AP: “U.S. sets record in sexual disease cases”

Much of today’s mainstream porn advocates practices favorable to the spread of disease. Common messages include:



  • Have sex with lots of partners

  • Have unprotected sex

  • Have high-risk sex (e.g. “ass-to-mouth”; ejaculation in or around the eyes)
STD rates among porn performers themselves are extraordinarily high.

AP reports this week that rates for several sexually-transmitted diseases are rising in the US:

More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year — the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease, federal health officials said Tuesday.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they think better and more intensive screening accounts for much of the increase, but added that chlamydia was not the only sexually transmitted disease on the rise…

About three-quarters of women infected with chlamydia have no symptoms. Left untreated, the infection can spread and ultimately can lead to infertility. It’s easily treated if caught early.

Health officials believe as many as 2.8 million new cases may actually be occurring each year…

In 2004, the nation’s gonorrhea rate fell to 112.4 cases per 100,000 people in 2004, the lowest level since the government started tracking cases in 1941.

But since then, health officials have seen two consecutive years of increases. The 2006 rate — about 121 per 100,000 — represents a 5.5 percent increase from 2005…

Syphilis, a potentially deadly disease that first shows up as genital sores, has become relatively rare in the United States. About 9,800 cases of the most contagious forms or syphilis were reported in 2006, up from about 8,700 in 2005. The rate rose from 2.9 cases per 100,000 people to 3.3, a 14 percent increase.

See also:

Carol Queen: Time for the Porn Film Industry to Stop Being a Poster Child of Heterosexual HIV Transmission
As good a job as porn has tried to do in preventing its No. 1 occupational hazard, it falls short for a reason that should be instructive to everyone. Its antipathy to condoms puts performers at risk, pure and simple…

Why do we still have to say this, 20 years later? It is as basic to HIV education as anything, yet denial and resistance (not to mention inadequate sex education) impede our understanding. Perhaps in the next 20 years the porn film industry will stop being a poster child of heterosexual transmission and become part of the solution.

Sexual Ecology: Porn, Promiscuity, and AIDS (explicit language)
This acclaimed and controversial book by gay activist and journalist Gabriel Rotello examines why the AIDS epidemic hit the gay male community, and why it persists 20 years after its causes and prevention strategies were discovered. Rotello’s study is useful to the antipornography movement in several ways. First, it shows how malleable and culturally determined our sexual behaviors are, as opposed to porn defenders who represent certain sex acts as what all people “naturally” crave. Second, the sexual ideal that he sees destroying the health of the gay community–unprotected multipartner anal sex–is one that is now being sold to heterosexual men through mainstream porn. Finally, Rotello’s ecological and epidemiological approach offers a less stigmatizing way to debate the merits of different sexual norms. “Just as environmentalists ponder the creation of ‘sustainable’ economic growth that doesn’t destroy the planet, or ‘sustainable’ cities that don’t pollute, can we create a sustainable gay culture, one in which people are free to be homosexual, but one that does not destroy the very souls it liberates?” (p.17)

Rotello observes that all infectious diseases are ecological. The human behavioral environment is as important a factor as the biological properties of the virus…

Today’s mainstream heterosexual porn…promotes rates of partner change (“50 Guy Cream Pie”) that are far beyond what any society has considered sustainable for sexual health. The one community that adopted this porn myth on a massive scale–gay men in developed countries–was hit with a devastating epidemic within a generation. Nonetheless, porn continues to hold out extreme promiscuity as the universal and natural state of male sexuality, so central to male identity that critical analysis of its historical and ecological contexts is taboo…

Rotello says gay activists and AIDS prevention groups have helped block regulation of commercial sex establishments, by unreasonably insisting on absolute proof that these venues facilitate a sexual contact rate that causes epidemics. This is reminiscent of porn defenders’ attitude toward studies that porn shops cause secondary effects. “In that light it is worthwhile to note that ecologists have long argued that refusing to act when there is a preponderance of evidence but a lack of absolute proof can be extremely unwise. Absolute proof of any environmental cause and effect is difficult and often even impossible to obtain. Yet while we hesitate and demand proof, the environment may be irretrievably destroyed.” (p.198) What holds true for the ozone layer also applies to neighborhoods surrounding a porn shop, and to the spread of STDs in a community.

The law recognized this problem of proof forty years ago with respect to environmental issues and food and drug safety. The builder of a new office tower or the manufacturer of a new drug has to prove that it will not have an adverse impact. “But when it comes to issues like the impact of commercial sex businesses on the epidemic, most AIDS organizations still operate on the pre-1962 logic, arguing that it is up to society to prove that a venue is dangerous, not for entrepreneurs to prove it is safe. Based on the evidence, I have no doubt that if owners of commercial sex establishments had to file ‘epidemiological impact statements’ proving that they would not harm gay sexual ecology before they could get or renew their licenses, very few would be allowed to operate.” (p.199)

Los Angeles Times: “In California’s Unregulated Porn Film Industry, an Alarming Number of Performers Are Infected With HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Diseases. And Nobody Seems to Care.”
The Adult Industry Medical HealthCare Foundation (AIM), an industry- backed clinic in Sherman Oaks, administered voluntary tests to a group consisting primarily of adult film workers. Of 483 people tested between October 2001 and March 2002, about 40% had at least one disease. Nearly 17% tested positive for chlamydia, 13% for gonorrhea and 10% for hepatitis B and C, according to Sharon Mitchell, a former adult actress who founded AIM…

For chlamydia, 101,871 cases were reported for the year [in California as a whole], or about three-tenths of 1%–a rate health officials consider epidemic. The chlamydia rates in the porn world are about 57 times higher than those epidemic proportions…

Condom Use Below 20% in American Porn Movies
“In any sexual interaction where condoms are used, consumers tend to drift from that,” said Graham Travis, head of production at Elegant Angel Video, a production company that turns out as many as eight new releases a month. “What the consumers want to see is performers without condoms, something that’s as real and intimate as possible…”

Sharon Mitchell, a former adult-film actress who earned a Ph.D. in human sexuality before co-founding the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, said on Monday that condom use in the industry had gone up after the H.I.V. outbreak to 23 percent from 17 percent and that it was now back to about 17.5 percent.

Types of Porn and Their Occupationa
l Safety Risks (explicit)

The list of STDS on the AIM handout includes: “HIV, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphillis, Hepatitis, A,B,C, Herpes, Genital Warts, Molluscum Contagiosum, Crabs, Trichomonis, Bacterial Vaginosis, Rectal Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, Gonorrhea of the throat.”

The handout calls special attention to these “RISKY SEX ACTS”:

Double penetration–one in vagina, one in ass…

CREAM PIE–Internal ejaculation either in vagina or ass. HIGH RISK FOR HIV****

Felching–Ass to mouth…

Snowballing–passing sperm and spit from one person’s mouth over and over

The handout continues with some special cases, which are at “slightly different risk” than the “risky sex acts”:

BUKKAKE–multiple males ejaculating on a female’s face–AT RISK FOR CHLAMYDIA OR GONORRHEA OF THE EYE, HERPES OF THE EYE OR NOSE, OR HIV AS THE EYE IS A DIRECT CONDUCT INTO THE BLOODSTREAM…

Martin Amis: “A rough trade”
“I have herpes,” said [porn actress] Chloe as she drove me to a smoker-friendly bar. “After you’ve been in this business for a while, you have herpes. Everyone has herpes…. My movies are all-condom, but condoms won’t protect you from herpes. They don’t cover the base. Sometimes when you’re doing girl-girl you’ll say, ‘Honey, I think you should go and see someone.’ It can be a very stinky scene down there….”

Porn: A Deadly Occupation

Video Presentation: A Content Analysis of 50 of Today’s Top Selling Porn Films (explicit language)
Ana Bridges: “We also coded for, what…we’re calling loosely in this talk, ‘extreme acts’ (of sex acts). The only sexual sequence that we coded, which is…when one thing follows another, was something called ATM…’ass-to-mouth’. This literally involves anal penetration followed by oral sex…she is literally eating her own shit. That occurred in 41% of the scenes that we coded…”

What Capital Video Sells: Movies that promote infidelity, despair, call women “sluts” and “whores” (explicit language)

Deviant Housewives
In this world nothing lasts forever and it looks like Kelly Erikson’s husband Van needs some space. Kelly decides to invite all her friends going thru the same problems to stay and support each other. But all of Kelly’s friends have an empty void in their lives they need filled and it’s from a younger man!

Housewives Unleashed #16
These fine ladies have been locked away in their houses for far too long. With their husbands away on business our housewives need crave and demand satisfaction. The action gets hot and horny the moment their desires are finally unleased..!

Private Man #07 Desperate Househusbands
The married residents of Pussy Willow Lane have switched roles the wives are high powered working executives and the husbands stay at home and fuck each other! Welcome to the world of the Desperate Househusbands!

Now on Sale at Capital Video: Watch Women Eat Their Own Poop (explicit)
One of the newer crazes in porn is a genre called “ass-to-mouth”. In a typical scenario, a man has anal sex with a woman, then puts his penis into her mouth…

A quick search of Capital Video’s website, Amazing.net, finds “A2m – The Art Of Ass To Mouth #1” (PDF) and “A2m 4” (PDF) now on sale. The sales copy for the films claim:

Ask any girl and shes sure to tell you – “There’s nothing more romantic than Ass-To-Mouth”.
Young New Yorkers Talk about Porn’s Effect on their Relationships (explicit language)
Over beers recently, a 26-year-old businessman friend shocked me by casually remarking, “Dude, all of my friends are so obsessed with Internet porn that they can’t sleep with their girlfriends unless they act like porn stars.” A 20-year-old college student who bartends at a popular Soho lounge describes how an I-porn-filled adolescence shaped his perceptions of sex. “Looking at Internet porn was pretty much my sex education,” he says.

“Commercial sex venues: a closer look at their impact on the syphilis and HIV epidemics among men who have sex with men”, Sexually Transmitted Infections, 8/2/06
Study: A cross-sectional study of 1,351 MSM [men who have sex with men] who were diagnosed with early syphilis who did and did not encounter sexual partners at commercial sex venues.

Results: Overall, 26% MSM diagnosed with syphilis had sexual encounters at commercial sex venues. Of these, 74% were HIV positive, 94% reported anonymous sex, and 66% did not use a condom. Compared to those who did not have a sexual encounter at these venues, they were twice as likely to be HIV positive…six times more likely to have anonymous sex…twice as likely not to use a condom…and twice as likely to use non-injecting drugs…

Conclusions: MSM diagnosed with syphilis who frequent commercial sex venues are engaging in high risk behaviours for syphilis and HIV transmission and acquisition. Thus commercial sex venues are one of the focal points of syphilis and HIV transmission and acquisition.

“No Turning Back: HIV and Gay Male Sexuality”, The Body, Winter 2005/2006
A U.S. study of public sex environments (PSEs) — parks, beaches, public bathrooms, truck stops, etc. — and commercial sex environments (CSEs) — bars, bathhouses, sex clubs, etc. — found that half of the HIV-positive MSM [men who have sex with men] surveyed had visited a PSE (50%) or a CSE (41%) in the previous three months, with 24% going to both. Interestingly, MSM who visited PSEs did not engage in more unprotected sexual activities than did those who did not visit PSEs, while visitors to CSEs had significantly more unprotected sex than non-visitors.

Viewing Booths and HIV: An Open Letter to Thomas Lesser of Northampton, Attorney for Capital Video
On Squirt.org, Capital Video’s Apremont Triangle store gets the most comments of any location in Springfield. It is plausible that it is one of the leading centers for HIV transmission in the region…

Lesser Newman: Capital Video Has Seen the Light and Will Make its Springfield Viewing Booths Safe
Over its long history, Capital Video has demonstrated no consistent ability to make its viewing booth stores safe from a health perspective. It is unreasonably risky for Springfield to assume that Capital Video will suddenly succeed where it has failed so often before…

Comments on Squirt.org about Amazing Video of Meriden, CT – explicit language

Description: “Several of the video booths have 2-way mirrors (on/off switch on wall above video screen). You can watch action or use this as a way of hooking up. Usually a good amount of action there. Staff leaves you alone.”

Selected comments:

9/9/06: went on FRi at 1:30 GH was in full use
Best BJ I have ever had TY!

9/18/06: …Later when leaving, I found that the lot and turnpike from one light to the next and back was an active cruising circle. couldn’t believe how much action that place was getting. Highly reccomended!

10/3/06: Glory Hole is now open….sheetmetal has been removed. [emphasis added]

1/26/07: After GH being open earlier this month, once again covered. Also notices put up prohibiting LOITERING! But nobody seemed to enforce, didn’t seem to keep guys from wandering around, testing doors. Nonetheless, not very welcoming. Too bad, because place seemed more friendly after the troll manager left.

2/3/07: This place still has some of the best dicks. My door got opened 7 times within 30 mintues. As I was playing with myself and watching porn, guys walk in whip it out right in front of me. Although I usually come here to get sucked it’s hard to pass up a big dick when it is right in front of you. And after watching everyone getting off on the TV it’s even more tempting to suck off anything that comes into the booth.

4/18/07: Went there today for the first time. There was at least 10 guys there and i was suck in a matter of minutes. Definately a good place to go for fun. the two young guys working didnt pay any attention and it is very easy to find someone…

Comments on Squirt.org about Amazing Video of Troy, NY – explicit language

Description: “Got Sucked by 3 hot guys all different times today and I sucked and got fucked by 4 guys all in the booths , it was tight, but well worth it, cock in the ass and one in the mouth. “
Comments on Squirt.org about Amazing Express/Video Expo of North Kingstown, RI – explicit language

Selected comments:

12/28/06: I’ve been going to this place on and off for years and had never met this fellow [Bandana Johnny] until one day last week. At least I think that it was him. A rather fat, unwashed, late 50s looking individual. . .probably uncut with an entirely new brand of cheese growing under the hood, and a nasty, unwashed, brownish bandana sticking out from under an equally dirty baseball cap? If it was him, he followed me out to my truck and tried to convince me to return to the store with him. Ich!

1/11/07: I used to frequent this bookstore for years. Back when it was a quarter of the size and only had one entrance in the front of the building (late 80’s). There were only 4 booths in the back. Had some hot times there. The clerk used to lock the store and lay me down for some awesome head. Shit, he could suck some cock! He also introduced me to poppers. He would pop a new bottle everytime we hooked up, about twice a week…

3/22/07: Stopped by NK..of course Bandana Johnny was there, truly with a stink on…its disgusting. I wonder if its a heath issue with him being there. Would Amazing be liable? Afterall, they do let him loiter all day knowing his dirtiness. That day he went into a booth…rapidly followed by 3 men, one at a time. It was disgusting to hear him spitting on the floor multiple times. I’m thinking his spit could pass a disease. I wish I was a lawyer.

4/3/07: This place is disgusting. Today there were several gross and dirty people cruising the bookstore.
Carolyn McKenzie: Disease, Intoxicants Prevalent Among Strip Dancers (explicit language)
I’ve had wives call me and say, “I’m reading the credit card bill, and there’s all these strange expenses on it, places I’ve never heard of.” Well, those places are the cover organizations for the clubs, or the massage parlors, or lingerie services that their husbands have been frequenting. The next question I get is, “Well do you think I need to get a physical check-up?” And I say, “Yes, you do.” I can’t tell you how many of them call me back and say they have turned up positive for an STD. I also want to tell you about these 39 women that we have helped to get out of the industry. Out of that number of 39 women, only 6% were married. 90% were single moms trying to support their kids… 75% of them had STD’s when we took them in for their medical check-ups. 16% had felony records that they were working with and 25% had misdemeanors. 95% of them were using drugs and alcohol, and three of them had addictions so severe that we had to put them in long term rehab programs.