A judge's decision not to order the county Department of Public Health to require porn actors to use condoms will be appealed to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation announced Thursday.
AHF's lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, sought a court order to force the Department of Public Health to take steps to limit sexually transmitted diseases from being spread during the production of hardcore pornography in Los Angeles County.
The suit was dismissed on Dec. 22 by Judge David Yaffe, who said the county has broad discretion in how it oversees public health.
AHF officials said they filed the lawsuit after exhausting all other methods to compel the county to fulfill its obligation to protect the public's health in the wake of the revelation last June that an actress working in the adult film business had tested positive for HIV.
AHF leaders say they had urged the county to better monitor HIV and STD prevention in the region's adult film industry and require condom use or to shut down porn sets.
"We are appealing the dismissal of this lawsuit in order to continue to try to compel the Department of Public Health to fulfill its responsibility to try and control the spread of (disease) in L.A. County, particularly in a commercial venue," said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "As an HIV and (sexually transmitted disease) medical provider, it is our obligation to pursue county action on this issue."
