Los Angeles porn industry may halt after HIV-positive test

Health advocates said they are calling for a halt to production on Los Angeles porn movies after an unidentified actor's HIV test came back positive. AIDS awareness advocates said law enforcement has failed to enforce a voter referendum, Measure B, that requires all porn movie stars in California to practice safe sex. It would be the third such shutdown this year due to a positive HIV test, something Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said was troubling. "Are we still going to be having this argument when there's the 10th shutdown or 20th? Or the 50th infection?" he said. The Free Speech Coalition, an umbrella porn industry group, said the name and gender of the performer who tested positive has not been released while it works to identify any first-generation sexual partners who may have been exposed to the disease, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. "We take the health of our performers very seriously and felt that it was better to err on the side of caution while we determine whether anyone else may have been exposed," said Diane Duke, the coalition's chief executive. LA's porn industry was shut down twice this year after two performers tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus, which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS.