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Condom Law spreads in US

Simi Valley in California has joined Los Angeles, where the law was recently changed to mandate the wearing of condoms for the filming of porn.

The town of Simi Valley in Ventura County, 41 miles northwest of downtown LA, has become the second jurisdiction on the West Coast to demand adult entertainers follow the ‘no glove, no love’ rule. The City’s Council passed an ordinance this week to force actors performing in pornographic films to wear a condom while filming within the town’s limits.

Speaking earlier this year after proposing the law change, Simi Valley Mayor Bob Huber said, “The primary purpose here is it’s a health and safety issue. And secondarily, we don’t want them here. This is a family- oriented community, and we don’t want them setting up their studios in Simi Valley. We’re not going to accept the pornographic purveyors from Los Angeles County… we’re going to rise up and keep them out of our city, whatever it takes.”

The move follows a similar law approved in Los Angeles County a few months ago, which triggered speculation on where the adult industry might relocate. Simi Valley was an early contender thanks to its proximity, with both adult performers and producers saying they would be willing to relocate their operations if it was necessary to ensure that they could keep creating content that would be both to the liking of the studios and their customers.

Vivid Entertainment co-founder Steven Hirsch said at the time, “The viewers out there don’t want to see movies with condoms. We will continue shooting the movies, and if that means outside of the city of Los Angeles, so be it.”

According to the Ventura County Star newspaper, only one of the 59 filming permits issued in Simi Valley in 2011 was for a pornographic movie. Also close to the studios’ current LA locations and Simi Valley are the towns of Canoga Park and Chatsworth. However, they could be next to outlaw bareback filming for both heterosexual and homosexual films if similar ordinances are passed there.