Stars Doing More to Oppose Prop 60 Than Many Studio Owners

LOS ANGELES—Within the past couple of weeks, two high-profile adult actresses, one of whom has her own video line, have taken to the media to voice their opposition to Prop 60, the California ballot initiative that would allow any citizen of the state to file a lawsuit against anyone who made even one penny from a condomless video or web content, be they producer, performer, crewmember, cammer, distributor or whatever. The first bombshell was dropped on The Huffington Post on September 26. "The Only Worker Prop 60 Helps is Michael Weinstein" was written by performer Casey Calvert, whose entry into the adult industry in 2012 took place just one day before L.A. County residents passed Measure B, another AIDS Healthcare Foundation-inspired fiasco that resulted in a four-year-long lawsuit that was only recently settled—and could easily be restarted, depending on what happens in the upcoming election. Taking aim at AHF claims that Prop 60 somehow protects ordinary citizens, Calvert writes, "No matter what you’ve read, there has not been an on-set transmission of HIV in over 10 years. Ask yourself—if someone got HIV on set, who did they get it from when no one else tested positive? If someone else had, these fear-mongers would have let you know about it. Sure, we get gonorrhea and chlamydia. But we test, every 14 days, and treat immediately, which leads to negligible transmission. Our genitals get sick when we fuck civilians, not each other." Calvert also expressed concerns about having her real identity exposed while in the process of defending herself against the lawsuits that may be filed against her as a content producer and trader: "I have a brand new stalker. In fact, I’m certain he will read this. He sends handwritten letters to my mother; it’s great. If Prop 60 passes, my new friend suddenly has the means to acquire all of my personal information, including my home address, and meet me in court. How you ask? Well, it’s right there in the proposal." Indeed; if a citizen makes a complaint to Cal/OSHA about the lack of condoms in a particular bit of hardcore content and the state agency decides not to pursue the complaint, or takes too long deciding, that citizen is free to sue the content's producer and anyone else who has a "financial interest in the adult film"—like Calvert. "I sell personalized video clips to my fans (aka customs)," she writes. "Many of these customs involve scenarios unfolding between me and a male actor. I receive the money from the client, I pay the cameraman, the other talent—I have financial interest in the product. That makes me a producer. "Many of my peers do content trade (where they shoot scenes, and exchange content rather than cash). They are producers," she correctly analyzes. "Many have websites. They are producers. Many join large websites’ affiliate programs. They are producers. I have a friend who does cam shows out of her home, with her husband. They are monogamous, and don’t use condoms. They are producers." She further notes that any content that can be seen in California may be a target, even if it wasn't created here—but once the complaint is made and the lawsuit filed, those being sued are on the hook for massive attorney fees, even if they've done nothing wrong. Calvert also notes that as written, Prop 60 essentially provides a job for life for the initiative's sole proponent, AHF president Michael Weinstein—a sweet deal, considering that he hasn't spent a dime funding Prop 60; the $2 million-plus funds to get the thing put on the November ballot came entirely from AIDS Healthcare—in possible violation of their 501(c)(3) tax exemption! More recently, another star has begun making the rounds to speak out against the initiative. Tash Reign, a popular actress, website owner and content producer, has inaugurated a tour of colleges in the state—in fact, she's at UC-Santa Barbara today—to inform the students what they can expect when they go to the polls on November 8... and what that may mean for themselves and the adult industry. "The measure, which requires condoms in all pornographic film shoots within the state, opens up new problems for adult performers already struggling with privacy issues, discrimination and harassment," she said in a written statement. "As a result, film production—which brings millions of dollars to California—will be forced out of state to somewhere more willing to enjoy the industry's revenue." Reign's objective isn't to tell regular students—or anyone—not to use condoms or other "barrier protections" in their personal sex lives; just to alert her fans (some of whom she knows from being an undergrad at UCLA) about the problems the initiative would cause for her and her fellow performers. "This will allow random civilians to have personal access to my home address if they want to sue because of their puritanical agenda," she said. "I thought if I can get on college campuses that maybe I can at least get to a few people have a better understanding of Proposition 60." Reign's speaking tour was written up in the L.A. Weekly by frequent AHF sympathizer Dennis Romero, who includes a quote from the attorney who drafted the measure claiming, "Proposition 60 does enable private parties to sue to enforce Cal/OSHA’s condom-use rule (in effect since 1992). But such lawsuits can only be brought if Cal/OSHA fails to act within a reasonable period of time to enforce violations. Far from being a 'sue an adult film performer' measure, as the opponents would have you believe, the 'private attorney general' provision serves only as a last resort." Yeah, right; try telling that to the myriad businesses in L.A. and around the state that have been sued by unscrupulous attorneys over disabled people's access to restaurants, retail stores and the like, earning the lawyers hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees from the settlements the businesses entered into just to avoid such "nuisance lawsuits." Reign's speaking schedule, which includes visiting the campuses of UC San Diego, Cal State Long Beach, UC Riverside, San Diego State and Cal State Northridge over the coming weeks, can be found here and on her Twitter feed. Pictured, l-r: Casey Calvert and Tasha Reign.