Last month, Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed a new law stating that actors for adult movies will be required to wear condoms in order to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

While officials from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation applauded this ordinance, the producers in the porn industry are concerned that they will lose revenue, claiming “condoms can ruin the fantasy for porn watchers, and that entertainment is all about fantasy.”

In addition, the law will require producers to pay an undetermined fee that would be used to pay for inspections at filming locations to make sure that actors are, in fact, wearing condoms. While the mental image of “Condom Police” is amusing, the far more disturbing fact is that not only does the state of California already require the use of condoms by porn stars, but it is also estimated that 90 percent of porn films produced in the U.S. are filmed in Los Angeles.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been trying to pass this law for several years, and its cause has been assisted by the rising numbers of actors testing positive for HIV. The most recent proposal was last August, which resulted in the LA porn industry to temporarily shut down until all persons that actors had sexually encountered were also tested.

One state workplace health official has said, “The employer needs to control those risks. The regulations require that the employer use controls to protect workers from blood or semen or vaginal secretions.”

Just like any other business, the porn industry is expected to abide by these basic laws to protect its employees before it can be viewed as a legitimate trade. As much as I support the efforts by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, I am convinced that this law will not only be nearly impossible to enforce, but also that it will be blatantly disregarded, just as it has been as a state law.

By expecting porn producers to require all their actors to wear condoms during filming, one is suggesting that they are actually concerned for the well-being of their employees. And that, my friends, is not the case.

Despite the fact that the industry requires its employees to take monthly HIV tests, it seems to forget that HIV takes anywhere from six weeks to three months to show up positive on an HIV antibody test.

Attorney Jeffrey Douglas is the chairman of the Free Speech Coalition, which is the lobbying group of the porn industry. He believes that “mandatory condoms would create more problems than it would solve … people would just shoot underground. California would retain the lowest-end production without any of the very extensive health protections.”

Hey, maybe he’s right. I mean, it’s better to just let porn producers do what they want so they don’t put their employees at risk for HIV. Oh, wait. If anything, this law will further prove that pornography is nothing more than prostitution with a camera rolling.