Organized by porn actor Mr. Marcus, discussion at the sparsely attended meeting centered around the idea of creating an adult talent union, an idea that has been raised in prior discussions but has so far failed to be actualized by members of the adult community.
In attendance at the informal gather were mainly managers and press, with only a few adult actors and a long list of no-shows. Also in attendance was Sharon Mitchell, Ph.D, director of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, and several AIM staff members.
Many people who didn't make it to the meeting claimed it had been announced at the last minute and through only limited venues within the adult industry community.
Mr. Marcus said that the need to come together as an industry is marked with a sense of urgency on the heels of the HIV outbreak that brought Southern California adult filming to a halt more than a month ago; marking the fifth time in history the California adult industry has been paralyzed by an HIV scare.
Mitchell, who fully endorses the idea of forming a union, told the crowd that the project should be helmed by male adult performers, since the female part of the industry is, in her opinion, more transient in nature.
AIM's director made it clear to the group that AIM is available to enforce whatever actions the adult industry collectively wants to do in terms of changing current policies.
She further pointed out that while the two-week testing period that has recently become an industry standard since the outbreak is a good idea that can help save lives, the standard PCR/DNA testing process cannot always detect HIV during that two-week window. PCR-DNA test is said to measure the actual viral load, not the antibodies present in the blood sample.
According to Mitchell, it took 17 days to detect Lara Roxx's HIV status. Roxx was the second performer to be diagnosed after Darren James. Ms. Arroyo, the fifth member of the industry to become infected, had to be tested twice before she was determined HIV positive, and Darren James was tested every three weeks before his status was discovered, and even then, says Mitchell, it was not foolproof.
"The bottom line is the test is only as good as the day it was drawn," said Mitchell.
Veteran porn actor Ron Jeremy, however, thinks that Darren James had probably worked with a transsexual while in Brazil, an increasingly risky partnership in lieu of male/female porn pairings.
"Hey look, the guy [Darren James] got careless," Jeremy told the Times Leader. "The Buttman went to Brazil and came back with HIV, because he mixed with a transsexual. I don't want to cause rumors and say I know what Darren James has done, but my gut feeling is that he played around with a transsexual. Because from what I understand of the chances of girl to guy transmission and if you look at the research of some of the leading doctors talk to clinics; talk to people you know of that are aware of and witness my lifestyle; the people you've watched. It's very difficult to go girl to guy."
Mitchell said that the main way that HIV is transmitted in the porn industry is through unprotected anal sex, and that AIM has not yet confirmed that the HIV strain, or sub-type, that Darren James is accused of bringing back with him from Brazil actually originated in the U.S.
Several similar meetings have taken place since the HIV outbreak in April, and none have so far managed to produce a concrete, industry-wide decision on how to prevent future HIV outbreaks. One such meeting was organized several weeks ago and excluded members of the press, and another meeting which took place in May, was attended by Dr. Peter Kerndt, director of the Los Angeles County Health Department.
Another talent meeting has been scheduled for July 6 by Mr. Marcus. More industry talent are encouraged to attend.
