Peter Acworth Addresses Shooting Protocols at Kink.com

SAN FRANCISCO—Kink.com founder Peter Acworth took to his blog today to explain shooting protocols on his sets, and to address what he referred to as “fear-mongering, HIV hysteria or willful misunderstanding of what happens on a Kink set.” He said he wasn’t there to fight, though. “I do not want to attack those who are concerned about condoms on adult sets or those who believe that our protections are not enough — those people, too, are concerned with safety of adult performers,” he said. “But it’s important for me to talk about how we conduct ourselves at Kink.” The remainder of the post covered safety protocols for both gay and straight shoots, and specifically the Public Disgrace set, which is the last place Cameron Bay performed before testing positive for HIV. “On sets like Public Disgrace,” he wrote, “which are open to non-adult performers, we do not allow anyone who has not been tested to do anything that might transmit an STI. If a performer has indicated in writing that he or she is comfortable with it, we allow these persons to perform activities such as touching, slapping or fondling, but this is entirely up to the performer. Negotiated consent is the central tenant of BDSM, and it’s part of the foundation on how we built Kink.com.” Of that particular shoot, Acworth wrote, “This particular performer performed at Kink.com on July 31st. She tested negative on July 27th via the most sensitive HIV tests available, and was thus shown as cleared for work in the PASS database, as were all those persons she performed sexually with. Additionally, those same people she performed sexually with tested negative for HIV again after that July 31st shoot.   “Anytime someone tests positive for HIV – whether an adult performer or not, whether through sex work or not — it is devastating for the person concerned,” he added. “However, that doesn’t mean it should be a reason to demagogue from either side, to blame the victim, people’s sexuality or what they choose to do for a living. We work hard to protect our performers, and it’s important to us that anyone in the Kink family — fans, performers or staff — know the truth about our protocols and standards.” He also stated, “For kink.com’s gay sites, all shoots are condom-mandatory,” and, “On the straight side, we only work with performers shown cleared for work in the PASS (formerly APHSS) database. “All of our performers,’ he added, “have the right to ask for a condom to be used at any time during a shoot, for any reason.” The post can be read here.