SAN FRANCISCO — In one week, voters will decide the fate of Proposition 60, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation-sponsored porn-condom proposal that, if passed, would allow private attorney general claims against producers if a condom isn’t visible in a film.
The Free Speech Coalition, which has waged a voracious campaign to help try to defeat the initiative, said Tuesday that it has found recent media coverage "generally" in its favor.
“However, we face a financial deficit in getting the word out — so make sure you're tweeting or promoting the good coverage when you can,” said Mike Stabile, the FSC’s communication director.
In the past several weeks, the FSC and adult entertainment industry stakeholders have ramped up efforts in spectacular fashion to get the word out to vote “no” on Prop 60 via social media, as well as YouTube.
The opposition, with its big war chest, has delivered TV ads featuring former performers Cameron Bay and Derrick Burts complaining about their individual dilemmas after contracting HIV. (Both allege they contracted it separately on the porn set; however, many in the biz adamantly refute their claims.)
With one week left until the general election, the Yes on Prop 60 campaign has raised $4.6 million (all funded by the AHF) for advertising and salaries, compared to the No on Prop 60 group’s $535,000.
While the fundraising gap is apparent, the FSC received encouraging news yesterday that could tip the balance in its favor — an analysis by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported that Prop 60 would likely result in less safe working conditions for adult performers because they’d be involved in “underground productions.”
The agency made its findings available for Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors, which requested the analysis. The FSC discussed the new findings today at a San Francisco press conference.
On Friday, the FSC reported that polls show the initiative is in a dead heat with voters.
In recent days, there have been numerous news reports, in print and on TV, regarding the initiative. Those media sightings include:
- KQED wrote a piece on the psychology behind the AHF’s Michael Weinstein;
- Gender queer porn star and studio owner Jiz Lee talked about the history of barrier protection in queer film and why truly safe sex is about giving performers a wide array of choices;
- Grooby's Kristel Penn covered Prop 60 from a strong performer standpoint for Shame Kills Love;
- Rose of My Erotica posted a piece on Medium;
- The FSC's Siouxsie Q talked about her debate prep strategy in a piece titled, “Let’s Eat Michael Weinstein for Breakfast”;
- The Atlantic took apart Prop 60 and talked with performers, including adult star Ela Darling;
- Rolling Stone covered Prop 60 with “Porn's Safe Sex Problem: Inside California's Controversial Prop 60”;
- Vice published a piece titled, “California Is Voting on a Porn Law That Would Turn Anyone Into a Condom Cop”;
- The Weekly Standard said it thought the proposition is nonsense;
- Former Assemblyman Tim Donnelley said to vote “no” on "condom police" in a piece on Breitbart;
- Reporter Dan Ashley of ABC7 in San Francisco takes the proposition to task for being inappropriate for the ballot; and,
- Sacramento ABC 10 reports on lawsuits and legal names with Ela Darling.
