In 2016, adult film actress Tasha Reign looks more like a Bernie-or-Bust protester than the star of Kittens & Cougars 5. When I visit her at her hilltop house overlooking Los Angeles, she sits criss-cross applesauce in a golden chair, while her pet pigs chomp on grass under her seat. Like many porn performers in a turbulent political year, Reign has become an unexpected activist in LA, where she is one of the biggest porn stars combating Proposition 60—a law on next Tuesday’s ballot that would force all adult performers to use condoms on shoots. Porn performers, directors, and producers have accused the bill’s advocates of refusing to collaborate on regulation with the industry.
“[STI testing] is industry regulated,” Reign says. “Our industry is open to government regulation if they listen to what the workers have to say.”
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Proposition 60 stems from the mind of controversial AIDS advocate Michael Weinstein. Since 1987, he has served as the president of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which provides medication to HIV patients. Weinstein and the group have faced numerous controversies over the past decade. In 2015, Los Angeles County claimed that the non-profit overcharged the city for medical services, and the gay community has revolted against Weinstein for buying ads encouraging gay men to refuse to take Truvada, a.k.a. PrEP, a life-saving medicine that reduces the risk of HIV infection by over 90 percent if taken correctly.
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Weinstein has spent much of 2016 encouraging voters to vote yes on Proposition 60. His efforts have caused the impossible in a polarizing time in American politics, uniting Democrats, Republicans, porn stars, gay men, and economists against Weinstein and Proposition 60. (Calls to the AHF’s press office went unanswered; Weinstein did not respond to Broadly’s request for comment.)
This is not the first tango the porn industry has had with Weinstein. It battled the AHF president and his organization four years ago when he convinced the city council to pass Measure B, a law that required porn stars to use condoms for content shot in Los Angeles.
The courts attached new provisions to Measure B, making the law effectively unenforceable, but Proposition 60 comes with serious punishments for porn stars and production companies. Performers and businesses could face steep lawsuits if they shoot without condoms: The law allows for Californians to become “whistleblowers” and file a complaint with a state agency if they see a film shot without condoms. If the state declines to pursue the case, the complainant can sue anyone who has a financial stake in the film, which could include the porn stars who appear on tape. The State of California would collect 75 percent of any judgement, while the other 25 percent would go to the plaintiff, who could be any California-residing bozo with a porn site subscription who sees a sex scene lacking condoms.
“[Consumers] get incentivized to sue,” Reign says. “The fuck? This is crazy. This is the world we live in!”
Performers are even more concerned about how the lawsuits would affect their safety. Porn has become more mainstream in the era of Pornhub, but its stars remain marginalized and subject to death threats, like Lebanese actress Mia Khalifa. Proposition 60 could add stigma and lead to even more harassment for people in the industry. “That’s basically the number one concern of the adult industry especially for gay people and for people who are trans who do work that is extra controversial,” Reign says. “They have a lot more stalkers than me.”
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Tasha Reign educates the public on Prop 60. Photo courtesy of Tasha Reign
Both the Valley Industry & Commerce Association and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office predict the lawsuits would cost California millions of taxpayer dollars. “Proposition 60 will cost not only the San Fernando Valley—but the entire state—millions in lost revenue, ancillary services, and lawsuits,” says Jessica Yasukochi, the vice president of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association. “We know that when production of adult films leaves, the cost is high.” Porn companies’ film permits dropped from 480 in 2012 to 26 in 2015 after Los Angeles passed Measure B.
“I think people will move to Vegas simply because Prop 60 isn’t just about condoms,” porn star Sydney Leathers says. “I think the idea of people suing is going to drive people out. That’s the scary part of Prop 60.”
Production companies have already discussed moving production to Nevada, Florida, or even Europe. “As a producer, we’re already looking into options,” says porn star, director, and producer Kieran Lee. Producers’ offices might stay in California, but he predicts production could leave the state because condoms cause too many issues on set. For one, many people, including Reign, contract allergic reactions when they use condoms. Porn actors also fuck for longer periods of time than the average person, causing pain for both women and men—and using condoms could aggravate the situation.
“We are dealing with very well endowed people having very rough sex for very long amounts of time,” Reign explains.
Many shoots already take place in Las Vegas. Adult actress Sydney Leathers has even shot a film in the Trump International Vegas Hotel. “We just sneak in and sneak out [of the hotel] like the Underground Porn Railroad,” Leathers says.
Some porn stars even live in Vegas, where many work as prostitutes in legal brothels. The Love Ranch Vegas’s Elle Flynn and Brandi Minx, for instance, use porn as a way to attract customers. “It helps [get clients] if you have [porn] credits, for sure,” Minx says. “Fans do come out to see you.”
Kieran Lee, however, expects many producers to continue to use performers from California, since the majority of the porn industry’s workers live in the state. He recently met with other producers to figure out a system where several companies would agree to shoot in one location at the same time, using the same performers and splitting the stars’ traveling costs. But the model comes with issues: Many porn stars struggle to arrive on time to shoots in their own town, notes one prominent porn marketer. How could you rely on them getting on a plane for work?
Lee predicts these issues could push producers underground. Both him and Reign envision a scenario where shadier underworld figures could get involved in porn again. The Mafia ran pornography in the 1960s and 1970s, and according to Legs McNeil, the author of the definitive history of porn, The Other Hollywood, organized crime could regain its hold over porn. “[Criminals ran porn in the 1960s] because one it was illegal,” he explains. “It was called obscenities, and you could get some serious jail time for obscenity.”
Reign and other performers find the prospect of criminal figures returning to porn distressing because the porn industry has actually successfully self-regulated STIs for several years. Every 14 days, most porn performers get a full panel of STI and HIV tests. The results then go in a computer system called Performer Availability Screening Service, or PASS for short. (Some performers also use similar services called Talent Testing Service and Cutting Edge Testing.) Before a shoot, porn stars check their partners’ results. “If they have a green tick, that’s great,” Lee says, explaining that it means they are safe to shoot with.
Some production companies cover the cost, while others expect performers to pay for them. “It’s $200 about every two weeks. That price is fine for me. I’m OK with paying $400 a month. It’s no big deal for me because that’s how much I care about my safety,” Reign says.
She and other porn stars believe that Proposition 60 is less about their healthcare and more about getting porn out of California. “If this were just about condoms,” Reign says, “I don’t know if we would be so up in arms.”