Appendix 4971. Findings and declarations.

The Board of Supervisors of the County hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a)

The HIV/AIDS crisis and the ongoing epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, to which the making of adult films has contributed, have negatively affected public health and the quality of life of residents of the County.

(b)

Safer sex practices can prevent and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

(c)

Public health research has documented widespread transmission of sexually transmitted diseases by unprotected sexual activity such as occurs in the adult film industry in the metropolitan Los Angeles area.

(d)

The use of condoms and other biological barriers is the best and most effective way to stem the spread of sexually transmitted infections in the adult film industry.

(e)

Several organizations committed to protecting the public health have called for mandatory use of condoms in the production of adult films, including the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the California Conference of Local AIDS Directors, the California STD Controllers Association, the National Coalition of STD Directors, the National Association of City and County Health Officials, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the California Medical Association.

(f)

Producers of adult films are required by California Code of Regulations Title 8, Section 5193 to use barrier protection, including condoms, to protect employees during the production of adult films and it is the intent of this Chapter to discourage violations of those standards without duplicating or contradicting them as permitted by such cases as Cohen v. Board of Supervisors (1985) 40 Cal.3d. 227 and Bravo Vending v. City of Rancho Mirage (1993) 16 Cal.App.4th 383.

(g)

Many producers of adult films in the metropolitan Los Angeles region have been found to consistently violate the worker safety provisions of California Code of Regulations Title 8, Section 5193.

(h)

Recent efforts to promote safer sex in the adult film industry in Los Angeles County and municipalities in the County have caused producers of adult films to seek out filming locations in unincorporated areas of the County, creating an immediate threat to public health and safety.

(Ord. No. 4452, § 1, 5-7-2013)