The public service announcement was created to directly address the proliferation of bareback content in the gay marketplace, with LaRue stating her views on bareback sex in gay adult videos.
“The fear I have is that when we are silent and choose to ignore issues as serious as this, then perhaps barebacking in porn will just keep increasing like HIV infection rates," LaRue said in an open letter. "Then more and more models will be sucked into putting their health at risk to make porn.”
The letter discusses safe sex responsibility for adult producers framed by LaRue’s own commitment to never shooting a bareback movie, as well as the controversy over “pre-condom” titles distributed by C1R that some bareback companies have cited as content that promotes sex with out condoms, but which LaRue notes was produced before the HIV/AIDS crisis.
The campaign is aimed primarily at the younger audience of men under the age of 24 — a population where HIV infection is growing at an alarming rate.
“I am certainly not saying that barebacking movies are solely responsible for the huge increase in HIV infections,” LaRue said in a press statement. “I think a lot of factors are at play. I think drug companies want us to think that HIV is just a simple and manageable condition. They never mention that a one-year supply of medication starts at $25,000.
“I think the lack of real sex education, thanks to our current conservative regime, is a factor,” LaRue said. “Let’s not forget the rampant drug abuse in the gay community, which is definitely a factor. I also think gay men are really just tired of talking and hearing about it. But we can’t stop talking about it. I think what we are seeing is a result of too many people being way too silent.”
The PSA features several models in the background as LaRue explains the importance of protecting talent on-set and what risks they undertake in order to perform in videos that feed the fantasies of the consumer.
“This PSA was important for me, personally, to make because of the issue of model safety on porn sets, as well as to inform consumers that the gorgeous models that they see in their favorite video are real people and that the danger that they are exposing themselves to in making barebacking films is real,” La Rue added.
“There’s no arguing that having anal sex without a condom puts you at great risk of contracting the HIV virus, as well as a multitude of other sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s), so why is it ok for models to do it on screen to please someone’s fantasy? My point is that there’s a difference between reality and fantasy. And this fantasy is effecting the real world," she said.
The website also has several articles with HIV/STDS information and issues from the Center For Disease Control (CDC), APLA, AMFAR, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, AIDS Map News (NAM), LAMA and The New York Times.
For more information, visit the site.
