LOS ANGELES—Remember last June, when the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) invited Michael Weinstein to a public sit-down to debate the utility of Prop 60, the mandatory condom/optional lawsuit/mandatory porn czar initiative that Weinstein's company, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, paid signature gatherers tens of thousands of dollars to get on the ballot, and to which Yes On 60 Committee AHF has "donated" millions? Remember how a few dozen interested adult industry members gathered at the Andaz West Hollywood Hotel on June 28 for the debate... but neither Weinstein nor any supporter of Prop 60 showed up to defend its existence?
As disappointing as that non-encounter turned out to be, APAC isn't giving up—and now they're put a petition on Change.org to ask him to publicly defend the initiative—as unlikely as that is to happen.
The Change.org website has published an open letter from APAC, addressed to Weinstein, which explains the petition and, in the process, calls on Weinstein to "come down from [his] tower"—his office is on the 21st floor of an office tower in West Hollywood (the one that high-rise apartments were to be built near, which inspired Weinstein to start the anti-construction "Neighborhood Integrity Initiative")—and justify the many lies he's spread and exaggerations he's made in an attempt to convince California voters to pass the initiative, even though it is opposed by four major California political parties, all of the state's major newspapers, most HIV/AIDS advocacy groups, and many others.
"Dear Mr. Weinstein," the petition begins.
"As the sole proponent and funder of Proposition 60, we once again ask you to come down from your tower and meet with the adult performers who will be hurt by your offensive, dangerous ballot measure.
"Over the past six months, you and your surrogates have attacked, degraded and demeaned performers. You’ve called us a public health threat, a bad influence, called us liars and lawbreakers and suggested we move out of state if we don’t want to be sued or harassed. Let’s face it: your campaign is not about helping us, it’s about bringing us to heel.
"Prop 60 would give each of California’s 38 million residents the power sue performers if they see a film where the condom isn’t visible. It’s an outrageous violation that would open us to stalkers, harassers, anti-porn activists and, maybe most disturbingly, profiteers. As you know, your proposition offers a large cash bounty for successfully bringing each suit, then forces us to pay our harassers’ legal fees.
"Oddly, out of those 38 million, we’re most concerned about you. We’ve seen how you’ve gone after performers in the past, particularly performers who work for themselves. We’ve seen how you’ve shamed us, sued us, and attacked us. Prop 60 would give you nearly unlimited power—and unlimited state resources—to carry out your hateful campaign against an already stigmatized population.
"We’ve tried to tell you that condoms aren’t always the best answer for long shoots, or for every performer. We’ve told you how those who hate us will use the law. We’ve told you that we’d work with you in designing regulation. We’ve told you the consequences of driving the business underground. You’ve ignored us at every turn.
"You may think you know what’s best for us. You may think you speak for us. You may think that you have a better control of women’s bodies than the women themselves. We have less than 30 days until the election. If you really believe your position, we ask that you defend it. We challenge you to a debate—a performer versus the Proponent—to help explain why you deserve a greater say in our sexual health than we do.
"Come down from that tower—or we’ll bring the discussion to you."
The petition can be found here.
