LOS ANGELES, Oct. 07, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a rare show of unanimity, each of California’s seven largest newspapers have issued editorials condemning Proposition 60, says the Free Speech Coalition. The state’s largest papers have all recommended readers vote NO on the controversial initiative that would allow any resident to sue adult performers if a condom isn’t visible in an adult film.
The Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the Orange County Register, the East Bay Times, the Sacramento Bee and the San Diego Union Tribune have all opposed the measure, which would give one man — Prop 60 proponent and sole funder Michael Weinstein — the almost unlimited ability to sue and harass workers in the adult industry, even over the objections of the state government.
The state Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties have all opposed the measure, as have dozens of smaller local parties, LGBT and civil rights organizations, HIV/AIDS and public health organizations, and many smaller newspapers, including the Ventura County Star, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the LA Daily News, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Monterey County Herald, the Fresno Bee, the Modesto Bee, the Riverside Press Enterprise and others.
The Los Angeles Times says the “heavy-handed Proposition 60 would deputize every Californian as a condom cop … an extreme approach — and demonstrably counterproductive.”
The Orange County Register says Prop 60 “could be exploited by people trying to damage a controversial business or earn a cut of a resulting fine.”
The Sacramento Bee says Prop 60 could create “an all-out war, in the courts and by the state, ... which could just drive performers further underground and make them less safe.”
The San Francisco Chronicle says Prop 60’s condom requirement “doesn’t make sense” and “invites legal bounty hunting. Also performers, who often use screen names, could have their identities and addresses made public, a feature that invades privacy and could lead to harm from porn-addled stalkers.”
The San Diego Union Tribune calls Prop 60 “excessive,” noting that the measure “is facing broad opposition, including the state Democratic and Republican parties, AIDS Project Los Angeles and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.”
The East Bay Times says “Proposition 60 is one of those measures that might seem like a good idea until you actually read it .. what we really have here is the daft idea of giving a California porn czar the power to override the state attorney general.”
And the Mercury News notes “State and federal laws already protect adult performers, who are routinely tested for sexually transmitted diseases … this measure could undermine ongoing efforts by the California Division of Occupational Health and Safety (Cal-OSHA) to improve regulation of the industry.”
Eric Paul Leue, campaign manager for No on 60, Californians Against Worker Harassment, says the initiative is a threat to the health and safety of performers:
“Prop 60 has been opposed by every major paper that has looked at it, and by nearly every political organization in the state. Most tellingly, it is opposed by the performers themselves.
"Just about the only person supporting it is Michael Weinstein, the proponent and sole funder of the initiative, who has created a measure that would allow him to go after adult performers unimpeded, against the will of legislators or state health departments, and funded with state resources. This is a power grab which will disenfranchise and hurt adult workers in the pursuit of one man’s misguided moral crusade.”
Proposition 60 has been opposed by the California Democratic Party, the California Republican Party, the California Libertarian Party, San Francisco Medical Society, Equality California, SF AIDS Foundation, AIDS Project LA, the LA LGBT Center, the Harvey Milk Democratic Club, Sen. Mark Leno, and the performer group APAC (the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee), and many, many others.
ABOUT FSC
The Free Speech Coalition is the national trade association for the adult entertainment and pleasure products industries. Its mission is to lead, protect and support the diverse adult entertainment community.