choice. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/5 "2013-07-13T18:46:26Z")
If the government can mandate the use of hardhats for construction workers… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/6 "2013-07-13T18:47:47Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I’m against it. The obvious solution is for the industry to simply stop filming in Los Angeles County, and let the nanny state do without the jobs/tax revenue etc that would have otherwise been generated there. Move the studios down or up the 101 to Orange or Ventura counties. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/7 "2013-07-13T18:51:24Z")
I wonder how they’re going to enforce it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/8 "2013-07-13T18:55:43Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > If the government can mandate the use of hardhats for construction workers… …Then they might _possibly_ be able to mandate that people depicting construction workers in movies be required to wear them…but I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/9 "2013-07-13T19:03:03Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The law makes sense to me. Makes as much sense as forcing anyone else to wear condoms. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/10 "2013-07-13T19:05:45Z")
Are there any other cases where it is illegal to depict doing something on film that is legal to do in real life? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/11 "2013-07-13T19:17:11Z")
Yeah, I hate this. I understand the rationale, but it really does seem foolish and prudish to me. I’m not a fan of “big studio” porn at all in the first place, but I think the lack of condoms is among the least of my worries about the piss-poor sexual attitudes on display. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/12 "2013-07-13T19:21:32Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are there any other cases where it is illegal to depict doing something on film that is legal to do in real life? None that I can think of. This would be a first. But there are plenty of occupational safety rules that don’t apply to an amateur doing the same thing for personal reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/13 "2013-07-13T19:22:31Z")
Why can’t the actors claim that they are really just prostitutes in order to get around this law? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/14 "2013-07-13T19:29:17Z")
Does the law apply to people who film their personal sex acts then sell tapes of their exploits? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/15 "2013-07-13T19:29:41Z")
I have a friend that actually had to vote on this issue. I think its hilarious! California is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/16 "2013-07-13T19:33:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are there any other cases where it is illegal to depict doing something on film that is legal to do in real life? I don’t think this law does that. One could still make a documentary that featured people having condom-less sex, right? This law appears to be a mandate that requires reasonable personal protective equipment in the workplace, which is commonplace. Can you legally pay someone in LA county to sand wood floors and not require the use of a respirator, or make hearing protection optional for your employees in a loud factory? Then again if there was a porn made of a monogamous, disease free couple, mandating their use of a condom would be like requiring hearing protection in a quiet factory. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/17 "2013-07-13T19:36:08Z")
Once upon a time it was illegal to buy or use condoms. Now it’s illegal not to. Land o’ Goshen. What’s this world coming to? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/18 "2013-07-13T19:41:12Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But there are plenty of occupational safety rules that don’t apply to an amateur doing the same thing for personal reasons. Isn’t this something that should be handled by OSHA? ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/19 "2013-07-13T19:52:00Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > I don’t think this law does that. One could still make a documentary that featured people having condom-less sex, right? Even for porn, are you required to explicitly show the condom being put on? Can not the porn “depict” condom-less penetration, without actual condom-less penetration happening (in the same way that ordinary films with sex scenes depict sex without the actors actually having sex)? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411/20 "2013-07-13T19:58:53Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Even for porn, are you required to explicitly show the condom being put on? Can not the porn “depict” condom-less penetration, without actual condom-less penetration happening (in the same way that ordinary films with sex scenes depict sex without the actors actually having sex)? 😕 I don’t know how much porn you’ve ever seem, but most of doesn’t exactly seem to go for the “tastefully hinted” approach. More the “gynecologically explicit”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-condom-use-on-all-porn-films-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law/663411.md?page=2)