Fear of HIV: P0*n Performers Defy Producers, Say They Want Condoms

P0*n performers are coming out of the woodwork to express their preference for condom use on set, defying producers’ claims that actors prefer to go without.

On HuffPost Live Tuesday, P0*n performers Cindy Starfall and Sovereign Syre said they would like to have the option of using condoms on set. Starfall went on to point out that P0*n company Wicked Pictures has been successful with the use of condoms — refuting the claim by some in the industry that condoms hurt sales.

But when Starfall was asked if directors and producers accept condoms being used on set, she answered, “Of course not, because they’re always shooting bareback.”

Both Syre and Starfall said that increased competition coupled with less jobs in the industry has led to poverty, depression, drug use and other reckless behavior, on and off set. “When you’re in financial crisis, you tend to do more things just like escorting bareback, and you would do anything basically for the quick money,” Starfall said.

HuffPost LA Associate Editor Kathleen Miles explained that the trade association for the adult film industry called a moratorium on P0*n shoots after performer Cameron Bay tested positive for HIV in August. A week later, the trade association lifted the moratorium. Soon after, Bay’s boyfriend, Rod Daily, a performer in gay P0*n, tested positive for HIV. Then, after a second performer in straight P0*n tested positive for HIV, a second moratorium was put in place.

On Sept. 20, that second moratorium was lifted, and the trade association changed STD testing requirements to every 14 days, twice as often as before.

LA voters passed a measure in November mandating condom use in P0*n, despite a large, coordinated campaign against the proposal by the P0*n industry. Industry insiders say there has been no enforcement of the new law.