FSC: Thousands of Performers Speaking Out Against Prop 60

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2016 -- Thousands of adult film performers are speaking out against Proposition 60, the adult film initiative, saying that it gives one man — proponent Michael Weinstein — too much power over their bodies. The proposition would allow any resident of California to sue performers if they see a film without a visible condom, putting performers in the crosshairs of stalkers, harassers and profiteers.

According to the Free Speech Coalition, nearly 1,800 performers have now publicly opposed Prop 60, changing their social media avatars and using the hashtag #NoProp60 to help raise awareness. Many performers have also met with editorial boards, called into radio shows, created opposition videos, and written op-eds.

The goal to call out Michael Weinstein, the sole proponent and funder of Proposition 60 and a man with a history of publicly attacking adult performers. Weinstein has spent over four million dollars on Prop 60, which give him a state position and taxpayer resources to defend the law.

Chanel Preston, chairperson of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC), denounced Prop 60 today in an op-ed for the Sacramento Bee.

"The proponents of Proposition 60 [Michael Weinstein] ... drafted it without the input of working performers, and have repeatedly refused to meet with the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee. It and other performer groups have vociferously opposed the measure, saying it opens them to harassment, extortion, privacy violations and profiteering.

Proposition 60 puts targets on the backs of performers by giving any Californian the ability to sue an adult performer who works on a film without a visible condom. That means you, your neighbors, your friends or family, could file lawsuits and collect a cash bounty – becoming for-profit condom cops."

Performer Casey Calvert echoed the sentiment in a recent Huffington Post op-ed, saying that “the only worker Prop 60 helps is Michael Weinstein.”

“Any person residing in California can sue me, sue any of us, for not using a condom. Stalkers, ultra-fans, anti-porn zealots, all of them. … the damage will be done. Lawyers are expensive.

We don’t have the money to comply with expensive, pointless regulations that primarily benefit Weinstein himself.”

Adult performers recently began circulating a petition asking Weinstein, who has repeatedly refused to meet or talk with working performers, to defend his controversial measure.

In addition to the two performer groups, APAC and APAG, Proposition 60 has been opposed by the California Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties, and over fifty state and local political clubs.

Prop 60 has also been opposed by dozens of HIV/AIDS organizations, public health officials, civil rights advocates, LGBTQ rights organizations as well as the editorial boards of the state's seven largest papers, including the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

PRESS CONTACT:
Michael Stabile 
Communications Director, Free Speech Coalition 
[email protected] 
818.650.1973