The HIV crisis in the porn industry continues, with rumors of up to four performers now being infected (these rumors are NOT confirmed), all of whom were active in the Kink.com community. This is scary news. Very scary news. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the fact that condoms are now mandatory in L.A. County on licensed sets, but it does seem to have happened pretty soon after that measure passed and Kink.com is located in San Francisco. Also interesting to note that this is the biggest outbreak in recent years (even if it is just two or three people) and it happened after AIM, the central testing center used by most of the industry for years, was forced to close by the same people who pushed the condom mandate. People are getting tested in more places, which makes tracking the spread of disease much more difficult without a centralized database.
Makes you wonder if all the terrifying speculation about what might happen if condom laws went into effect in porn came true, or if this is all just a coincidence, doesn’t it? Sure makes me think that coincidences are often a lot more complicated than they seem. Makes me sad.
Also makes me think about how fucking important testing is. New protocols in the industry are stricter than ever, but HIV is a sneaky-ass virus that is difficult to detect in the first few weeks. And it makes me think about how goddamn wonderful it would be if sex work were less taboo and more legal across the board. I don’t know anything about Cameron Bay, “Patient Zero” in this case, or whether she did any escorting that could have led to this happening, but I do know that in many disease outbreak cases in the industry, it’s due to industry insiders having unprotected sex outside the talent pool that infections are brought back in. If escorting work were more legal and could be kept track of in a more realistic way via legal avenues, those who do sex work outside the porn industry could perhaps go through a different and more rigorous set of tests in order to keep themselves, their clients, and their coworkers safer. But because so much sex work is illegal, it’s impossible to keep track of. Same goes for drug use.
Stay safe, everyone. Get tested, know your status, be honest, and use safer sex methods. My fingers and toes are crossed for everyone.