When The Expose Boomerangs On The Exposee: Cameron Rowe's Hackery On The "Porn Industry" (Part Five — The CalOSHA Pathogen Standards Lesson)

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Anthony

First off…an apology from me for allowing this series to lapse for so long. I had to replace my hard drive on my PC, which crashed on me two weeks ago, and I was just able to get on line last Thursday night when I purchased a new computer. Everything is mostly back to normal now, so I can catch back up with things.

Having gotten that out of the way, we can rejoin the fisking fun.

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Cameron now decides to rest his brains a bit and rely more on others to sell his points about how condoms should be mandatory. To that end, he quotes directly from the Los Angeles County Health Department’s main brief supporting regulation of the porn industry and the condom mandate.

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has established Vital informationfor workers and employers in the adult film industry as follows:

In addition to general health and safety hazards associated with film and video production, workers in the adult film industry face particular hazards because actors perform sex acts in the course of making the films or videos. Many diseases can be transmitted through blood, semen, vaginal fluid and fecal material, or by mucous membrane contact.

Indeed. And some even say that you can contract HIV through mere kissing. Not really.

Not to mention that the very reason why the industry has the system in place is to prevent infected performers from infecting others to begin with.

Also, these same acts are performed by regular people in their regular lives every day, with little or no aftereffect. Why isn’t CalOSHA or LACHS going into the homes of “civilian” people and monitoring their sex lives or promoting laws requiring condom usage for regular people? Let me guess….something to do with the Bill of Rights protections from unlawful search and entry?? Or…is porn simply seen as the perfect guniea pig for imposing these “protections” on the public at large?

One important group of diseases is those caused by bloodborne pathogens, including HIV,hepatitis B and hepatitis C. In addition to actors, employees in this industry at risk of becoming infected include people who clean up after scenes and people who assist in developing scenes, whether or not they are shown on film. If any sharps, such as razor blades or wires, are used (for shaving, piercing, etc.), they pose a particular risk for spreading infection because they can puncture the skin.

Of course, someone might want to remind Cameron that the threat of STI’s isn’t just isolated to paid professional porn performers, but affects any and all sexually active persons, and that based on that standard, people getting razor cuts after shaving before performing sex acts — whether during scenes or in their personal life — could also be in as much of a risk. Also, most porn sets are NOT the equivalent of heavy industry sites or hospitals or sanitation work where far more frequent exposure to bodily fluids or other pathogens occur.

In addition, Rowe makes the often common mistake of assuming that porn professionals are more sexually promiscuous than non-performers, thusly more likely to not only become infected but to use industry scenes to infect innocent others. It may be true that porn performers tend to have a more positive attitude about sex and are less shamed about engaging in sexual activity….but whether that equates to a higher risk of infection is merely speculation and conjecture. You can have sex with 1,000 different people a year and if every one of them is clean, you will NOT become infected. On the other hand, you can be totally monogamous with one special person and only fool around one time….but if you are unprotected with that one fling and (s)he happens to be infected, then you are, to use the term, screwed.

As for the bloodborne pathogen standard and those who clean up behind scenes….well, that may be solved by support staff relying on better cleanup methods and personal protective equipment gear, but what that has to do with mandating condoms for performers remains a mystery. Most sex scenes in porn simply do not involve blood of any kind; and unless a performer is so cut up or (s)he is obviously showing internal injuries (and in that case no condom in the world would help; the best solution is to fire him/her and find a clean replacement), chances are that the risk of exposure of blood to others is pretty much nil.

Other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are not considered bloodborne pathogens, but can be transmitted through contact with mucous membranes, semen, vaginal fluids or feces.

”In addition, California has established explicit procedures for the adult film industry with regards to blood pathogens (§5193. Bloodborne Pathogens) as follows:

“The Cal/OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard requires employers to protect workers fromserious diseases including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which can be transmitted through exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials. The major requirements of this standard include:

Controlling exposures
The bloodborne pathogens standard requires employers to use feasible engineering and workpractice controls to protect workers from coming into contact with blood or other disease carrying body fluids (referred to in the standard as “other potentially infectious material”, or”OPIM”). Semen and vaginal fluid are always considered OPIM. Any other body fluid is considered OPIM if it’s visibly contaminated with blood. Saliva is considered OPIM inconnection with dental procedures because these procedures routinely cause saliva to be contaminated with blood.The kind of contact prohibited by the standard is contact between skin or mucous membranesand blood or OPIM.The methods an employer will use to protect employees from contact with blood or OPIM must be spelled out in detail in a written exposure control plan, which is described in the bloodborne pathogens standard.“

The bloodborne pathogens standard is built on the rule of universal precautions. This means blood or OPIM is always treated as hazardous, no matter who the source is. This is important because the available testing methods do not always guarantee that disease will be detected. Thisis particularly true right after a person has become infected. Depending on the test and the disease, it may take anywhere from two weeks to six months to be able to detect an infection.There is also a risk of “false negative” results, particularly if tests have not been properly administered, or if specimens have not been properly stored. Also, many bloodborne diseases are not routinely tested for.

Notice how Cameron confuses things through cross-referencing the bloodborne pathogen standards as applying to porn, when in fact they were originally created for professions and occupations with much heavier and much more likely contact with blood, such as medical and health care professionals. Obviously, a dentist performing a root canal or a doctor performing surgery will have a much greater risk of blood-borne infection, and thusly, the higher standards and preventative procedures are more than acceptable. The main question is, though, are those higher standards even needed in a shoot where only the performers themselves engage in consensual, mutually agreed to contact?

Examples of engineering and work practice controls used in the adult film industry include:

– Simulation of sex acts using acting, production and post-production techniques·
— Ejaculation outside the partner’s body·
— Use of barriers, which protect the partner from contact with semen, vaginal fluids, mucous membranes, etc. Examples of barriers include condoms and dental dams. (Condoms and dental dams can also be considered personal protective equipment for the partner who uses them)·
— Plastic and other disposable materials to clean up sets·
— Sharps containers for disposal of any blades, wires or broken glass.·
— Personal protective equipment

If, after using all practical engineering and work practice controls, workers are still exposed to hazards, employers must provide, and ensure employees use, appropriate personal protective equipment. Personal protective equipment can include:· Condoms· Dental dams· Gloves· Eye protection.

Simulated sex acts (which can also include faked up orgasm scenes and artificial “cumshots” as well), are probably far more restricted to the softcore cable TV/satelitte/pay-for-view market, which is a fundamentally different and seperate genre onto itself.

Of course, it goes without saying that many performers do in fact prefer and insist on use of condoms as well…but the main question for those who insist on mandating condoms is not only one of industry profit, since it is a proven fact that condomized sex acts simply will not sell with the mass audience of porn consumers, but also of performer preference. Plus, as female performers like Nina Hartley have strongly and consistently testified to, condom usage within the context of shooting porn scenes carry their own risks (tearing of the vaginal walls from friction, which can actually increase the risk of infection, loss of the natural feel of skin-on-skin contact, which can really devastate maintaining that edge needed to complete a scene; and post-scene production editing to remove the hint of condom usage to better “sell”a sex scene, which can become both time consuming and quite expensive).

And also….why dental dams are included in this boggles the mind, since girl/girl sex scenes pose the absolute least risk in transmitting STI’s…unless you assume that women performers are running around infecting others, too.

Hepatitis B vaccine
Employers in this industry must provide the hepatitis B vaccine series to employees who may be exposed to blood, semen, vaginal fluid or OPIM. This series consists of three shots, generally administered into the arm muscle, over a period of six months. About one or two months afte rthe third shot, the healthcare provider will draw blood to ensure the employee has developed a strong enough immune response (antibody titer, which refers to the concentration of antibodies in the blood) to protect against infection. In some cases the healthcare provider will recommend an additional series of shots. To learn more about the hepatitis B vaccine, click here. [Link not provided in original]

Funny, but I didn’t know that there was that much of a risk of hepatitis that there was a need to force porn performers to undergo a regimen of Hepatitis B shots. I thought that that was the point of using regular monthly testing for STI’s. Note also, once again, the assumption that porn performers are so sexually irresponsible and out of control that they are rendered incapable of protecting themselves, so the benelovent powers that rule are induced to step in and “protect” them “for their own good”. Even if they are no threat at all.

And….note the requirement that “employers” — read that to mean “the porn industry” — would be required to offer this treatment. No other profession, not even the medical profession, is ever mandated to pay one red cent for treatment of their employees for medical conditions….but somehow, porn is so different that they must be held to a “higher” standard. Would Cameron Rowe wish to advocate just as stridently that other businesses whom have far worse safeth records than the adult sexual media industry should be induced to pay the medical costs for their employees?? Somehow, I doubt that he would be so strident on that.

Confidential medical record

Every employer covered by this standard must ensure that a medical record is maintained for each employee, which must be kept confidential.

OK….but confidential for whom?? Obviously, private medical records should be kept private and not revealed to the public….but shouldn’t the very industry attempting to protect themselves and their talent from mass infection be able to use the results of testing they pay for to screen out and/or treat those who test positive for whatever infection?? And, why should we trust AHF or LA County Health Services to be any more strict with their (ab)use of personal medical records than AIM?? Remember that it was AHF who sued to have AIM turn over the detailed medical records of all those tested in the HIV porn scare of last year, only to be denied by a state judge.

Procedures for exposure incidents
If an employee has unprotected contact with someone else’s blood, semen, vaginal fluid, or PIM, the employer must provide them with a medical evaluation and follow up [5193 (f)] at no cost to the employee. If the source individual consents, he or she can be tested, and the results can be disclosed to the exposed employee, but that employee must be informed of requirements to keep the person’s identity and infection status confidential.
If there is reason to believe a person has been exposed to HIV, the doctor may recommend the person be put on drugs to prevent infection (post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP), such as AZT. Ifthere is reason to believe a person has been exposed to hepatitis B, and has not been completely vaccinated, the doctor may recommend hepatitis B immunoglobulin, and may start the vaccine series. There is currently no post-exposure treatment recommended for hepatitis C.”

This, of course, is standard procedure for anyone anywhere who may be exposed to HIV or hepatitis B…but, even then, there has to be a reasonable assumption (as in a positive test) that the person is indeed infected before those requirements take effect. Since the main emphasis for those who advocate madatory condoms is HIV rather than hepatitis B, it’s interesting why the latter is lumped into this discussion. Feel free to note the fact that the person targetted can actually decline to take the test without any legal sanction if he feels that he is not threatened or infected. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of testing to begin with?

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OK…that’s enough for today. We’re reaching the homestretch now, so patience is a virtue. More coming up, along with the big finish, soon.

When The Expose Boomerangs On The Exposee: Cameron Rowe's Hackery Of The "Porn Industry" (Part Three – The High-Tech Lynching Of Sharon Mitchell)

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Anthony

All right…back at last from the Christmas rush, and ready to continue with this bad boy. For reference, just read Parts One and Two.

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We now come to the segment where Cameron begins his assault on the person of Sharon Mitchell, former adult performer and main founder/spokesperson for the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation (AIM-MED or simply AIM), who is the principal agent for testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) within the LA-based porn industry.

In case you have forgotten, a rump coalition consisting of public health care officials aligned with the Los Angeles County Health Services Department (LACHS), the activist organization AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF, led by Michael Weinstein), and antiporn activists like former performer-turned-fundamentalist Christian activist Shelley Lubben, sincerely want to drive AIM and Sharon Mitchell out of LA on a high-speed rail, with the mission of replacing the existing system of standarized HIV testing and voluntary/performer chosen condom usage with a regimen of mandatory condom usage on all porn sets and stiff regulations requiring the use of barrier methods (condoms, dental dams, and even goggles and gloves and other personal protection equipment) more apropos to heavy industrial workplaces where far greater exposure to bodily fluids exists. Maligning Mitchell is central to this because she has been the lead spokesperson and the woman most identified with AIM and their testing system.

The actual system was born out of a major HIV porn outbreak that took place in 1994, when Marc Wallace was found to have infected up to 7 people after faking a false negative test. Back then, the actual test used was the ELISA test, which remains the standard for testing for STI’s used by most health care officials. ELISA tests for the antibodies within the blood stream that contain the HIV infection. It’s 100% accurate for locating people with full blown AIDS, but, because the antibodies can be masked initially in people who are infected up to 2 weeks, it is woefully ineffective in tracking people who don’t show the actual symptoms of AIDS, but may still carry enough of the HIV virus to infect others. Mitchell went and introduced a qualitatively different test, the PCR-DNA test, that used a different mechanism (namely, the level of the HIV virus itself within the DNA structure of the bloodstream. That test proved to be far more accurate in tracking the HIV virus (as well as other viruses such as chlamydia and gonnorhea); so much so that the industry now accepts it as the “gold standard” for their system of testing and isolating away HIV infections.

Now, AIM is not the only testing service that is used; there are others in the market that may use variations of the same testing regime. AIM’s service has proven to be so effective, though, that the level of infections from HIV have greately decreased, to the point that there have been no other cases of infection on any porn production shoot.

This isn’t to say that the system is perfect, of course: there was a breach that occured in 2009; and, of course, there is the Derrick Burts/Cameron Reid scare this last October. In both cases, though, the infections originated outside of the industry’s domain (the female performer who became “Patient Zero” of last year was found to have been infected before performing a shoot, but inexplicitly allowed the 30-day test period to laspe before going on the shoot; and Burts, while making plenty of noise right now about how AIM disrespected him, did admit that he did get infected on a gay male shoot totally outside the jurisdiction of AIM.)

Nevertheless, the prospect of back-to-back infections has empowered those forces who have been attempting to force mandatory condom usage down the throats of performers in the name of “public safety” and “performer protection” and “role modeling” (the latter refers to the hope that forcing porn performers to use condoms would help encourage the public at large to engage them as “safer sex” propolaytics). It has also fueled the fire of politicians wanting to find any excuse to either regulate porn into submission or simply banish them out of LA altogether.

Given that context, one can plainly see why smearing Sharon Mitchell and AIM is Job 1 with AHF, Lubben, the LACHS, and their media supporters. Naturally, Cameron Rowe is solidly on board with this, and he pulls no punches indeed in joining the lynch mob.

He begins with a reset of the original 2004 HIV scare, and the scent of a “porn industry” cover-up.

Porn star Darren James sued AIM and some AIM officials in 2005 for invasion of privacy and his suicidal attempt after his name was released that he had HIV. The lawsuit was settled out of court with a confidentiality agreement. Usually, that means the plaintiff won. James did say he wished he was the only one that got infected. The LA Times reporter Rong Gong-Lin II covered the story. (Note: No link since I could not pull the article from the LA Times but I made a copy of it in 2009.)

Now, it’s so nice that the supposed “journalist” in Cameron can say that a settlement in a case is a clear sign that “the plaintiff won”…which means exactly….what?? That Darren James wasn’t in fact “Patient Zero”?? Probably not, since he has publically admitted to that effect that he was the one carrying the HIV virus to that infamous double-anal scene with Lara Roxx and Mark Anthony (but more on that anon). That AIM should not have listed him?? They are required BY LAW to release the names and medical records of any performer testing positive for HIV to the proper authorities. Also, you would think that the industry would probably want to protect their performer assets by not having them do shoots with infected people, which is why there also is a quarantine list issued of those performers testing positive for HIV for them to avoid hiring.

Now…the LA Times article Rowe cited is more than likely behind the Times paywall and inaccessable online…but if Cameron happens to have the article, why not post it through other means?? Even I have a scanner/printer at home, you know.

It should be noted that Darren James is now an HIV counselor and a backer of the condom mandate….but, surprisingly enough, he is NOT publically affiliated with AHF or the LACHS’s current campaign. You would think that having him on board would be a strategic asset for the condom mandate folk…so why is he not behind the microphone and people like Shelley Lubben and Derrick Burts are?? Maybe Black men aren’t useful for the proper pathos in a public campaign the way a White gay/bi man and a ex-slut-performer-cum-fundie minister is??

The porn industry, Gene Ross of AdultFYI, claimed Lara Roxx was actually infected with HIV not James. This could be industry spin since they are not the LA Times. Gene Ross admitted to calling her and demanding an interview and claimed she wanted money for one. Now, that is his side of the story. He posted the conversation. The impression of his wording of the non-interview was that of being harassing. She hung up on him. He claims some picture was taken of her anus the same day she worked with James. Another shoot after James, was supposed to happen but she had a rash she claimed she got from working with James and Marc Anthony and waxing. She didn’t do the scene because the male performer refused to work with her. If the rash was herpes, Ross has no proof the picture was the day she shot a scene with James just someone’s word. Ross doesn’t even offer proof the picture was Lara Roxx’s either. Unfortunately for AdultFYI, Darren James ultimately claimed responsibility. That and it looks like horrible spin by Ross that should lead one to believe the LA Times and Darren James’s version therein.

This is funny, because Gene Ross never claimed to represent anywhere near the mass opinion of “the porn industry” when he raised the question of whether Lana Roxx might have been the real “Patient Zero” or whether she might have gotten infected before then in Canada where she did another scene with James before the double anal scene mentioned. The main source that Rowe gives is an article that appeared at the AdultFYI website/forum where Ross cites some previous articles from AdultFYI to state his belief that Roxx might have been infected or may have gotten infected by James before that fateful shoot. The first of those articles cites a popular at that time online radio show airing on the website KSEXRadio.com on May of 2004, where host Wankus and actor Dick Tracey, who claims to have worked with both James and Roxx at the time, suggests that the latter might have been infected:

5/8/2004: Porn Valley- I’ve been suggesting to people all along that Lara Roxx, not Darren James, is Patient Zero in this whole HIV flap. And Wankus’ interview with Dick Tracey Friday night on KSEX, www.ksexradio.com gives me even more reason to believe that.

For one thing, Tracey lends credence to the Roxx ass picture that has appeared on Adultfyi.com- the one where Roxx’s anal tract appears to be housing a leper colony. Roxx is claiming she got that rash the day after she worked with Darren James which is utter nonsense. Roxx had that condition the day she worked with James, and here’s what Tracey had said to Wankus.

Noting that he hasn’t worked with any of the people who’s worked with the people on the quarantine list, Tracey said he got lucky in that instance. “But I’ve got a fucked up story,” said Tracey, referring to Roxx. Tracey said he could have worked with Roxx approximately the time she worked with James, that Roxx was a step-in for another girl who didn’t show up.

“She showed up on set and me being the picky bastard that I am, I’m, who the fuck is this? This wasn’t the girl I was supposed to work with.” Tracey’s woman Cailley Taylor who was also on The Wanker Show piped in by saying that Roxx was ugly and that’s why Tracey had his reservations. Tracey said another girl was also on the set talking to Roxx in the dressing room. Tracey was called over and the girl pulled Roxx’s pants down. “She [Roxx] had lesions.”

Tracey said he saw the picture on Adultfyi.com and confirmed that was Roxx. “When I saw that I said no fucking way am I working with that. I called Aria who was down the street. She saved my fucking life. I called her up and she came over and did the scene.”

Wankus wondered what was Roxx’s reaction to Tracey’s reaction. “She said that she got waxed and got this rash after she did a double anal scene with Darren. I’ve waxed my chest and stuff and I’ve never seen anything like that. It looked like the worst case of herpes I had ever seen.”

Wankus relayed the information that the Roxx picture was allegedly taken the same day she worked with James. However it was a photo shot during a “recreational” scene. Tracey said that Roxx supposedly showed up to “a certain interracial porn company” to do an interview to get work.

“They took her in the back and d.p.’d her off camera for fun and someone brought a camera in.”

Wankus said he had been told that Roxx had been turned down by other male performers, noting her condition but that James said he didn’t give a fuck because he was known to have herpes anyway. “This is what I heard.”

Tracey said he saw the Roxx picture before it got posted on Adultfyi.com and knew for a fact it was legitimate. “I know what I saw.”

Of course, I will remind you of the necessary caveat that this took place on an online radio talk show where hearsay sometimes tends to trump actual evidence. But, it does give pause to the official “story” that Lana Roxx was the innocent who got infected by the dasterdly Darren James, who himself is alleged to have gotten infected in Brazil through sex with a male-to-female transsexual. And also, you can question why the studio in charge of that shoot would take such callous risks as to hire without testing first someone who had known lesions on her anal area to do a double anal scene….whether they were HIV+ or not.

And also note the fact that Tracey clearly in the interview identifies the woman in the aformentioned photo as Lana Roxx, and Ross openly states that in his opinion, Roxx was the woman described in the photo. A far cry from “there is no proof”..’ya think, Cameron??

This isn’t to diminish in any way the tragedy befallen on either James or Roxx…but it does go to raise some extreme doubts about whether or not “the porn industry” is covering up just to protect their assets.

According to NPR, AIM (Adult Industry Medical) HealthCare Foundation is being sued again by a mom and daughter who performed in porn and are alleging AIM allowed the mother’s results to go viral and someone posted her real name. The case is a class action against AIM. Highly doubtful lawyers would take on a class action unless they thought they would win. They claim AIM allows Much like the Darren James lawsuit, it’ll probably be settled out of court

This, for those of you who might not know, is the Diane Grandmassen/Bess Gerren (nee Desi and Elli Foxx) lawsuit that was filed against AIM due to their personal records being released and then posted to a blog. Interestingly enough, the primary instigator behind the suit (and the attempt to make it a “class action” suit representing all performers) just so happened to be…..Mike Weinstein of AHF, who just so happened to lead he tearful press conference where the accusers attempted to thrash AIM for deliberately destroying their lives by revealing their private information.

One small problem, though..the main claim of the suit was that AIM, by allowing porn producers access to the medical records of performers, was violating privacy laws and was solely responsible for the breach of privacy. Considering that most private companies who do drug testing also retain the rights to medical records of their employees as part of their mandatory drug testing, that’s a pretty weak claim. Plus, it was revealed that the records were taken from the production company, not from AIM’s office, and posted to the blog/message board from there…yet it was AIM that became the target, not the production company or the blog owner (It was later revealed that the blog/forum revealing the information was owned by producer/agent Derrick Hay, and ran by an associate of Donny Long, a former porn performer who has a history of outing porn performers.) Gee, I wonder…was it because AHF wanted to use these two women as part of their witchhunt against AIM and pull an Numerburg?? Even Darrah Ford, who is no supporter of AIM and who supports strongly the condom mandate, wasn’t buying into this..as quoted at her Porn Star Babylon blog:

Producers need access to the medical records in order to make sure who they’re hiring doesn’t have STDs. How else will they know who has whatever STDs? They could all wait till the day of filming and waste everyone’s time. But performers have the right to go into that database and see if who they’re working with that day has STDs. I’m no fan of either AIM or Sharon Mitchell. But if I’m a performer, you better believe I’ll be finding out beforehand if my future co-stars have STDs. AIM only tests for three STDs: HIV, Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea. That’s it!

What harm was done to Desi by having producers know her medical results? Don’t play victim without looking at what AIM did to the performers infected with HIV back in 2004. AIM released the names of Darren James, Lara Roxx, Miss Arroyo, and Jessica Dee to the media and that’s how many found out for the first time that their son and daughters were porn stars. So their families found out at the same time that their children are porn stars now infected with HIV.

[...]

I’m just trying to understand is there something that I’m missing here as to the harm caused to Desi and her daughter by having their medical results shown to producers. Or is this everyone involved just throwing whatever they can at the wall to see what sticks? Or did someone from the industry contact Desi and Elli in the outside world and make public to their family/friends/neighbors their past medical results?

Desi says her medical results are still available in AIM’s database. Well don’t they have to keep everything for legal reasons? They might also not delete anything because so many do come back into the industry. But I would think AIM can’t delete anything for legal reasons to not only protect themselves legally, but to also protect the performers from anything legal that might surface in the future.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation website doesn’t even mention that Desi and Elli are mother & daughter, doesn’t mention their porn names, performed in the same porn movies, and also worked together at the Bunny Ranch. Because would anyone take Desi Foxx serious in this lawsuit if they knew?

Also…it is just as highly possible that the information might have been pilered from the LA County Health Department, who also keeps performer records, .then released to the offending blog in a direct sting to implicate and entrap AIM. But…AHF is much too pure to engage in chicanery like that…right, Cameron??

It is here where Rowe starts to get personal in his high-tech assault on Mitchell. First, he typically slants to his and AHF’s favor the recent pulling of AIM’s clinic license.

AIM was created in 1988 by Sharon Mitchell and Dr. Steven York, an internist, according to AIM to test performers to make sure the porn industry was safe. Just this December, AIM was shut down by the LA County Health Department after its application for a “medical clinic” license was rejected. AIM had been operating under a “doctor’s office” license till California said they needed the other license. That alone should tell anyone AIM was either incompetently run or the LA County Health Department was incompetent. Mitchell still wears a white lab coat walking around like a doctor.

Now, hold on a sec, here…so the co-founder of AIM along with Sharon Mitchell was in fact a doctor (albeit an intern) with a real Ph. D. degree…yet Cameron has the gall to question Mitchell’s creds or AIM’s creds as a medical clinic or a testing facility?? (Remember, nowhere does Cameron ever question Dr. York’s credentials.) And of course, as the world now knows, the license was not denied, just suspended by the state Department of Health due to a technicality over the title of the organization…which AHF and LACHS duly exploited to exercise their coup.

But this is only the beginning of Cameron’s gnashing of fangs into Mitch’s neck. Onward to the “faked doctor degree from a ‘diploma mill’” meme:

Sharon Mitchell claims to be a sexologist. However, her Ph.D. in human sexuality comes from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. The Institute is still not accredited by a proper agency according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Last year, it had no accreditation whatsoever including a state run one that really doesn’t count anyway. California’s Bureau of Postsecondary and Vocational Education clearly states it is up to the student to see the Institute is a diploma mill, degree mill and/or meets their academic needs. It doesn’t. Unless it is accredited under CHEA, employers won’t consider it. California is lax about kicking out schools without national accreditation that counts.

According to the American College of Sexologists, Sharon Mitchell is listed as having HIV/SEX/Drug-Alcohol Addition specialties. California does not regulate sexologists and neither does any other state except Florida. How Ms. Mitchell has those specialties is beyond the scope of an apparent diploma mill/accreditation mill. Even in California, that could be illegal to claim medical credentials if that is what she’s claiming. A serologist in Florida has to have a real degree and pass a state exam to be called a doctor of sexology or you are committing a crime. Florida did that because of basically prostitution and “therapy” that was not regulated.

Sharon Mitchell is no doctor, no medical professional, and has an apparent diploma mill degree. The American College of Sexologists will accept anyone if you pay the fees and have such a degree. If you go to their website, those sexologist in Florida are MDs, MSWs and so forth. One sexologist in California I looked up had a website that looked mostly like a porn video store. If Ms. Mitchell used that degree to apply for a job with a private employer, they would laugh at the degree since it is not accredited.

Well, well…so much for this notice that is on the front freakin’ page of the IASHS website:

The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality (IASHS) is the longest standing graduate program in Human Sexuality with the largest resource library in the world. Considered the “Harvard” of human sexology study, The Institute is located in San Francisico, CA, and is approved by the State of California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. Institute graduates are employed in a variety of settings, including medicine and nursing, secondary and higher education, research, the media, social work, counseling and therapy, the clergy, the humanities and administrative positions. The Institute offers five graduate degree programs for persons wishing academic training in human sexuality.

.Now…unless Cameron is accusing the institution that accrediates ALL higher learning institutions in California of allowing “diploma mills” everywhere, this (especially the bolded part I emphasized) should be enough to shut his piehole. California actually does have some stringent standards — a hell of a lot stringent than other states — for accrediation of its colleges and universities; and I’m sure that if IASHS was indeed the “diploma mill” that Rowe suggests, they would not have lasted one year….let alone 10. And, let him attempt to say to people like Dr. Carol Queen or Annie Sprinkle or Dr. Charles Glickman that their doctorates from IASHS are worthless byproducts of a “diploma mill”. (I’d add the honorary Ph. D in Sexology degree bestowed this year to Nina Hartley, but time is short.)

And as for Florida being the only state to have more “stringent” standards for sexology due to fears of “prostitution” and illegal “therapy”….well, how much of that is attributed to a right-wing anti-sex attitude from the politically dominant Religious Right which seeks to destroy any means of sexuality education not promoting the old saws of abstinence and monogamous marriage??

Oh…and that sexologist with the site that looks like “a porn store”?? Would Cameron mean….this site?? I mean..if he’s going to malign Dr. Susan Block for her sexology degree, then why not call her out by name?? What’s wrong, Cameron…chicken got your tongue??

Besides that, even if Sharon Mitchell might be overdoing it a bit by advertising herself as a doctor, there is no one dumb enough to question her professionalism as a health care specialist…and no one other than the politically motivated or the just plain stupid will deny her stewardship of AIM in doing the job in protecting performers in the midst of a major pandemic of STI’s.

On the other hand, only the plain stupid and/or the lowdown dirty person would go to this card:

She admitted she was addicted to Heroin for sixteen years. Not sure how many porn movies she was in since various places have said 900+ and over 2,000. Mostly in New York City’s tame porn industry. She did win awards for her work from AVN so she is a porn star just not a doctor of any flavor. Even she contracted STDs during her porn career including herpes. In 1996, which is sad, she was attacked and raped by a stalker who almost killed her. After that she basically quit the business and appeared only sporadically in porn. Mitchell was lucky since Chasey Lain has not beat crack (the person said she looked like a “crack whore”) according to reports.

Oh, yes…”so sad” that she was beaten and raped, but not so sad that she “admitted” to beating a heroin addiction?? And she was just “lucky” to overcome such a plight?? I’d say that beating such a rap and going on to help other performers get out of such situations would be a badge of honor for Sharon Mitchell..but who am I to say?? And the sources for such information, according to Cameron?? Sharon Mitchell’s Wikipedia page (as if the IAFD database wasn’t available, or he couldn’t be arsed to actually ioterview her personally).

Oh, and it gets much better (or worse). The source he uses for the crack on Chaisey Lain being a “crack whore”?? This blog entry by a J. C. Skinner titled “Keep your daughter off the pole” which basically resets the ranks of dead porn starlets (or those allegedly destroyed by drugs). And..Cameron even manages to get that wrong; the actual phrase used is “crackpipe ho”. Figures.

———————————————————————————————————————————–

OK….that’s enough digging into the shit for tonight. Wash down with a nice cold shower — preferably with double strength Chlorox — and we will continue this later.

Mark Kernes Cuts The Condom Debate Down To Resonable Size, And Cuts Through AHF/Lubben BS Like A Knife Through Hot Butter

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Anthony

Not many writers cut through antiporn BS quite like Mark Kernes of AVN.com.

Therefore, it is fitting that he writes the ultimate review of the UCLA “condoms in porn” conference, in which he debunks with authority and relish all of the heated arguments for mandating condoms in porn shoots promoted by the likes of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the regulatory authorities Cal-OSHA and Los Angeles County Health, and ex-slut/ex-porn ministeress Shelley Lubben.

The entire review was posted to AVN.com lonight…but for sake of the awesome, I am reposting it here in its entirity. Especially note the list of questions that Kernes recommends people ask anyone who attempts to bring their pieholes into the discussion. (And give the credit as well to Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene for offering their input on said questions, too.)

MENTAL FLOSS: The Anti-Porn Condom Crap Never Stops

By Mark Kernes

Nov 22nd, 2010 04:45 PM

WEST LOS ANGELES—Most movie fans probably associate the initials “AFI” with the American Film Institute, but in local sociological circles these days, it stands for “Adult Film Industry,” which was the subject of an hour-long discussion at the UCLA Law School last Thursday and a document dump today.

Contained in the package sent out by the discussion’s organizers to everyone who signed up to receive them were two file folders. The first contained the three PowerPoint presentations that were shown at the discussion by Dr. Paula Tavrow, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Director of Public Health Whitney Engeran-Cordova, and Pink Cross Foundation founder Shelley Lubben, “Th.B.” (“Bachelor of Theology” from the unaccredited Vision International University), all of which were dealt with in AVN‘s previous article, as well as an additional one from Dr. Peter Kerndt, director of the LA County Health Department’s STD division.

The second folder contained a group of documents including three error-filled screeds from Lubben which she also handed out at the discussion; an “AFI Bibliography + Summaries” of articles favoring mandatory condoms; the February 22, 2010 letter from AHF to various California health officials complaining about AIM’s test results release form (which hadn’t been in use for several years prior to the AHF letter); a copy of a presentation by Cal/OSHA chief inspector Deborah Gold to a June, 2005 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) HIV conference; a letter from LA Health Department director Dr. Jonathan Fielding to members of the LA County Board of Supervisors; and an incredibly biased law review article authored by Maria de Cesare published in USC’s Southern California Law Review in 2006.

To dispense with the Lubben documents first, one entitled “U.S. Pornographic Industry Factoid 2009,” purports to be a list of “AIDS, Suicide, Homicide and Drug Related Deaths since 1999,” though just one of its named “AIDS” deaths, Karen Dior, is likely to be familiar to hetero porn viewers. Obviously, some anti-industry conclusion is meant to be drawn from the fact that some porn people have died from drug overdoses (like Anastasia Blue’s overdose from Tylenol) or homicides, or have committed suicide, but its relevance to whether performers should be required to wear condoms is of course non-existent, so why it was sent out with this packet of materials says more about the biases of the senders than anything else. (More on that topic later.)

A second is titled, “Backgrounder: Secondary Negative Effects on Employees of the Pornographic Industry,” and includes such falsehoods as “90% [of industry employees] are child sexual abuse survivors”; “66% to 99% of pornography performers are reported with Herpes, a non-curable disease” [emphasis in original]; “Sex performers, further traumatized by their brutal workplace environs, typically work ‘three months to three years‘ putting most on the dole” [again, Lubben's emphasis]; and “25 HIV cases by performers reported by Adult Industry Medical Healthcare since 2004,” an outrageously high figure debunked months ago by AIM and eventually retracted by the LA County Health Department.

Lubben’s final document is a compilation of quotes allegedly uttered by some current and former adult performers to former gossip columnist Luke Ford, whose made-up quotes and outright lies (i.e.) were the subject of several AVN articles before Ford stopped “covering” the industry more than two years ago.

Both Dr. Fielding’s letter and the AHF complaint about AIM’s release form have been the subject of previous AVN articles, which won’t be rehashed here.

Regarding Deborah Gold’s CDC presentation, in which she argues that virtually all (if not in fact all) adult performers are “employees” under the law and therefore under Cal/OSHA’s jurisdiction, one particular statement stands out and should be cautionary for all industry members concerned about how far Cal/OSHA may be willing to go to “ensure” the health of performers. On a page titled, “What About Oral Sex (cont)”, Gold quotes from what is apparently the California Health & Safety Code: “Masks in combination with eye protection devices, such as goggles or glasses with solid side shields, or chin-length face shields, shall be worn whenever splashes, spray, spatter, or droplets of blood or OPIM ["other potentially infectious material"] may be generated and eye, nose, or mouth contamination can be reasonably anticipated. These requirements are in addition to the provisions of Section 3382.”

Later, on a page titled, “Exposure Control Plan Is Key,” Gold displays her expertise as a film editor by stating that “Personal Protective Equipment … Does not need to appear on screen,” and that it can be “Use[d] in combination with production techniques (cut-aways, etc.)” The idea that condoms (and, presumably, dental dams and goggles/face shields) can be removed digitally in post-production has been roundly criticized by adult industry professionals as both physically and financially unworkable.

Also of interest are some of the drawbacks Gold sees to requiring Cal/OSHA to police condom use during movie-making, including, “Cal/OSHA personnel do not necessarily see this as an appropriate activity”; “Need to avoid creating a sexual harassment issue in district offices”; “Resistance from employers, mobility of employees, anti-government views makes a highly contentious environment”; and (our personal favorite), “Fear of association with organized crime.”

Finally, there’s Maria de Cesare’s law review article, whose introduction begins, “No matter how much fascination it may provide to the lives of the lonely, the curious, the adventurous, or the ordinary, it is undeniable that pornography poses problems. This statement is not startling or revolutionary; no other industry has unfailingly produced equal parts astounding revenue, excitement, shame, and fear among every echelon of society. For decades, the adult film industry has operated a thriving worldwide empire centered in Southern California, generating billions of dollars in revenue and producing thousands of films per year. Notwithstanding its status as one of the largest industries in a heavily regulated state, the adult film industry has flourished for decades without a discernible trace of government oversight.”

“Shame, and fear among every echelon of society”? Project much, Ms. de Cesare? “Without a discernible trace of government oversight”? Though de Cesare touches on the effects of the obscenity laws in the U.S. and their use in prosecuting adult companies and retailers, she’s apparently completely ignorant of the government’s excessively burdensome and illegal recordkeeping and labeling law, 18 U.S.C. §§2257 and 2257A.

From that point, the bullshit comes quickly and copiously: “The advent of permissive First Amendment laws in California has allowed pornographic filmmaking to achieve significant power in terms of revenue, political clout, and even increasing legitimacy on Wall Street.”

“Political clout”? Does she mean the one day per year that industry personnel go to Sacramento to visit legislators, or the single lobbyist the industry trade association has hired to make sure knowledgeable producers and performers are consulted before the Assembly and/or Senate pull anti-adult regulations out of the air? “Increasing legitimacy on Wall Street”? Does she (erroneously) think the stocks of adult production companies or websites are currently being traded on the Stock Exchange? (And of course, the industry’s legality in California has nothing to do with “permissive First Amendment laws”; it’s due to a California Supreme Court decision in a 1988 prostitution/pandering case, People v. Freeman, that was decided in the industry’s favor.)

And how does one explain a statement like this?: “As a result [of the federal obscenity laws], although adult filmmaking still had a notable economic and social influence on the public throughout the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, the questionable legality of most aspects of the industry precluded it from having the multibillion-dollar stronghold on society that it currently enjoys.” How could de Cesare be unaware that “adult filmmaking” as an industry didn’t even come into existence until the late 1960s, and didn’t even begin to be noticed until a decade later? And her claim that it’s the “questionable legality of most aspects of the industry” that prevented it from becoming a major societal force is complete horseshit; just ask any priest or clergyperson.

Perhaps people like de Cesare and several others connected with the current condom controversy need to ask themselves a few questions before pontificating on what they imagine the philosophies and practices of the adult industry to be:

1) Do you think sex work/porn performing is “dirty” or “sinful”?

2) Do you think on-camera sex work shows a lack of self-respect on the part of the performer?

3) Do you think that most (or a cognizable percent of) performers are stupid, drugged or mentally ill?

4) Do you think that most (or a cognizable percent of) porn viewers base their private sexual practices and opinions on the porn they view?

5) Do you think of women as inherently victimized by sex with men?

6) Do you think of displays of heterosexual intercourse as somehow inherently violent toward women?

7) Are you able to view performers as individual people and not as a representation of an “oppressed” group? In other words, do any prejudices you may harbor about the people who do “this” kind of work enable you to ignore their actual/expressed experiences?

Do you find visual depictions of sexual activity “icky” and wish they’d just go away? Do you transfer this discomfort over the depictions of sexual activity onto the performers and base any of your judgments about them on your own unease with their chosen profession?

9) Are you able to separate your interpretation of media theory regarding representations of sex and sexuality from the real-life feedback you receive from active performers?

10) Do you treat the stories of those women who feel they’ve been harmed by their involvement with adult movies as somehow more “true” or “real” than those of women whose experiences are much different, even positive? Might it be that the stories of alleged harm support pre-judgment of this type of entertainment by religiously-motivated and/or conservative social commentators and therefore don’t seem to require further examination?

11) Have you fully examined your own attitudes toward legal adult entertainment and acknowledged how those attitudes affect your thinking on this matter?

12) Why is what remains, by all available statistics, an extremely low-risk occupation, being given the sort of attention devoted to this matter if not for political purposes related to the nature of what it produces, as opposed to the actual safety of those involved in it, none of whom outside of those grandstanding on the issue appear to share the sense of urgency that motivates those who stand to garner what they see as favorable publicity, and secure lucrative new revenue streams, by stoking this non-controversy?

(Thanks and a hat tip to Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene, who contributed some of the above questions.)

Of course, neither FSC executive director Diane Duke nor veteran performer Mr. Marcus were asked to contribute any materials for the current document dump—but then again, that wouldn’t have been in keeping with the discussion sponsor’s agenda, would it?

Shelley Lubben = (Michelle Bachmann + Artificial Rack – Courage Of Convictions) * BS ^ Infinity

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Anthony

Oh, me, oh my.

And I thought that Michelle Bachmann was the grand champion of batshit crazaa. Well, Shelley Lubben, arch ex-slut ministress, just lapped her.

You may remember my last post on Lubben speaking at a conference on condoms in porn hosted by UCLA, in which she basically unleashed her worldly wrath of her “God” on the alleged evils of the porn industry. The panel was basically hosted and dominated by the folks who want to impose mandatory condom usage and other draconian regulations on California’s adult sexual media, in spite of the fact that the last two crises involving possible HIV/AIDS infection of performer talent — one this October and one last June — turned up empty, with in each case only the original target testing positive.

Well…Shelley has now posted at her blog her version of what took place at the discussion. Needless to say, it packs a wallop. The fact that it’s mostly a wallop of hot mess loaded down with her usual myopia and lies about the industry doesn’t limit the punch level. However, some of what she said has just a fleeting relationship with the truth, and some are outright smears and distortions so raw that even veteran propagandists would stand and take notice.

Synoposizing her does her rant little justice….so I will give it the full fisking treatment. The quotes are straight from her, the responses are totally mine.

HEATED PORN DEBATE AT UCLA

Right away, we begin with Shelley’s usual hyperbole. The actual debate wasn’t really that heated…except when Lubben opened her mouth. But, more on that anon.

UCLA learned the hardcore truth today that porn is not glamorous. During a panel discussion on the lack of employee health and safety in the porn industry – which included former porn actress Shelley Lubben, Executive Director of the Pink Cross Foundation; Paula Tavrow, director of UCLA’s Bixby Program in Population and Reproductive Health; Whitney Engeran-Cordova, director of the Public Health Division of AIDS Healthcare Foundation; Mr. Marcus a current porn performer/director; and Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition, Diane Duke – the debate heated up and they certainly duked it out!

Yeah, seems like a fair debate, right?? Sure…if you are willing to ignore the basic fact that outside of Diane Duke and Mr. Marcus, all of the other panelists were activists for mandatory condom usage and bitterly opposed to even caring about the views of active performers. Indeed, Diane Duke only made it to the panel because she found out late that Mr. Marcus would be ambushed three to one in this venue (and the audience was mostly screened to more White middle class antiporn feminists who would be more suspectable to the pro-condom mandate/antiporn position, too), and she “bullied” her way in so as to give Marcus some solidarity support.

Also…you gotta love how in these pressers Shelley always seems to note herself in the third person…as if God must be writing these reports with smiling approval of His anointed ministress.

Shelley Lubben told the hardcore truth about the hazards and the rampant disease on unsafe and unsupervised porn sets. She also talked about the consequences of unsafe sex during hardcore porn acts which she knows about all too well. Her time in porn resulted in Herpes, pregnancy complications, severe anemia, uterine ablation, and removal of over half of her cervix due to early cervical cancer from HPV.

Yeah….”the hardcore truth”. From a performer whom participated in exactly 12 videos in which she is credited with sex scenes under the nom de’guerre “Roxy” roughly in the six to nine month period between Nov. 1993 and July 1994. That’s right, Clones…TWELVE videos. As compared to, say, Nina Hartley, who has well over 600 videos credited to her in 26 YEARS of making adult videos, not to mention all the books, documentaries, and videos Nina has done in tribute to safer sex and egalitarianism and consensual woman’s pleasure.

And…somehow, Lubben seems to conveniently ignore the fact that she was a working prostitute (and, it is alleged by some, even a madam) for four years prior to, during, and for an unspecified amount of time following, her brief stint as a porn performer. In which, in other venues, she has openly claimed that she engaged in unprotected and quite dangerous activities, got infected with several nasty STI’s, and even had children from getting pregnant off her clients. Her current daughter is the result of an unprotected tryst that occured outside of her porn stint.

And yet, in spite of her nearly eight year trial by fire as a sex worker, it’s only through those 12 scenes in porn that she got sick and hurt, and only porn is to blame for all of her ills. And, of course, ALL women in porn suffer as much, if not worse, than she does…because any one of the hundreds of thousands of women who manaage to go through the business generally unscathed are simply either lying, paid off by THE GREAT PORN MAN, or simply not blessed with the virtue of God himself to see the light. Or, they just don’t exist in Lubben’s world. Which is apparently different than the world most of the rest of us walk on.

When questioned on how she knew these consequences came from porn and not her six years of prostitution before she entered porn, Lubben replied, “I never had STDs until I did porn. I had protected sex as a prostitute. I didn’t do as hard of (sex) acts in prostitution. I never did anal until I got to porn.” Although Lubben states unequivocally that prostitution is still horrible, porn is worse.

That’s interesting, because just two weeks ago, Shelley was singing a slightly different tune to Howard Stern on his radio show (excerpt courtesy of Julie Meadows/Lydia Lee):

YouTube – “JESUS SWOOPS DOWN ON HOWARD STERN: EX PORN STAR SHELLEY LUBBEN VISITS 2/2”, Uploaded November 9, 2010

“Shelley Lubben: God told me he healed me and I haven’t had an outbreak in over fifteen years, my kids are herpes-free, so, you know what, I just turned to God and he healed me in all these areas of my life. I mean, he’s practical.”

Shelley Lubben: Of course. Like, you could, you could swing a deal anywhere. Any, literally, and uh… and then one, and then this man, he, he um, he bled on my face and it really frightened me, so… um…
Robin Quivers: Bled on your face? How does that, wha?
Howard Stern: He bled on your face? What was, what was that about?
SL: Well, I don’t know. All I know was it scared the hell outta me.
HS: Where was the blood coming from?
SL: His penis.

Howard Stern: Uh, an Asian guy banged you for money, got you pregnant. How did that happen, his rubber break or something?
Shelley Lubben: In all honesty, um, it did. Condoms will leak and break.
HS: Right.
SL: And I’m tellin’ ya, I’ve had plenty of sex to know that condoms aren’t enough protection but they’re better than no protection.

Oh, what grand irony this is. She’s admitting to Howard Stern that condoms do break and they don’t give enough protection…but, she’s so willing to join AHF’s campaign to mandate them on porn performers whether or not they want them. Also…if you are having sex with people who are bleeding in your mouth out of their dicks, wouldn’t that be a warning sign to, like, stop what you are doing?? I’m sure that the guy must have been bleeding before he put his willy in your mouth, Shelley…did you manage to check on that before accepting his cash??

Of course, that was the “pre-saved” Shelley who didn’t have the wisdom of God flowing within her…at least not yet. Oh, wait….

YouTube – “EX PORN STAR TELLS THE HARDCORE TRUTH ABOUT PORN”
Uploaded January 2, 2008

“And this is how pathetic is was, I used to sell my breast milk for five and ten bucks inside guy’s coffees just to get money for me and my daughter. That’s my pathetic lifestyle in the sex industry and it’s not just me. I don’t care how glamorous these, I see the porn stars, we all had to work our way to the top. We all started out on the street or in escort agency or prostitution. We’ve all been bled upon. We’ve all been smacked around. We’ve all had guys rip condoms on us on purpose. We’ve been through hell. Vietnam Vets, could probably be comparable to what we’ve been through. That’s why we’re tough. We had to tough it out. I’ve had men try to kill me, stalk me, I was driving a motorcycle and some guy took his truck and hit me. Cuz see we’d b.s. ‘em a lot. They don’t like that. I’d have different engagement wedding rings n so I was in my pockets trying to remember which guy gave me which one.”

Oh, yeah….every single sex worker has done some porn in her life; every single sex worker has been infected with life-killing STI’s, and every sex worker client simply wants to kill the hooker they pay to have sex with. Because Shelley Lubben says so, it is the absolute freakin’ TRUTH, back by GOD.

Easy to trust her words…yes, indeedy.

But….let us go back.

The porn industry continues to deny the reality of the harm and abuse it inflicts upon human beings. The rampant sexually transmitted diseases, the false sense of security given to the performers, the industry’s fraudulent doctors and employers, the drugs and alcohol, the brutality against women – all adds up to an abusive, disease filled, deadly industry where workers daily risk their lives.

Many women in porn speak of their hopes and dreams to only do porn for a short while and then one day get married and start a family. How tragic is to get to that point only to learn that all of the rough and abusive acts they were subjected to and all of the STDs they contracted have led to infertility or serious (potentially life threatening) long term health problems with their reproductive organs?”

But let’s look at those “facts”, shall we??

Lubben claims that 90% of all porn performers have contacted herpes, “an incurable disease”, as she puts it. A frighening stat…until you discover that it was mostly lifted out of thin air, since there is really no way to determine if porn performers are infected with such a disorder, since there is no existing testing ongoing for herpes amongst the industry. Not even the Adult Industry Medical (AIM) organization which does the basic testing for HIV and other major STI’s for the industry, makes that claim, since they don’t even test for herpes or chamydia. Also, herpes, while very much a communicable disorder, is also pretty much minor in symptoms, generally restricted to the mouth or genital area, and usually treatable with rest and antibiotics. Two or three weeks of rest, and a person can go back to normal sexual relations again.

Now, no one with a working brain cell will deny that there are plenty of brutes and assholes in porn who do not have the talent’s better interests at hand, and there are even a few that do cross the line into violence and neglect. Maybe the reason Shelley feels the way she feels is because she only has associated with that violent fringe of the industry that is the most abusive. Her story should be respected and her experiences acknowledged, and no one should be under any state of denial; but maybe Shelley could be as much in denial about those whose experiences in porn didn’t approach her level of debasity?? What about the experiences of folk like Kayden Kross or Vicky Vette or Julie Meadows, who managed to get in, make their mark, make some cash, and get out relatively unscathed and for the better of it? And heaven forbid, would she ever be willing to acknowledge the work of someone like Nina Hartley, who has not only survived and thrived and persevered in the porn world, but has become the unofficial ambassador of the adult sexual media’s progressive potential for female erotic pleasure??

Oh, wait, I forgot…Shelley says to discount Nina because she “had chlamydia four times in her career.” Really.

Diane Duke of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) who was there on behalf of the producers defended the industry’s current testing system as ‘remarkable’ but it was pointed out that testing ‘does not prevent anything.’ Current porn star Mr. Marcus, a 17 year veteran of the industry who has appeared in over 50 gangbang movies and who is known for his brutal acts in porn, showed up to defend the industry – yet in a meeting that was filled with testimony of violence against women and damage to the reproductive health of women, it was hardly convincing.

Where is the testimony of the 18-19 year old woman that has been in porn for only a short time? What is her experience like when she walks onto a mostly male porn set at a private location and is forced to do brutal, unprotected sex acts?

Yes, now we let the stereotypes flow. Because it’s only 18 year old ingenues thirsting for a career in Hollywood wihout the dreded “casting couch” that get tricked by cigar-chompinig men in raincoats into doing all kinds of dirty, nasty sexual debauchery such as…sucking a man’s dirty DICK!! And…taking same dick into her…her…ASS!!! And, and, and…getting her face and eyes and mouth splattered with nasty CUM!!! And that’s only the good scenes!!!

Now, the fact that many of these young adult women getting into porn has already probably done those kind of “filthy” acts already for personal pleasure without getting paid tons of cash (dates and dinner nonwithstanding), is a concept that seems to elude Ministeress Shelley. The fact that these women already know quite well through their friends and sister performers who to avoid and who to support due to the unofficial support system, and are more than capable of making their own decisions about what goes in their orficies and who gets to play within them, is another concept of individual freedom and responsibility that seems alien to the Gospel of Lubben.

But, it’s this smackdown of Mr. Marcus in particular that wins the Whackjob trophy hands down for Lubben. I guess that he happened to be the chosen target for this ambush at UCLA because they had to have someone to fire their nukes at, and because Nina or Kayden would have destroyed them intellectually.

But to call out Marcus for participating in gangbangs and especially for his “brutal acts” in porn?? Priceless…especially given his actual reputation is exactly the polar damn opposite of anti-woman brute.Countless veteran porn women have given flowing testimony to his ability to maximize their pleasure over his, and his total and complete sensitivity to thrir orgasms. Hell, he’s even been featured in many of Nina’s Nina Hartley Sex Guides video series fir that very purpose. And that even includes the women featured in all those gangbangs.

All I want to know is this, Shelley: did YOU manage to have sex with Mr. Marcus during your bit as “ROXY!!!!!” And if you didn’t, then how in the HELL would you know about how “brutal ” he really is??

Oh I forgot….Mr. Marcus is still Black, still large, and still wields a big cock. In some communities — especially the more racist ones most suspectable to rhetoric like what Lubben shills here — that is reason enough to condemn him.

And finally, as for that “testing doesn’t prevent anything” drive-by?? Gee, testing sure did a lot to prevent a major epidemic for two years straight, now didn’t it?? Two performers infected with HIV from outside activity, and no other performers infected as a result?? In my book, that’s called a ringing endorsement of AIM’s testing system. AKA…SCOREBOARD. But, feel free to disagree.

No other porn performers showed up to defend the industry – which is the norm for public debates. Why do porn actors rarely show up? There have been several state and local meetings in the last two years and yet only a handful of porn stars have ever showed up. Mainly producers and lawyers for the industry show up at these meetings. Why is that?

Mr. Marcus spoke of a need for ‘more education’ in the industry. We agree on that point. No woman should go into porn on the false promise that they will be kept safe, or that the porn industry is concerned about the health and safety of their employees. They say they are, but their actions speak otherwise. Just two weeks ago, Diane Duke wrote an article in the adult industry trade magazine titled, “FSC: On the Forefront of Fighting for Your Bottom Line.”

Ahhh, let’s see. Maybe the reason why few other porn performers show up at Cal-OSHA meetings or California Assemply hearings or venues like the one at UCLA might have to do with the following, Shelley: (1) They are working at that time. (2) They actually have family and private lives to live and don’t necessarily want to live strictly on your schedule. (3) They don’t feel the need to consistently walk into a buzzsaw where their very profession, if not their very persons, is smeared, distorted, slandered, and otherwise pilloried, and they are compared to the worst hardened criminals needing protection from their own desires. (4) They already have some damn good spokespeople that could speak their minds for them. (5 through 10) You just won’t allow them to speak without shouting them down.

That is, if you don’t conspire to block them from speaking in the first place. Let me remind you all of the tactics the UCLA group and Lubben used for this particular discussion to freeze out the riffraff from contaminating their debate (courtesy of Michael Whiteacre, as posted here earlier):

The organizers of the UCLA School of Law panel ACTIVELY PLOTTED to keep adult industry members away, and I can attest that it is true. This event was not promoted at all. Google and Yahoo searches turned up nothing. I stumbled upon a reference to it in the calendar on Shelley Lubben’s site two days before the event. She listed the name of the event, the location, and gave the start time as 11:00 am. I passed the info on to Free Speech Coalition, and Diane Duke essentially “bullied” her way onto the panel. FSC also alerted AVN. The next day (the day before the event) AVN mentioned the event, and it also popped up on Darrah Ford’s blog (listing the start time, correctly, as 11:30 am).

Shelley Lubben must have been told to not promote the event, because after FSC (and AVN) called over to the organizers, citing Shelley’s website as how they heard about it, the start time on Shelley’s site was mysteriously ALTERED to 2:00 pm (which is 50 minutes after he event had to end so that a scheduled class could use the room). That altered start time is still on her website as I write this. I must conclude they called her to complain, and Shelley’s instinct, as usual, was to distort the truth. She takes a kernel of truth, and then twists it to serve her needs.

Gee…Gail Dines would have been proud of them. And even of Shelley.

Oh, and to the point about the Free Speech Coalition more concernd about getting paid their porn lobbying fees than being concerned about performer safety?? Well, that’s why they’re called the Free Speech Coalition, not the Pink Ladies Social Club (which was an org that existed in the late 80′s led by Nina Hartley, Jeanna Fine, Angel Kelly and a few other women as a means of protecting and defending porn women’s rights and responsibilities. And it’s not as if Shelley’s not getting paid plenty for her activism for Jesus, as her most recent tax returns show so clearly.

Who is fighting for the health and safety of these people? Certainly not the industry. But we will! Not only that, Pink Cross demands that the entire industry be shutdown until it is in compliance with state law. The current workplace health and safety laws must be enforced. The porn industry is currently operating illegally. We also know that the porn industry is full of rampant disease and thrives on illegal activity such as drug trafficking, prostitution and brutality against women.

The Pink Cross will fight for those in this industry that is driven by money over everything else – even the health and safety of its own workers! That is wrong and we cannot and will not tolerate that kind of treatment of human beings who are made in the image of God. Will you join us? As panelist Whitney Engeran-Cordova profoundly stated, “No one should be disposable.”

We will not apologize for telling the truth about how porn destroys lives. We cannot be silent while porn continues to damage people in the name of the almighty dollar. People are worth more – they deserve to be told the truth! We love these people too much to not tell them the truth. And we will continue to do so…

Ahhh, the fighting sprirt of a demagogue. Because only Shelley Lubben and the seven or so women she has converted to her cause know more about the rights and responsibilities of every single woman in the sex media industry than the women themselves actually putting their pussies, asses, and mouths on the line every day. Because only Shelley Lubben knows in spite of what all us stupid secularists see with our own eyes, and hear with our own ears, that all women in porn are victims of rape and depravity and sexual slavery and need her healing mission from GOD to get the hell out. (Of course, to actually get her help you have to fully convert to the Gospel of Jesus, and be either independently wealthy enough to live on your own without the financial assets you earned with your own body, or be just that desperate enough and poor enough to depend on subsistence that not even welfare mothers can survive on. But, that’s a different story altogether.)

And, me thinks that Shelley needs to make up her mind on whether she really wants the sex media industry to be banned outright or whether she only wants it to be tightly regulated. You can’t be a slave to two different masters, Ministeress Lubben, and you can’t on the one hand form an alliance with a mostly gay male-based organization like AHF and promote condom usage that conflicts with the default fundie Christian Right message of “no sex outside of marriage for reproduction”; and then on the other hand address the likes of Pat Trueman and his Departmant of Justice commisars who are sqorn to wipe porn off the face of the earth. Choose your side, please, and stick with it. Or…AHF just needs to choose their side, unless this is only about Michael Weinstein (the chief spokesperson for the AHF) merely exploiting Lubben for the usual shakedown and exclusive government contracts.

Talking about “shutting down the industry until/unless the laws are enforced” is kind of tinny when most of said businesses are actually following the laws, and there is no pandemic to think of. Unless you can provide such proof, Shelley, you need to work on cleaning up your own house and owning your own personal demons and stop forcing them on everyone else. Otherwise, I’m prompted to believe Nina Hartley when she says that you are simply using your old role as “ROXY!!!!!!!!!!!” to play the fundie Christian field just as you played the sex worker and porn fields for your own personal benefit.

And I’ll go ahead and trust the word of Nina on what porn performers face in the real world far more than I will trust anything you say, Shelley Lubben. She’s smarter than you; she’s a hell of a lot sexier than you; she’s far wiser than you; she’s a billion times more compassionate than you; she’s infinesstimately more progressive socially and politically than you ever will be….and most of all, she actually gives a damn about people. Oh…and her degrees are REAL and certified. As is her heart. And, her legendary heart-shaped ass. Even at age 50.

Try stuffing that into your Pink Bible swag bag, Ministeress Lubben.

Another Day, Another HIV Porn Scare Overhyped…And Shelley Lubben Goes Whack Again, But Gets Exposed For The Fraud She Is

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Anthony

I am so sorry that I couldn’t get to this when all the drama originally took place…but I was preoccupied with other things.

But, now that it seems that yet another supposed HIV pandemic in porn has been proven to be total nonsense and greatly overhyped, I guess that it’s now time to serve some crow to some people.

For those who may not have noted, last July the California porn world was in total chaos because it was leaked that one of their performers had tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That set off all the usual hysteria, with porn sets shut down while all the primary and secondary sex partners of the poor afflicted performer (dubbed as “Patient Zets”) were tested as per normal procedure by the Adult Industry Medical Foundation, which is basically the official testing organization for the California-based porn industry.

Unfortunately, because this latest scare took place only one year after a similar panic when a female performer was tested positive; the flameout in rhetoric was even more extrreme, with most signs pointing to the breach of the system as the final proof they needed to condemn AIM and promote alternatives…up to and including mandatory condoom usage by all porn performers. Even worse, though, was that “Patient Zeta” also was reported to be a bisexual male who performed gay porn on the side…which added the additional spark of homophobia into the mix as well.

Not surprisingly, plenty of the usual suspects took to the airwaves to decry this ultimate failure of the system. The officios at the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal-OSHA) mined the latest “outbreak” news to reinstated their position that porn sets needed to be fully regulated and performers forced to use condoms as a means of protection and “role modeling” the general public. The biggest and loudest voice, though, came from a group called the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, whose founder and chief spokesman, Michael Weinstein, had long been a fierce foe of AIM and its alleged “monopoly” on STI testing and protection. Weinstein used his microphome and his organization to publically attempt to humiliate AIM and force the LA and Cali authorities to seize power and force mandatory condom usage (and his own testing regime) on the industry carte blanche, citing the potential for a major pandemic among porn performers.

And it would have probably worked, too….except for one small problem. The pandemic never happened.

Like it didn’t happen last year, either.

One month after the Great 2010 HIV Porn Scare began, it ended….with a whimper.

In a not-unexpected announcement today, Vivid Entertainment, one of the world’s leading adult producers, said that it is set to resume movie production on Monday, November 8, after being shut down for almost a month because of health safety concerns.

The move was apparently triggered by the announcement yesterday from the Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Healthcare Foundation that the final actress who could possibly have contracted HIV from the performer now known as “Patient Zeta” has been cleared after the second round of PCR-DNA testing, and has been allowed to resume her acting career.

“The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation has completed testing of two generations of partners of Patient Zeta, from both personal and professional life,” AIM General Manager Jennifer Miller said today. “All persons tested negative for HIV on two occasions, using multiple testing methods. It has been established that Patient Zeta acquired the virus through private, personal activity and there was no transmission of the HIV virus from Patient Zeta to anyone else.”

“This event affirms the efficacy of AIM Healthcare Foundation’s testing protocols, as voluntarily implemented by the adult entertainment industry,” she continued. “It is regrettable but inevitable that people continue to acquire the HIV virus in their personal life. The protocols and other industry practices have resulted in only one incident of HIV transmission on set in more than a decade. That is a remarkable record. AIM Healthcare Foundation is proud of its contribution to the health and well-being of the adult industry and wider community.”

Of course, the fact that their dreams of exploiting the “outbreak” for political purposes had been dashed by actual facts weren’t going to stop the “push condoms” and “smash AIM” folks from fighting the not-so-good fight. In the midst of the crisis, when it was still possible that things could get hairy, Weinstein’s group AHF and the Cal-OSHA people were quite busy attempting to impose their will. They unsuccessfully attempted to browbeat the Los Angeles Metro City Council to suspend all licenses for shooting porn in the Greater LA area. They attempted — just as unsuccessfully — to use the courts to force AIM to reveal the identities of “Patient Zeta” and all of her partners through their confidential medical records…while simultaneaously claiming that having AIM release the results of their testing to porn production companies violeted the HIPPA law regarding public release of private medical records.

But mostly, they attempted to use the media to browbeat the industry into submissiveness. Unfortunately for them (and fortunately for us), their delivery system was more than a bit flawed.

Which brings us one more time to that ongoing saga of: Shelley Lubben, Off The Chain.

Yes, our favorite ex-porn, ex-slut ministress is on her soapbox again.

Apparently, the folks at AHF have decided that Shelley Lubben should become the official voice for those poor, benighted, abused, diseased, prostituted, and infected women unfortunate enough not to be able to speak for themselves against the Big, Bad Male Porn Grinding Machine. At least, those women for whom her Pink Cross Foundation ministry exploits greatly to pay for all of her makeup and travel….errrrrrrrrrrrr, to minister the glory of God and save them from a hard and brutal life.

Now, one would normally wonder how an agency like AHF who originates atourn advocacy for HIV+ folk — many of whom happen to be gay men — would be doing sharing the dais with the likes of Ministress Lubben, whose ministry does seem to have more than a glancing taste of the homophobia. When big money in presumed federal contracts to prooffer testing services supplemented by the potential payoff in condom sales from folks like Durex and Trojan, combines with Shelley’s continuous desire for the public spotlight and a nice book deal….well, let’s just say that greed makes for strange bedfellows.

The problem is, though, that giving someone as whack as Shelley Lubben the microphone is a dangerous thing. Ask the people at UCLA.

Just this week, they decided to hold what they considered a roundtable discussion on the issue of STI’s in porn and the effectiveness of condoms and whether they should be mandated. Representing the “condoms must be mandatory” side: Paula Tavrow of the UCLA School of Public Health, Whitney Engeran-Cordova of AHF, Peter Kerndt of the LA County Health STD program, and Shelley Lubben as “one of the world’s leading advocates for women in the adult industry”. (More on that lie anon.) Repping the other side: Mr. Marcus, long time Black male porn legend and…..Diane Duke of the Free Speech Coalition. (The latter was a late add to make the panel seem less “fair and balanced”.)

Yes, this panel was about as balanced as a FOX News Sunday panel discussion….and Shelley was on her Michelle Bachmann-caliber finest tear that day. Michael Whitacre was at the conference, and just so happened to videotape some of Lubben’s special whackiness. First, the written synopsis, courtesy of AVN:

Lubben, whose website hawks her new book allegedly based on her brief experiences in the industry, and who asked her supporters for their “fervent prayers” about her appearance on the panel, spoke next, and much of what she said was laced with her usual inaccuracies and outright fabrications.

“I worked in the industry in the years 1993 to 1994,” she told the audience. “I was forced to have unprotected sex.” (See, she chose to work in the industry, but she was forced to have unprotected sex, though she must have known that virtually no companies shot condom porn in the early ’90s.)

Lubben launched into a long list of medical problems she claims stemmed from her brief porn career (as opposed to her years working as a prostitute) and also claimed she was “brutally raped on the set when I contacted herpes in a six-man gangbang.” (This would have been Filmco’s Roxy – A Gang Bang Fantasy, but of course, Lubben never filed rape charges against anyone connected with that movie.)

“Women on the set have no advocate on a mostly male set, and are threatened by porn producers and agents,” she continued. “In order to get women to agree to these things, they’re given alcohol and drugs and even sent to local doctors to get prescription medicine like Xanax and Vicodin… All this is documented proof.”

To accompany her talk, Lubben also made available several handouts, one of which references notorious gossip and liar Luke Ford, who collected industry-bashing quotes from several actresses prior to his leaving the porn-gossip business several years ago. Yet another handout, titled “Backgrounder,” contains lies such as that “90% [of porn employees] are child sexual abuse survivors,” “66% to 99% of pornography performers are reported with Herpes, a non-curable disease,” and “25 HIV cases by performers reported by Adult Industry Medical Healthcare since 2004.”

And in case you need the visual to match…. (thank you, Michael Whiteacre):

Former porn performer turned fundamentalist Christian anti-porn activist Shelley Lubben addressing the UCLA “Condoms in Porn” discussion (via YouTube, h/t MichaelWhiteacre)

There are facts…and then there are Lubben Facts. The Free Speech Coalition website post on the UCLA meeting clearly explains the difference.

In fact, the audience could have learned a lot about sexually transmitted infections from the panelists today. Instead, the focus was on statistics for adult industry performers that LACPH has “gathered” from Adult Industry Medical Healthcare (AIM), since the AIM clinic is required to share data with the county. But how many people in the audience recalled that last year, after a performer was diagnosed with HIV, that LACPH claimed, since 2004, there have been as many as 22 cases of HIV in the performing population? The LA Times later retracted the statistic, presumably because it’s not verifiable. But by then, it was too late to stop the spread of misinformation.

No one on the panel spoke more about STIs than Pink Cross’ Lubben, who issued a laundry list of diseases that she claims she contracted “while working in porn,” including herpes, HPV, as well as “extensive reproductive damage,” 12 years of hemorrhaging and severe anemia, due to unprotected sex that she was forced to have on adult production sets. She used the word “rape” liberally to describe her on-set experiences. She also claimed to have contracted HPV during a gangbang shoot with four male performers. Lubben also claims that 66% of adult performers have herpes and that 111 adult industry members have died from AIDS – without citing the statistical sources for this information.

When an audience member forced the question to Lubben, that she had been a prostitute for six years prior to being in her first adult movie (and during her time as a performer, and after she retired from performing), Lubben replied that she had always had “protected sex” as a prostitute, but was “forced” to not use a condom on-set.

Well, here are some FACTS about various STIs from the Centers for Disease Control website:

• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is so common, at least 50% of sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives.

• For those that choose to be sexually active, condoms may lower the risk of HPV… But HPV can infect areas not covered with a condom – so condoms may not fully protect against HPV.

• Results of a nationally representative study show that genital herpes infection is common in the United States. Nationwide, 16.2%, or about one out of six, people 14 to 49 years of age have genital HSV-2 infection.

And that’s the thing – the only way to fight ignorance is with facts.

Yeah, right…and Nina Hartley “contracted chalmydia four times during her career”. Of 26 years. (That’s more YEARS than you have SCENES, Shelley. Almost TWICE AS MANY, in fact. Scoreboard sucks, doesn’t it??) At, least, that’s what Ministress Shelley says. I mean, clearly a woman who has performed all of 24….no, check that, 12 videos in one nine month blitz, and who was an active prostitute who has openly claimed in other venues to have unprotected sex and bave contracted everything BUT HIV from her prostitution endevors, is clearly more capable for speaking for all women in porn than a 24 year vet who happens to have a Bachelors degree in nursing, and whom has written several books and made many videos on safer sex and avoiding STI’s. Yeah, Shelley…Nina’s your bitch, all right.

Oh, but let’s save that potential Hartley vs. Lubben ass kicking (figurative, that is) for a future fantasy. Right now, porn women with even half of Nina’s legacy can still run world laps around Shelley, and still have enough wind to boot her illogical, fanatical ass into orbit. While I’ve previously mentioned Monica Foster and Kayden Kross and Vicky Vette who have thouroughly debunked the stupidity and outright lies and slander of the Ministeress, it is still Julie Meadows (aka Lydia Lee) whom has done the most in public service in exposing the rancid lies of Shelley Lubben to the bright light of sunshine. Today in her blog, Julie fires yet one more Truth volley into the Lubben House of Bullshit, using Shelley’s own words to impale. It started as a comment to the FSC site, then exploded into a blog entry at Meadows’ own blog. I’ll simply repost it in its magnificent entirity.

“Shelley Lubben’s website from “Way Back Time Machine” 2008:

http://www.shelleylubben.com/former-porn-star-shelley-lubben

“God also restored my femininity and healed my sexuality, which is a MAJOR miracle for me. After doing prostitution and porn I lost ability to function sexually. The fact that I can enjoy a healthy sexual relationship now is an absolute miracle!! God also healed me of the non-curable disease herpes. I was part of a special military study for pregnant women with herpes in 1996 and when I was tested they said I couldn’t be in the study because there was no herpes virus in my blood. The test came back negative! I also am cancer free as the doctors were able to remove all the cervical cancer. He’s Jehovah-Rophe the God that heals us!”

YouTube – “EX-PORN STAR SHELLEY LUBBEN, THE TRUTH BEHIND THE FANTASY OF PORN – PORNHARMS.COM BRIEFING”, Uploaded June 17, 2010

“As a survivor of the porn industry, I contracted human papillomavirus, and herpes, a non-curable disease, which later led to my battle with cervical cancer, where I had to have half of my cervix removed. I also battled with severe anemia due to the hemorrhaging I experienced for twelve years. In fact, I’m still battling with damages to my reproductive organs.”

YouTube – “JESUS SWOOPS DOWN ON HOWARD STERN: EX PORN STAR SHELLEY LUBBEN VISITS 2/2”, Uploaded November 9, 2010

“Shelley Lubben: God told me he healed me and I haven’t had an outbreak in over fifteen years, my kids are herpes-free, so, you know what, I just turned to God and he healed me in all these areas of my life. I mean, he’s practical.”

Shelley Lubben: Of course. Like, you could, you could swing a deal anywhere. Any, literally, and uh… and then one, and then this man, he, he um, he bled on my face and it really frightened me, so… um…
Robin Quivers: Bled on your face? How does that, wha?
Howard Stern: He bled on your face? What was, what was that about?
SL: Well, I don’t know. All I know was it scared the hell outta me.
HS: Where was the blood coming from?
SL: His penis.

Howard Stern: Uh, an Asian guy banged you for money, got you pregnant. How did that happen, his rubber break or something?
Shelley Lubben: In all honesty, um, it did. Condoms will leak and break.
HS: Right.
SL: And I’m tellin’ ya, I’ve had plenty of sex to know that condoms aren’t enough protection but they’re better than no protection.

YouTube – “SHELLEY LUBBEN SPEAK TRUTH ABOUT PORN INDUSTRY”
Uploaded June 4, 2008

“And, as you know in the industry we do not, there’s not, we don’t use condoms. And so, every single day we live in fear that we’re going to catch a sexually transmitted disease or worse, HIV. Everyday we lived, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, who slept with who?’ And um, I got burned. I caught genital herpes and I thought I was going to die. It’s absolutely the worst thing, it’s the most shameful… I had dealt with so much shame already. This was terrible. And I quietly left the porn industry.”

“I slept with Hollywood directors, actors, singers, I helped contribute to America’s epidemic of herpes. 66% of porn actors and actresses are carriers. 28% have chlamydia and gonorrhea and 7% have HIV. It’s a huge problem. And what we do is when we’re porn stars we’re also prostitutes. We fly around the country and sleep with people for lots of money because they’re our fans. And so then we have unprotected sex with them, of course. ”

YouTube – “EX PORN STAR TELLS THE HARDCORE TRUTH ABOUT PORN”
Uploaded January 2, 2008

“And this is how pathetic is was, I used to sell my breast milk for five and ten bucks inside guy’s coffees just to get money for me and my daughter. That’s my pathetic lifestyle in the sex industry and it’s not just me. I don’t care how glamorous these, I see the porn stars, we all had to work our way to the top. We all started out on the street or in escort agency or prostitution. We’ve all been bled upon. We’ve all been smacked around. We’ve all had guys rip condoms on us on purpose. We’ve been through hell. Vietnam Vets, could probably be comparable to what we’ve been through. That’s why we’re tough. We had to tough it out. I’ve had men try to kill me, stalk me, I was driving a motorcycle and some guy took his truck and hit me. Cuz see we’d b.s. ‘em a lot. They don’t like that. I’d have different engagement wedding rings n so I was in my pockets trying to remember which guy gave me which one.”

She states how much more dangerous the adult industry is after stating that, as a prostitute, she was bled upon, stalked, that clients tried to murder her. She repeatedly sites every porn star as being mentally ill though she does not have the education and credentials to diagnosis anyone’s medical situation. She touts only the professional ability to teach and counsel in Christian-[r]elated studies. In fact, her “degree” does not transfer to any accredited college and it is listed on the Consumer Fraud Reporting website as an unaccredited school, prefacing their list with this statement:

“All schools below are considered by the state of Oregon’s and other U.S. and international standards to be UNACCREDITED. Many are scams, a few may be decent schools, but ALL are without accreditation, something most sensible people would say is a starting point to obtain a quality education and a degree that will be broadly accepted and respected.”

So the catchphrase “Get The Facts” that is splattered all over Shelley’s personal website and Pink Cross Foundation’s website only applies to other people and not her? Really??? Someone please explain to me how that makes any sense whatsoever. Does she need the definition of the word “fact” read to her?

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/Education_Degree_Scams_Unaccreddited.php

Lovely how the reporting at Luke Is Back fails to mention how last-minute the meeting was and that the adult industry was all but squeezed out of the discussion. Thank you for actually providing some insight into this event.”

And it’s only getting worse now for Ministeress Shelley….a blogger named Cameron Rowe has just opened a blog where he is currently engaging in an expose of Madame Lubben’s more…shall we say, outspoken statements. His allegations include these nice tidbits: (1) that Shelley was really a madam when she turned 18 and she was pregnant through her clients rather than through porn; (2) that her degree in Christian ministry is really from a well known “diploma mill” that was so damaged that it waas banned from the state of Conneticut; and (3) that her ordination as a Christian minister is actually just as bogus, having come from an orginization (Order of St. Martin) consisting only of an Irvine, California address and nothing else.

Question for Mike Weinstein and the other folk at AHF: Do you really, really want to sully your campaign with someone like THIS???

Shelley Lubben: The Michelle Bachmann Of Ex-Slut Ministers…And Completely Off The Rail Batsh*t Crazaa

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Anthony

You know…all during all this time that I’ve been offline for various reasons these past few weeks, so much have happened that I wold have loved to post about here, but simply couldn’t.

Everything from Boss Limbaugh’s flameout after being stoned from purchasing the St. Louis Rams, to the twists and turns of the Heath Care Reform debate, to our two Louisiana US Senators, Landrieu and Vitter, showing different ways to show off their asses and deflect my home state’s already tepid image (with great help from that Hammond/Tangipahoa Parish Justice of the Peace who managed to avoid the passing of the 20th Century regarding the right of marriage).

More than likely, I will get to those stories….but just now I just discovered something so freakin’ stunning that it absolutely had to jump to the front of the queue.

There is actually someone who is more batshitty and wingnutty than Michelle Bachmann.

Her name: Shelley Lubben.

In fact, you could probably say that these two were seperated at birth, if you weren’t too careful, because they share the same loony gene.

Everyone here knows fully well about the Congresswoman from Minnesota and her history….and most of you by now also know about the former porn starlet turned born-again “ex-slut/ex-porn” minister who is now deeply involved with the efforts to censor the porn industry in LA. Lubben has been one of the major screech hounds in reaction to the most recent July HIV porn “outbreak:, where one performer was found to have tested HIV-positive; joining AIDS activist Micheel Weinstein in calling for federal intervention to force mandatory use of condoms in porn films as a means of “protecting” the talent….the talent’s own beliefs be damned.

Mostly, though, Shelley Lubben has been basically applying all the subtlety and zealotry of the “ex-gay” ministries and their approach to homosexuals to leave their evil “deathstyle” to the performers of porn….warning them of all the evil bad nasty dirty things that happen to porn stars as compared to those who follow her lead and find “the light of Christ” through her Pink Cross ministry.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), Ms. Lubben, in her zeal to support her agenda and speread her ministry to the unwashed heathen porn sluts, is looking more and more like she has swallowed just a bit too much of the lunacy root.

Take, for instance, her most recent joint presser in LA this past month with the aformentioned Weinstein, where the two announced a joint action lawsuit against some major porn companies (including Vivid, HUSTLER, and the like) seeking to force them to shoot exclusively condom only porn scenes. Ostensively, the goal is to protect the “girls” in the industry; but apparently, Lubben seems to have a low opinion of the very people whom she wants to “save”.(from here, via here and here)

Lubben says that consumers should be aware that porn stars are diseased.

“We want the fans to know what they’re contributing to,” Lubben told the LA Times. “They’re demanding harder and grosser porn. We want to educate them to exactly what they’re watching — diseased people [emphasis added]. It’s illegal for bodily fluids to touch skin, and yet it happens every single day in the porn industry.”

Let’s forget about that “illegal for bodily fluids to touch people” smack, which would if fully enforced fill the LA County Jails with plenty of janitors, sewer workers, sanitation workers, and the like; and cut right to the “diseased people” remark. Really, Shelley…is that any way to sell your cause to people who want to join your ministry??

Especially since Lubben is so fond of ministering her faith to the industry that she and her Pink Cross ministry makes it a point to appear at every single XXX convention to promote themselves as former porn starlets?? Apparently, porn starlets aren’t too “diseased” that Lubben can’t exploit their conventions to preach her special ministry.

Now, porn starlets like Vicky Vette, Nina Hartley, Kayden Kross, and a few others have risen up both to defend their profession and the performer’s rights of self-autonomy, and to correct the record on HIV/STI use and abuse within porn, and to challenge the position that porn starlets are mindless drones and “cumdumpsters” who need the power of the state to think for them. Needless to say, that hasn’t stopped Lubben from her stated goals….not in the least.

Which brings us to some of her latest antics…as in this video where she and one of her associates attempts to browbeat and harrass Vivid CEO Steve Hirsch, which Lubben claims to be one of the main “porn overlords” and abusers of women, during the recent Adultcon convention in LA last October….never mind that Vivid was in fact condom only until last year and that their content tends to go more towards a couples- and women-based audience. T

This is what she posted to her Pink Cross blog:

October 2, 3, 4 – The Pink Cross hits AdultCon, ANOTHER porn convention in the city of Los Angeles. Back to back conventions, you ask? That’s right. Pink Cross will stop at nothing to reach out to porn stars, porn addicts and expose the truth about porn.

The team again goes all out to educate porn fans and adult workers on the truth behind the lie of porn offering love and hope at the same time, Shelley is interviewed by ABC on the convention floor, prays healing over porn stars and porn addicts, and interrupts an interview between Lisa Ling, special correspondent for the Oprah Winfrey Show, and Steve Hirsch, CEO of Vivid Entertainment, the world’s largest porn company, in which she challenges Steve to a public debate.

Forbes.com deems Steve Hirsh the “Porn King” but is Steve Hirsch as powerful and credible as the world perceives? We’ll let you decide.

And here is the clip (divided in two parts) showing “the team” (i.e., Lubben and her associate) attempting their FOX-style ambush of Hirsch:

Ex-porn starlet turned fundie antiporn activist Shelley Lubben and “friend” attempting to “ambush” VIVID.com exec Steve Hirsch (from PinkCross.org, via YouTube; h/t to Cindi Lofus over at LukeIsBack.com)
Yup….really classy there, Shelley.

Now, there is some real debate within the industry itself over how to treat Shelley Lubben’s ministry….basically, there are those — even active porn performers – who say that she should at least be respected for revealing the darker side of porn performing and giving those not fortunate enough to avoid the setbacks a vehicle to get out and start afresh….and then there are those who say that she and Pink Cross are nothing more than leeches and fundamentalists who use porn as a vehicle to destroy the lives of others and should get no support for her campaign of destruction.

If Lubben actually showed some class and respect for those who disagree with her, it would be an easier choice.

Problem is, she is so much of a publicity whore and a zealot for her cause that she tends to simply allow her zealotry to overwhelm her…which is why she responded so abruptly and so quickly when the porn blog LukeIsBack.com decided to reveal her antics at Adultcon with the heading “SHELLEY LUBBEN HAS LOST HER MIND!!…”

The result was this quite entertaining and, dare I say, thought provoking exchange in the ensuing comments section, where Shelley (“slubben”) responds back in style.

Kelli Says:

This is supposed to be funny? All I notice is someone with a total and complete lack of manners stalking industry insiders to try and gain fame and publicity.

I think she has the right to her beliefs but if what she really wanted was to “do the right thing” then there are clearly much better ways to go about it than what she is doing. Rudely interrupting an interview, and following people around the convention floor and flat out stalking them really shows her true colors.(October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 1:47 p)

slubben Says:

I think it’s rude you exploit women with known drug and alcohol problems. I clicked on your site to see some of your slaves at kelli.net and saw at least five well known porn stars with serious drug and alcohol addictions.
Most of us know which ones I’m talking about.
As far as manners, are you kidding me? You’re the one promoting white house sluts.

Enough you hypocrite! October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 2:10 p

Allow me to intervene here….this is a classic and all too typical tactic of Shelley when confronted with performers who don’t quite agree with her or do not march gleefully in the Godly-centered path she lays out for them; she attacks them for “exploiting women” and then hints at threats to out certain performers for their “serious alcohol or drug problems.” As for “white house sluts”…well, I’ll just leave that to her imagination.

Other commentators get into the act:

Third Axis Says:

Shelley, you’re not funny, you’re not clever, and you’re certainly not original. Yours is a tired, worn-out schtick that goes back to Carrie Nation and other such Christian social-dogmatists.

Religion is not now, nor has it ever been, an “answer” to anything. It’s just a great way to make a buck and fulfill a desperate need for attention. Your public antics make you look and sound ridiculous. Leave this kind of act to Michael Moore; he’s much better at it.(October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 3:06 p)

And then it starts getting into the bizarre:

slubben Says:

Anybody want to debate? (October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 3:33 p)

sammyglick Says:

Huh? Did I miss something????

First of all, what was the point of the two videos? So you interrupted an interview between Steve Hirsch and lightweight journalist Lisa Ling. You could have at least made THAT interesting — yet you backed down and agreed to nothing, when you could have at least gotten Hirsch on camera with Lisa Ling looking like an idiot (if you’d gotten the cameras to capture your point of view and his efforts to sneak out on an honest debate).

Yet you didn’t and you then just follow him around like a lost groupie. Again, coming off as foolish at best and dumb at worst. Sure, you got him looking just as dumb, but at least he managed to outwit you by sneaking off somewhere. Subsequently, you make yourself look like a total loon/nitwit, what with asking just about everyone and the janitor where ‘Steve Hirsch’ is.

Or more to the point, you could have asked the SAME people if they knew where Alex Rodriguez, Tim Geithner or Carrie Prejean was and you’d gotten the SAME BLANK LOOKS!!!!!

You failed to make any valid or significant points for your arguments with this trite and more often than not, flat out stupid video.

Why not truly stand up for your convictions and oh I dunno…hang out at the Vivid booth all day patiently waiting for Steve to come debate you? You wouldn’t even need to be a pest — you could just stand PATIENTLY by the side and/or nearby and just wait. That’s it — just document waiting for him to show up and when he doesn’t, you’ve proved your point (however thin it might be). Or even better, you could have gotten Steve while speaking to Lisa Ling, to agree in principle to debate you (either with Lisa asking the questions, or at his convention booth, or at his offices) and again…when he weaseled out, then post the results.

Heck, you didn’t even go after Lisa Ling to see if she would consider adding you and your viewpoints to her segment. If she turned you down, then you’d have another piece of ‘evidence’ I suppose, showing the media ignoring your viewpoints on porn (although you’d have a hard time really proving this, considering all of the anti-porn hatchet pieces the major broadcast networks have produced over the years — the biggest being when Diane Sawyer got Belladonna to ‘cry’ on camera and nearly denounce her porn career).

In fact, Nightline has done two pieces I believe on an anti-porn ministry that recently moved their church to Las Vegas. So you’d probably have no problem getting the support of Lisa Ling; if only because she could become the next journalist to boost their career, taking un-factual potshots at Porn Valley. Yet from what I can tell, you didn’t even think to go follow her or her segment producers around the convention floor to tell ‘your side’ of the adult industry.

The point being is that your lame attempt at humor TOTALLY backfired. Your efforts to promote your cause just laid a giant goose egg.(October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 3:34 p)

<!–

–>

sammyglick Says:

Slubben – I clicked on your site to see some of your slaves at kelli.net and saw at least five well known porn stars with serious drug and alcohol addictions.
Most of us know which ones I’m talking about.

Come’on, don’t leave us in the cheap seats hanging! What is this, a Page Six blind item?! Names sergeant, names!!!!! (October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 3:45 p)

slubben Says:

Whoever you are who puts down everybody from Sasha Grey to Ron Jeremy on this board, please help me find SOMEONE in the porn industry who has some brains and a promising pair of “cojones” to debate me publicly.

I tire of these amateur comments made by anonymous weaklings who hide behind their computers. Come out publicly cowards and debate me!! (October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 4:27 p)

Now that’s funny…..someone who wants to convert every single porn starlet to Christianity and who demeans their lifestyle and professon as “diseased” attempts to use the names of Sasha Grey and Ron Jeremy to defend herself…and then calls for a “debate”??? Gee, Shelley…what’s wrong, I thought that you could handle opponents of lesser lights??

But even that’s not good enough for Lubben…as we see later on in the exchange:

sammyglick Says:

I hate to say one is a moron, but you really are one Mr. General.

I’m not so sure about how much attention Ms. Lubben is drawing to her cause here on LIB — but it sure isn’t much if I had to simply go off of views on YouTube. Just a casual look tells me she’s not getting much attention, as a tribute video of ‘Classic Era’ porn stars, gets more views by a factor of three than most anything she’s done (except for her appearance on The 700 Club…and I dare say, the traffic to that video in particular, came from those who watch said show).

Or put another way, the video of a cute little kid talking about kittens is close to six million views. Ms. Lubben could only DREAM of getting that kind of exposure.

Secondly, I seriously doubt ANYONE who post regularly on LIB (or even reads the site and just lurks) is going to give a dime to Ms. Lubben. Yet you can theorize all day that somehow, the simple act of the regular LIB Peanut Gallery is going to send hundreds of thousands of dollars her way.

Or put another way, when I go home and watch the local and national news, there won’t be ONE MENTION today of her ‘Stalking Hirsch’ video…nor will there be any mention of her subsequent actions to show porn talent ‘the religious light’ tomorrow…next week…next month…next year (unless she actually becomes oh I dunno, media savvy and learns it’s pointless to harass Hirsch and then post idiotic videos of her lame stalking tactics…instead, she use some common sense and calls established media outlets and harass THEM until they give her some free airtime).

Third, I don’t personally despise Ms. Lubben. Those are YOUR words (and perhaps, a Freudian Slip on your part?). Rather, I would prefer not to have my time wasted with nonsense cultivated in fantasyland. It would have been one thing if her two videos, totaling nearly 20 minutes, actually had a point. They don’t. While her ministry might very well be valid and a good thing for a certain segment of the adult industry, she’s a poor spokesperson for it as she fails to grasp even the simplest concepts of the current media culture.

Or put another way, she’s about as clever as the family who thought they could get a Reality TV show if they faked their six year old son being in somesort of immediate jeopardy.

October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 4:59 p

slubben Says:

Enough nonsense. I challenge Sharon Mitchell, Nina Hartley, Ernest Greene, Steve Hirsch and Larry Flynt to a debate tomorrow night, Wednesday October 21, at the Downtown Los Angeles Marriott Hotel at 10 pm in the lobby.

333 Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071 in case you don’t know how to google it.

Whoever doesn’t show up mentioned in the list above, their names will be sent out to every Los Angeles media contact I have named as a “coward”.

Be there. October 20th, 2009 (2 days ago) at 5:42 p

WHOA!!!!! STOP. RIGHT. THERE.

So, Shelley Lubben thinks that by her very prestige as a former porn starlet from 10 15 years ago who has done exactly 17 videos and maybe 3 pictorals or so, and whom has been out of the business for nearly 10 years, she still can challenge the long time CEO of Hustler Magazine, a 25 year legend and sex activist and prominent feminist, and a man who was a professional radio talk show host as well as a prominent health activist on his own right (AND Mr. Hirsch, too) to a debate on 24 hour notice??? Yeah, I’m really sure that Nina, Ernest, Mr. Flynt, and Sharon Mitchell are more than willing to drop their personal business to meet her in the back alleyways and debate the finer points of porn protection.

Memo to Ms. Lubben: If you can’t handle the likes of Vicky Vette or Kayden Kross or Lisa Ann, who by themselves would intellectually kick your ass the way the New Orleans Saints offense drove through the New York Giant defense last Sunday, how in the hell do you think that you can outlast Nina freakin’ Hartley?? Hell, I’d put Renegade Evolution up against you in a debate, and she’d rip your arguments from pillar to post. You can’t fight bazookas with pea shooters, you know.

Oh…and perhaps you might want to retract that “coward” remark, since I haven’t seen you do any public debating with any of those esteemed opponents as of late..even when they have openly challenged for a fair and open debate.

See the resembulance with Bachmann Overdrive, Clones??

At least one of the LIB regulars sees the lunacy and is willing to call her out on it.
<!–

–>

The President Says:

—–I
challenge Sharon Mitchell, Nina Hartley, Ernest Greene, Steve Hirsch
and Larry Flynt to a debate tomorrow night, Wednesday October 21, at
the Downtown Los Angeles Marriott Hotel at 10 pm in the lobby.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

—–Whoever
doesn’t show up mentioned in the list above, their names will be sent
out to every Los Angeles media contact I have named as a “coward”.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Nobody
is going to debate you because you aren’t worth it, lady. This is where
you belong, right here on the cheap blogs where nothing really matters
and we’re all just here for entertainment’s sake. In related nutjob
news, I don’t think President Obama will be inviting Fred Phelps to the
White House for any faith sessions either. As far as reaping attention
and donations goes, I think that’s fantastic. The more you can get
religious zealot hypocrites to dispose of their money on causes that
never achieve anything, the better. Keep on throwing donations down
that black hole and wondering when porn is really “coming down.” Any
day now….;) Yesterday at 12:10 p

Only disagreement I have with that sentiment is that I think that
nutjobs like Shelley Lubben should be taken very seriously, because she
offers a semiprogressive patina to a movement that would basically
cause significant damage to real people’s lives….as much if not more
damage as the drugs and alcohol abuse and the abuse of power and lives
that she believes to be intristic to the porn industry. It is up to
those who know the truth and aren’t afraid to acknowledge the good and
the bad to expose her nonsense and demystify her babblings for the
mountain of crap that it is.

Red Garter Club Blog (Version 3.2)

A slightly irreverent journal view of the world from the eyes of a Black, middle-aged, sex-positive Leftist. (Part of the Red Garter Club Network)

Tag Archives: HIV Porn Scare

When The Expose Boomerangs On The Exposee: Cameron Rowe's Hackery On The "Porn Industry" (Part Five — The CalOSHA Pathogen Standards Lesson)

When The Expose Boomerangs On The Exposee: Cameron Rowe's Hackery Of The "Porn Industry" (Part Three – The High-Tech Lynching Of Sharon Mitchell)

Mark Kernes Cuts The Condom Debate Down To Resonable Size, And Cuts Through AHF/Lubben BS Like A Knife Through Hot Butter

MENTAL FLOSS: The Anti-Porn Condom Crap Never Stops

Shelley Lubben = (Michelle Bachmann + Artificial Rack – Courage Of Convictions) * BS ^ Infinity

Another Day, Another HIV Porn Scare Overhyped…And Shelley Lubben Goes Whack Again, But Gets Exposed For The Fraud She Is

Shelley Lubben: The Michelle Bachmann Of Ex-Slut Ministers…And Completely Off The Rail Batsh*t Crazaa

May 2012
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