New HIV positive test 'hits home' for former porn performer
News that an adult film actress tested positive for HIV was all too familiar for Derrick Burts.
Burts was a 24-year-old porn performer when he tested positive for HIV in 2010. The most recent case, which came to light this week when a 28-year-old woman tested positive, "hit home," he said.
"I just really felt for her," Burts said. "It's really sort of a flashback for me."
The Free Speech Coalition, a Canoga Park-based trade organization for the adult film industry,announced a nationwide moratorium on adult film production Wednesday after the woman's preliminary test results were positive.
An agent for the actress, who goes by the screen name Cameron Bay, told The Times she went in Monday for her regular screening for sexually transmitted diseases, and the results came back inconclusive. She went in for a second test Tuesday, providing a new blood sample.
Preliminary results came back Wednesday as potentially positive for HIV, prompting the coalitionto announce the moratorium.
On Friday, Bay thanked supporters via Twitter, saying she was "still coming to terms with all this" but it "will not hold me down."
Burts commended Bay for coming forward with the news. "It's never an easy decision to tell someone you're HIV positive," he said. "Especially because it can garner a lot of media attention."
But he had harsh words for the industry. The coalition said there was "no evidence whatsoever" that Bay had contracted the infection on set, but Burts said the group was "jumping the gun" because testing of other performers was ongoing.
"To me, what that says is they care more about saving face," Burts said. "They care more about the politics not the performer."
Critics of the industry say Bay's positive test was further evidence that condoms should be required during filming, as the city and county of Los Angeles have done. The adult industry has maintained that mandating condoms on set harms business and is unnecessary because performers undergo regular testing.
Last week, a U.S. district judge rejected the contention that requiring condoms was unconstitutional. Porn producer Vivid Entertainment quickly said it would appeal.
Burts said he had seen some improvement since he was part of the industry -- he pointed to Measure B, which required condoms on Los Angeles County sets -- but said it wasn't enough. For one, he said, some porn shoots are now moving out of the county. There's also not enough enforcement, he said.
"There's baby steps taking place, but there's still not enough work going on to make sure these laws are being followed," he said. "That's the next step."
HIV isn't the only concern, Burts said, as outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases have prompted industry moratoriums in the past.
"My question to L.A. County and to California is the same question I had back in 2010," Burts said. "What's the reasonable amount of performers that have to go through something like this before change has to be brought to the industry?"
He encouraged Bay to get the medical help she needs immediately in order to "start the process of healing."
"Obviously, there are a lot of politics with this," Burts said. "But all politics put aside, there's a performer that got HIV. People need to put the politics aside and really reach out to this individual and give them the best care they can possibly get."
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