FSC Addresses Antibiotics Claims

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—The Free Speech Coalition issued a statement today concerning the claims perpetuated by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and others that its Proposal 560 slated to be sent to a new advisory committee formed by Cal/OSHA would require adult perfomers to submit to bi-weekly shots of antibiotics as a means of warding off exposure to STDs on set. The FSC's statement follows: At the last Cal/OSHA hearing, we heard several representatives from AHF claim that the Free Speech Coalition’s Proposal 560 would require bi-weekly shots of antibiotics, such as doxycycline, for adult performers. We’ve since heard it repeated to press, on blogs, and on social media. To be honest, we were confused. We would not (and legally could not) ever require performers to take antibiotics or any other medication. Petition 560 is based on proposals that FSC and APAC worked on during the last regulatory process, emphasizing choice and control by the performers. Unlike AHF’s petition, which mandates condoms, the FSC/APAC petition presents a toolbox of prevention options that performers can choose from and utilize: including the existing condoms and/or testing protocol, as well as vaccines and biomedical advances. Our industry is diverse, and we know performers are the best guardians of their own sexual health. That’s why our petition reads: “This petition asks that adult film workers have the ability to take advantage of current or future more effective prevention innovations … The petition requests absolute control by the worker over which effective method of prevention they choose to best protect their personal and sexual health.” In our petition, we included two new medical advances in STI prevention, not as requirements, but as examples: The first, the protocol called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) — in this case, the medication Truvada — prevents an HIV infection in case of an exposure, similar to the way birth control prevents a possible pregnancy. Secondly, we brought up recent studies about doxycycline, an antibiotic, which suggested it might be useful as an additional prevention option for STIs. Which is why we included this paragraph: “Current medical studies are evaluating the efficacy of a doxycycline PrEP for bacterial STIs such as Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Trichomoniasis and Syphilis. So far this research shows great promise and the petitioners recommend to include such advances in the standard.” The phrase “include such advances in the standard” DOES NOT MEAN “require performers to take doxycycline or Truvada.” It means that Cal/OSHA, in developing a standard, should consider as many options for performers as possible. They should understand that medical technology is ever advancing and, in developing a standard for the adult industry, there may be other options, now or in the future, as or more effective than the singular use of a condom. AHF has argued that the condoms are the only option — our petition was a response to that, saying that Cal/OSHA should not assume condoms are the only way, or the best way, or right for every performer. Use of PrEP-style options, or any other medical technology is not a requirement of Petition 560, nor would it ever be mandated. Instead, we asked that Cal/OSHA be forward thinking, and look to incorporate advances and improvements, so that performers will always have access to the prevention methods that are best for them, and ultimate control over their sexual health. Anything else is not only wrong, it’s propaganda. Eric Paul LeueExecutive DirectorFree Speech Coalition