from www.mydeseret.com – Adult performers and representatives from health-oriented nonprofits will assemble at UCLA today to develop draft legislation designed to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted disease in the porn film industry.

The campaign to secure legislation to protect the health of actors will be unveiled at a news conference held by AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein [pictured] and former adult industry star Darren James, who contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The news conference will be followed by the Adult Film Performer Safety Strategy Symposium, hosted by the Reproductive Health Interest Group at UCLA’s School of Public Health.

During the symposium, representatives from nonprofit organizations, state agencies, universities, plus adult film performers from California, will brainstorm a plan to secure legislation and regulations for the industry to prevent the further spread of diseases, a statement said.

Taking part will be representatives from UCLA’s School of Public Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and Los Angeles County Commission on HIV, among others.

The symposium is taking place following persistent outbreaks of STDs and, most recently, HIV linked to Southern California’s billion-dollar adult film industry. The participants “will explore safety issues, including requiring condom use by performers,” a statement said.

“Occupational exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, continues to be a very serious risk for workers employed in California’s adult film industry,” said Cristina Hart-Rodriguez, the chair of the Adult Film Industry Subcommittee of the Reproductive Health Interest Group at the UCLA School of Public Health.

“This is not just a problem confined to performers within the adult film industry but can also affect the performers’ partners outside the industry and the broader community,” she said.

Since 2004, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has received reports of more that 2,400 cases of chlamydia and more than 1,400 cases of gonorrhea.

Cases of other STDs, including HIV, have also been reported among adult film workers over the past decade, with female performers especially at risk, organizers said in a statement announcing today’s events.

They blamed the porn industry for much of the risk-taking, saying that it “continues to resist basic occupational health and safety standards that are mandatory for workers in every other legal industry in this state.”