CHATSWORTH, Calif.—The fledgling International Adult Entertainment Union (IEAU), which touts itself as "the only official union certified to represent adult film workers," has officially come out in favor of Proposition 60, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation-backed measure slated to appear on California's November voting ballot that would mandate the use of condoms in adult productions statewide.
Union founder Amanda Gullesserian, aka Phyllisha Anne, signed the Rebuttal to Argument Against Prop 60 included in the preliminary voter guide released Tuesday by the California Secretary of State's office and being mailed to every voting household in California prior to the November 8 general election.
The Rebuttal states, in part: "Make no mistake about who opposes Prop 60. It's the greedy porn producers. They routinely put adult film performers' safety and health at risk by forcing them to perform without condoms. Recent studies found that one in four performers have been sick with with serious sexually transmitted diseases. Nobody should have to risk getting a serious disease to keep their job! ... Prop 60 is supported by the International Adult Entertainment Union ... and by NUMEROUS MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS." (Emphasis in original; see full Rebuttal here.)
AVN reached out to Gullesserian for comment about this move by the Union, and she provided the following statement:
Now I know a lot of you will disagree. And that is Okay. To stand with the Union does not mean you have to stand with Prop 60. Its “Okay to agree, to disagree.” But it was either that or let FSC medicate us all. So we aren’t left with many choices are we? Plus, The Adult Performers Actors Guild and The Adult Film Crew Chapter will have their own say because we do not have to agree when it comes to legislation or propositions, now do we?
“This Union stands for worker’s health and safety through out the adult industry and to work for a better more stable future for each and every one of us.” Quote by Elizabeth Thomas President of the International Union.
After many many months researching every single word of this document and we have come to this conclusion:
Barrier protection is a federal law since 1992. That is a fact.
Why do you suppose that the bigger companies became condom only companies, if it apparently affected their sales? Our guess is because they knew the law, they knew that eventually Cal OSHA will be there to enforce that law and by not sharing that information it would eliminate lot of little companies because they will not be able to survive 80,000$ plus fines and that is exactly what is happening.
This law is not asking for us to take the artistic integrity away from what we do. It does not say we have to use googles, nor that we use dental dam’s, nor does it say we need to use them for oral. What it DOES say is, it that we use condoms for vaginal and anal penetration. PERIOD. Cal OSHA is okay with us using every camera trick in the book to hide the condom as well as using female condoms (in which you can not see). The solution to the clause that has everyone in an uproar about the public being able to sue us and receive our personal information and real names, the solution that is simple. Do not work for a company that does not allow the use of protection and that will put you at risk for the public to do so.
We need to follow what companies such as Wicked and Vivid are doing and not what they are saying because they are doing one thing and saying the opposite. That, right there, should be proof enough alone. No matter how much testing we do or how many condoms we put on, we are as sure to get another HIV scare in this industry, as sure as, California is to get another big earthquake. It’s Not “If” it’s “When”. What kind of a Union would we be if we did not try to protect each and every one of you?
How many videos are sold, is the responsibility of the companies, not the workers. The companies have cut our pay by over half plus there are barely any companies left to work for. We want to help the companies still here to survive by helping them understand what the truth of the laws are, by helping them understand and stay up with Cal OSHA requirements, to avoid any and all Cal OSHA fines. To keep the diversity in the industry and avoid monopolies. How many of you would turn down a job with Wicked or Vivid because they are condom only companies? Not one of you.
When someone does catch HIV in this industry, history has shown us that it is not FSC or any of the companies that are here to help you. “You’re not their problem”, is what you are told, “we can not help you”. History has shown us that the only ones that are here to help any of us is the AIDS HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION, because that is who they are and that is what they do. They are not your enemy, nor are they looking to shut us down. They been fighting a whole industry and doing nothing but asking us to protect ourselves. I personally, the founder of this Union, find that awfully sad in ways, if you think about it. Why would you not want to protect yourselves in every way possible? When you have a job, that every time you go to work, you are putting your life at risk? That is equivalent to policeman not wearing a bullet proof vest when he goes to work, a construction worker not wearing his hardhat or a medical worker not to wear protective clothing. I hope you are beginning to see our point.
This Union is excited to work with Cal Osha, AHF as well as FSC in the rewriting of the blood pathogens language specifically for the adult industry, for we are the ONLY Federal Recognized Union for the Adult Industry.
And we are hoping, now that we got the attention of FSC, that they will start paying attention to the things this industry really needs, and that start to work with APAG and the AFC to work on those needs. instead of just ignoring the workers and considering us throw away people.
We as the International Union stand to protect our workers and we stand to say YES to prop 60. The life that this bill just might save, could be your own.
Amanda Gullesserian, Founder of the I.E.A.U.
Join now! www.entertainmentadultunion.com
UPDATE: In a follow-up email from Gullesserian, she noted that the above "is not the statement for the rest of the Union this is the statement and the reason why I, the founder of the IEAU signed for PROP 60."
