LONG BEACH, Calif. — The editorial board of the Long Beach Press Telegram has come out against Proposition 60, likening the initiative to Los Angeles County’s Measure B, the law passed by voters that requires the use of condoms in all vaginal and anal sex scenes.
“If the 2012 L.A. County measure was an unwise intrusion on the practices of a legal industry, this Nov. 8 proposition may be worse,” the Press-Telegram said yesterday, while recommending a “no” vote against Prop. 60. “It poses financial and health risks to the very people it’s meant to protect from sexually transmitted diseases.”
The Press-Telegram went on to note that the idea that citizens taking porn studios to court on behalf of the state “could be exploited by people trying to damage a controversial business or earn a cut of a resulting fine.”
“Not only porn producers would face financial damage. So would performers, who now, in the digital era, often act as their own producers,” the Long Beach Press-Telegram said. "Like many attempts at protective regulations, the Condoms in Pornographic Films Initiative could backfire, driving performers into underground — and less safe — productions here or out of state."
The argument that a law this broad is needed to protect performers is “unpersuasive,” the paper said.
“Tellingly, the groups lining up to oppose the measure include both the California Democratic and Republican parties,” the paper said. “The official argument against it is written by the Valley Industry & Commerce Association, which has seen the effects of the L.A. County porn condoms law on the San Fernando Valley-based industry and the many people whose livelihoods depend on it directly or indirectly.
Through the past two months numerous California papers have advocated against Prop 60. In addition to the Press-Telegram, the Los Angeles Times, the Ventura County Star, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Fresno Bee, the Sacramento Bee, the Mercury News, the East Bay Times and the Orange County Register all have urged a “no” vote on the measure. XBIZ, in an opinion-editorial, also has urged a “no” vote on Prop 60.
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