By Diane Duke

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – On Wednesday, California State Assemblyman Isadore Hall III [D-Compton] and AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein forced a bill on adult performers despite the vociferous opposition of the performers themselves.

California State Assembly Bill 1576, which passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, denies performers control of their own body, their own sexuality, and their own privacy. More than 500 performers bravely came out in public opposition to this bill, despite Hall’s endless shaming. For the past few months, Hall has portrayed performers as a public health hazard, using discredited studies that read like Victorian pulp novels.

This isn’t about protecting performers. This is a morality crusade aimed at driving a legal, regulated business out of the state and underground.

Hall never approached performers to find out what they wanted; instead, he gave them what he wanted. That’s why the Harvey Milk Democratic Club, the Transgender Law Center, the Erotic Service Providers Union, the Center for Sex and Culture, the Adult Performers Advocacy Committee and others joined the Free Speech Coalition in its opposition to a bill that strips performers of vital protections.

Now this bill will go to the floor of the State Assembly. Make no mistake: We will fight it, and we will win. Hall’s attacks have unified adult content producers and performers in a way we haven’t seen since the culture wars of the 1980s. We cannot allow politicians to treat adult performers as disposable, to disregard very real concerns in favor of a paternalistic bill that criminalizes adult film. Hall has never been on an adult film set, he does not know how the industry works, he does not understand the concerns of adult performers — and he does not care. He has what he thinks is a political winner on his hands, and he’ll continue with it until he destroys what he claims he will protect.

It’s worth noting, of course, that AHF and Hall have spent millions of dollars and several years fighting HIV in the adult film industry, despite the fact there has not been any on-set transmission of HIV on a regulated adult set in more than 10 years. Meanwhile, Hall’s own district has one of the highest rates of HIV mortality in the country, yet it does not contain a single one of AHF’s clinics.

Crusading against porn stars may make for good headlines, but it makes for lousy policy. We didn’t ask for it, but we look forward to this fight.

Diane Duke is the chief executive officer for adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition.