82% of L.A. Times Readers Call Measure B Counterproductive

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Times today published a political commentary piece from writer David Horsey, which was accompanied by a poll that asked readers, "Will L.A.'s condom mandate for porn prove counterproductive?" to which 82 percent of respondents at post time answered yes.  

The lesson Horsey takes away from the passage of Measure B is "passing a law to banish unhealthy behavior does not necessarily solve a problem, it just kicks it to another place or directly into a courtroom."

And that indeed is exactly what's happening as Vivid Entertainment, along with adult performers Kayden Kross and Logan Pierce, are challenging Measure B in U.S. District Court.

"The pornmeisters insist their 1st Amendment rights are being infringed," Horsey wrote. "Keeping male porn stars sheathed is apparently akin to telling Clint Eastwood to keep his gun holstered."

However, soon enough, Horsey's editorial goes off the rails. It's a bit troubling when he writes that "calling such films 'adult' has always struck me as a misnomer, since most porn is decidedly, ridiculously immature." With cheap shots like that, it's hard to take Horsey's argument seriously. Is it really necessary to have to explain to a Times columnist that adult movies are called such because they are made by adults for adults?

Horsey then takes the opportunity to offer an "easy" fix: Why not have a porn industry version of Pixar or Industrial Light and Magic digitally erase the condom from the male performer's penis? If only it were that simple. Besides technical difficulties of such CGI (making it a virtual impossibility from the get-go), its prohibitive cost would prevent the industry from adopting this "fix." Clearly Horsey has no idea how much production budgets around the industry have shrunk.    

The piece also is accompanied by a cartoon that lampoons adult production moving into the suburbs outside Los Angeles County, picturing a local resident volunteering to become an extra.