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gcarter
12-15-2010, 04:14 PM
Really?
Do ya wanna?
Are ya sure?


Derrick Burts, 24, started working as a porn-film actor in June. By October, he'd contracted the HIV virus. The AP story on Burts contained this jaw-dropping sentence: “He said he began to have doubts about the business after contracting chlamydia, gonorrhea, and herpes in his first month of work, but was convinced to keep working.”

Burts claimed "I wasn't stupid or oblivious, I knew what was out there. But it's not something you think about when they fill your head" with lucrative offers and promises that the work is safe. Lured into the porn world with the promise that he looked like money, Burts concluded his greed was unwise: "Making $10,000 or $15,000 for porn isn't worth your life."

http://www.newsbusters.org/sites/all/modules/ckeditor/ckeditor/images/spacer.gif?t=A5AB4B6Michael Weinstein, head of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, took up the Burts case. While he insisted his group isn't anti-porn, “we are astounded that the multi-billion-dollar film industry and its fig leaf of a clinic could not even get it together six weeks after his first HIV-positive test to link [Burts] to appropriate follow-up medical care."

Lawyers for the porn industry's clinic, the Adult Industry Medical Health Foundation, which performed the HIV test on Burts, insisted any claim he was not properly treated is “not truthful and self-serving.” But the California Department of Public Health just denied its application to operate. Once again, the porn industry looks shady.

Burts says the clinic told him he contracted the HIV virus at a gay porn shoot in Florida, but the clinic told the press that he must have become infected in his personal life. Translation: Who are you going to trust, a porn star? Or the porn industry? This evolving story comes six years after up to 14 porn actors tested HIV-positive, forcing several porn companies to close.

Porn moguls obviously want the "talent" to feel safe, but they don't want to film scenes with condoms – for monetary reasons. The pornographers at Vivid Entertainment said when they became a mandatory-condom company for nearly seven years, they saw their sales drop nearly 20 percent.

Pornography isn't just unhealthy for our culture; it's unhealthy for the “talent” that stars in these films, with the endless carousel of sex partners. It should be only a matter of time before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (or their California equivalent) starts investigating – unless, of course, government officials are too afraid of appearing like squelchers of a Howard Stern version of “freedom of speech.”

It's ironic that our news media are such evangelists for "safe sex" with condoms, and very critical of anyone who's anti-condom as a menace to society, but they haven't forced that Latex gospel on the porn industry, despite the obvious threat of fatal sexually-transmitted diseases between strangers on the set.

Then there's the gay-porn industry – which as a rule requires condoms in films, but doesn't even HIV-test their stars. Without much irony, Jay Barmann of the San Francisco blog SFist reported “The HIV status of gay porn performers is a particular taboo subject, with a kind of don't-ask-don't-tell attitude proliferating in the industry, which mostly tries to keep performers safe by requiring condom use and which fears bad publicity from performers revealing their statuses.”

In response to this environment, the porn company Treasure Island Media recently took the shocking step of promoting a gay couple with one HIV-negative and one HIV-positive partner having “unprotected” sex as "role models." Paul Morris, the company’s owner, spoke of demolishing "the HIV-positive closet" and pledged "We will not allow reactionary individuals and organizations to dictate our behavior.” HIV and AIDS are “more or less manageable,” he said. “The real battle is against prejudice, ignorance and unfounded and useless fear.”

Barmann, no anti-porn “prude,” was shocked for the public health and for the rights of actors. “Say what he will about battling prejudice and fear, Morris stands to benefit financially from the unprotected sex his performers agree to have, and he is nonetheless an employer who knowingly puts his workers in harm's way.”

Our media just found it wildly controversial that the Pope might hypothetically suggest a male prostitute using a condom may be trying to show a health concern for others. But somehow, there is no controversy or debate when secular sexual progressives fail to crusade against pornographers on something so contrary to their own condom-promoting “safe sex” philosophy. The old AIDS slogan was “Silence equals death.” Who will speak out before the next greedy Derrick Burts gets infected?

Just how stupid are the Derricks of this world to get involved in death-trap industries like this?

z33donzi
12-15-2010, 06:07 PM
really?
Do ya wanna?
Are ya sure?


Derrick burts, 24, started working as a porn-film actor in june. By october, he'd contracted the hiv virus. The ap story on burts contained this jaw-dropping sentence: “he said he began to have doubts about the business after contracting chlamydia, gonorrhea, and herpes in his first month of work, but was convinced to keep working.”

burts claimed "i wasn't stupid or oblivious, i knew what was out there. But it's not something you think about when they fill your head" with lucrative offers and promises that the work is safe. Lured into the porn world with the promise that he looked like money, burts concluded his greed was unwise: "making $10,000 or $15,000 for porn isn't worth your life."

http://www.newsbusters.org/sites/all/modules/ckeditor/ckeditor/images/spacer.gif?t=a5ab4b6michael weinstein, head of the aids healthcare foundation, took up the burts case. While he insisted his group isn't anti-porn, “we are astounded that the multi-billion-dollar film industry and its fig leaf of a clinic could not even get it together six weeks after his first hiv-positive test to link [burts] to appropriate follow-up medical care."

lawyers for the porn industry's clinic, the adult industry medical health foundation, which performed the hiv test on burts, insisted any claim he was not properly treated is “not truthful and self-serving.” but the california department of public health just denied its application to operate. Once again, the porn industry looks shady.

Burts says the clinic told him he contracted the hiv virus at a gay porn shoot in florida, but the clinic told the press that he must have become infected in his personal life. Translation: Who are you going to trust, a porn star? Or the porn industry? This evolving story comes six years after up to 14 porn actors tested hiv-positive, forcing several porn companies to close.

Porn moguls obviously want the "talent" to feel safe, but they don't want to film scenes with condoms – for monetary reasons. The pornographers at vivid entertainment said when they became a mandatory-condom company for nearly seven years, they saw their sales drop nearly 20 percent.

Pornography isn't just unhealthy for our culture; it's unhealthy for the “talent” that stars in these films, with the endless carousel of sex partners. It should be only a matter of time before the occupational safety and health administration (or their california equivalent) starts investigating – unless, of course, government officials are too afraid of appearing like squelchers of a howard stern version of “freedom of speech.”

it's ironic that our news media are such evangelists for "safe sex" with condoms, and very critical of anyone who's anti-condom as a menace to society, but they haven't forced that latex gospel on the porn industry, despite the obvious threat of fatal sexually-transmitted diseases between strangers on the set.

Then there's the gay-porn industry – which as a rule requires condoms in films, but doesn't even hiv-test their stars. Without much irony, jay barmann of the san francisco blog sfist reported “the hiv status of gay porn performers is a particular taboo subject, with a kind of don't-ask-don't-tell attitude proliferating in the industry, which mostly tries to keep performers safe by requiring condom use and which fears bad publicity from performers revealing their statuses.”

in response to this environment, the porn company treasure island media recently took the shocking step of promoting a gay couple with one hiv-negative and one hiv-positive partner having “unprotected” sex as "role models." paul morris, the company’s owner, spoke of demolishing "the hiv-positive closet" and pledged "we will not allow reactionary individuals and organizations to dictate our behavior.” hiv and aids are “more or less manageable,” he said. “the real battle is against prejudice, ignorance and unfounded and useless fear.”

barmann, no anti-porn “prude,” was shocked for the public health and for the rights of actors. “say what he will about battling prejudice and fear, morris stands to benefit financially from the unprotected sex his performers agree to have, and he is nonetheless an employer who knowingly puts his workers in harm's way.”

our media just found it wildly controversial that the pope might hypothetically suggest a male prostitute using a condom may be trying to show a health concern for others. But somehow, there is no controversy or debate when secular sexual progressives fail to crusade against pornographers on something so contrary to their own condom-promoting “safe sex” philosophy. The old aids slogan was “silence equals death.” who will speak out before the next greedy derrick burts gets infected?

Just how stupid are the derricks of this world to get involved in death-trap industries like this?
sorry bout his luck nah not really :}

Sweet little 16
12-15-2010, 06:43 PM
like the old saying it's a case of ballz and brains, and he had too much of one and not enough of the other LOL

The Hedgehog
12-21-2010, 12:31 AM
Yeah, It is a big problem in the industry. I can't stress enough how important it is to properly screen your co-stars. It is a very hard industry:shocking:

hardcrab
12-21-2010, 01:44 PM
It is a very hard industry:shocking:


BWA HAHAHAHAHA ! :eek:

gcarter
12-21-2010, 02:49 PM
Yeah, It is a big problem in the industry. I can't stress enough how important it is to properly screen your co-stars. It is a very hard industry:shocking:

LOL!
I think I'd rather jump school buses on a motor cycle.
I think my odds would be better.
Or maybe sky diving w/a 500' release.

Ghost
12-21-2010, 03:26 PM
LOL!
I think I'd rather jump school buses on a motor cycle.
I think my odds would be better.
Or maybe sky diving w/a 500' release.

LOL, I think those choices all depend on your time horizon.

Marlin275
12-21-2010, 03:56 PM
After you read this

you will see

this is no glamor profession!





HIV Positive Porn Star Derrick Burts: Gay For Pay

The straight man who sparked porn’s HIV panic did gay scenes and had a male-escort ad. Richard Abowitz on how money woes are forcing guys to go “gay for pay”—and putting actors at risk.

Derrick Burts, a baby-faced 24 year old from suburban Los Angeles, had barely begun his porn career when he got the devastating news: The routine HIV test he’d taken at the Adult Industry Medical clinic (AIM), had come back positive.

Derrick Burts, 24, the actor whose HIV positive test sparked a temporary shutdown of the US porn filmmaking industry, in his first public comments in Hollywood, Dec. 8, 2010. (Gabriel Bouys, AFP / Getty Images)

That was two months ago. Per industry protocol, AIM immediately notified the porn community that an infected performer was working in their midst, and the bombshell announcement temporarily brought the mainstream porn industry to a virtual standstill. Burts remained anonymous until earlier this week when he announced at a press conference that he was the so-called Patient Zeta at the center of the lurid guessing game.

But that didn’t put the matter to rest. The new question became: How did Derrick Burts, who says that outside of work his only sex partner was his girlfriend, get infected? The answer to that question may reveal some hard truths about the porn industry. Burts’ girlfriend tested negative. And no HIV-positive performer has stepped forward to admit to working with Burts.

When it comes to working in a sex industry, however, “straight” is a flexible term. Like many male porn actors, Burts sometimes went “gay for pay,” performing in both straight porn with women under the name Cameron Reid, and gay porn with other men under the name Derek Chambers. The reason for two distinct names is that in the porn industry, doing both gay and straight porn—called “crossing over”—is both relatively common and also fairly taboo. Many female performers believe that the risk of contracting HIV during a scene is vastly increased if their male partner participates in gay porn. In October, when the alarm bells were first sounded about the still anonymous Patient Zeta, porn star Courtney Cummz told The Daily Beast she was “terrified” by stars who cross over, and thought the Occupational Safety and Health Administration should step in to prevent it.

“You hear rumors about straight performers all the time. Male performers do things in their private life and you just don’t know it.”

"It comes down to safety,” she said. “I think OSHA needs to come in and they need to seriously regulate this, because every time [someone tests positive for HIV] it’s because a performer is going to the same-sex side. I am not attacking the gay industry, because I like to watch gay porn myself. But I will not work with an individual that does gay porn." Another female porn star interviewed this week agreed, saying she worries so much about men who cross over that she watches “a lot” of gay porn simply so she can recognize who does it and avoid working with them. (She said that, because of the different names they use, she uses their tattoos to help her keep track.)

For all the legitimate worry, outbreaks in mainstream straight porn remain surprisingly rare, especially considering the volume of content shot and high-risk behavior filmed. Last year a performer turned up positive, sparking a panic, but no one who worked with her was discovered to be infected. According to porn insiders, the last known outbreak where a positive performer is known to have infected others was in 2004.

Still, the fear keeps everyone on edge, and while Cummz and other female performers insist they’re not anti-gay, the topic remains a hot potato in the tiny community, where being closed-minded about sexuality makes you a heretic. Few are willing to go on the record about their concerns with crossing over. But statistically, their worries are valid. For one thing, according to a recent study by the CDC, men who have sex with men are 44 times more likely to contract HIV than men who don’t. But perhaps the larger perceived problem is that HIV testing standards are completely different in gay porn than they are in straight porn. While most of the straight porn industry mandates a monthly HIV testing regimen, a significant portion of the gay porn world uses condoms—yet doesn’t require its performers to get tested.

“In the business, the last thing you want to do is insult either side,” says porn star Raylene, who happened to be on set with Cummz yesterday. Raylene was explaining why, for all her intensity in October, Cummz now no longer wanted to discuss her views on crossover performers. For that same reason, Mark Spiegler, the industry’s top female talent agent (he represents big draws like Belladonna, Kimberly Kane, and Kristina Rose) declined to make any of his clients available for this story. But Spiegler freely admitted that he would not allow any of them to work with a recent crossover. “I keep track of guys currently doing gay porn. In the gay industry you have to assume a lot of them are positive when the HIV policy is don’t-ask-don’t-tell. So I won’t let anyone work with Spiegler Girls who did gay porn in the last three months.” But he’s careful to add, “I have no problem with people having done gay porn. It is just a safety issue. A lot of guys, not that they will tell you, start out in gay porn and then they transition into straight porn. I am fine with that.”

Spiegler estimates that 15 to 20 percent of straight male performers have done at least one gay film. Porn star Christian XXX thinks the percentage is probably much higher. One of the few performers who will talk openly about working on both sides of the industry, Christian got his start in gay porn under the name Maxx Diesel and still performs occasionally with transsexuals. As for the two performer names, he admits: “To be honest I did not plan to be open about it. I wanted to work in straight porn. I didn’t want people to not hire me because of the stigma of gay porn.” But his distinctive look resulted in his name change, fooling no one. “I’m an anomaly. No one else is going to come forward because of the stigma. More women refuse to work with me than any other guy in the industry. It isn’t personal and it is not homophobia; it’s ignorance. It is the stigma of gay porn. I am attacked every day by somebody.”

Given the stats on HIV and gay men, and the disparate testing standards between the two industries, how could it be ignorance to want to avoid men who cross over? The answer, says Christian XXX, lies in the private lives of male porn stars. “To be in straight porn you have to be a little perverted, a little kinky—you can’t be a normal dude,” he says. “The business attracts guys who get turned on by things that are outside the norm. I would say 75 percent of guys in the straight porn business have either done gay porn, done a guy off camera, or done a she-male.” In other words, just because a straight porn actor hasn’t done gay porn doesn’t mean he isn’t having sex with men. He may have even gone gay-for-pay off-camera—working as an escort to avoid being seen in gay porn. Christian points out one of the industry’s dirty little secrets: the growing number of straight male porn stars who work as prostitutes for men on the side. “I am not going to out anybody,” he says, “but I could name a lot of straight male porn stars who escort, and some pretty big names.”

Is that how Burts got infected? He says that outside of work he only had sex with his girlfriend, but then admitted to the Los Angelses Times that he had an advertisement on a popular male escort website. (He claimed he never actually took any appointments.) But the AIM clinic, where Burts was tested, contradicted his story, telling the Times that “Burts must have contracted HIV in his personal sex life.”

Escorting—for both male and female porn stars—has become an increasingly important part of earning a living for performers. The recession and the rise of free Internet porn has dealt a one-two punch to the for-profit porn industry. Women can earn more working as an escort than they can for shooting a scene, and sometimes do the movies simply to build their personal brand so they can charge more as prostitutes. But when straight male porn stars escort for men, it’s just the opposite: They try to keep it quiet. Says Raylene: “You hear rumors about straight performers all the time. Male performers do things in their private life and you just don’t know it.”

Christian XXX, puts it this way: “No one, male or female, is getting out of porn and going back to flipping burgers. They are going to attempt to continue making money within the porn industry. Scenes, webcam, websites, and definitely escorting fits that bill.”

Ultimately, Christian XXX argues performers have to be responsible for their own safety. The sentiment is echoed by Raylene. Among those she works with regularly is at least one current crossover. “But I know about it,” she says. “And I know he gets tested and he safely does the gay porn. If you’re honest with me and I know what you are doing and you’re tested, I am going to work with you. You have to be responsible. But there is always risk and you always worry. That’s why we’re paid the big bucks for this work.”

Richard Abowitz has chronicled the rise and continuing fall of Las Vegas for over a decade. He is the author of hundreds of articles for Las Vegas Weekly. Abowitz is perhaps best known for writing the Movable Buffet blog and continuing print column for Los Angeles Times. In addition to covering Vegas, Abowitz has been writing about music and culture for Rolling Stone since 1996. In December 2009, Abowitz launched GoldPlatedDoor.com to be an honest broker reporting on all things Vegas.

Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-10/hiv-positive-porn-star-derrick-burts-gay-for-pay/full/

gcarter
12-21-2010, 06:12 PM
This stuff just gets sicker and sicker.
I'm so very glad I'm straight and have no need for this crap!:nilly:
It's just stupid dangerous!


I've thought of a couple of other, maybe safer things;

Trying out for the world record for free diving....maybe 500' deep?
Taking small amounts of arsinic to try to build up some resistance to it.
Hey, I'm 66. You can only live so long, I'd just rather do it disease free!:)

The Hedgehog
12-22-2010, 09:19 AM
Ok, the gay porn thing was way out of line and I will admit that I get a little freaked out when someone breaks out a Shetland Pony.

I am not sure what all of the hate is about. Sure some stars have made some bad decisions but I won't let a few bad apples spoil it for the rest. Porn is a beautiful industry. No other industry allows artists to express themselves that way. There is nothing wrong with a couple (or maybe even several) consenting adults showing everyone how much they care about each other. It really is beautiful. I remember the first time I saw "Screech does the Dirty Sanchez in Saved by the Smell." I cried for a day. And don't even get me started on some of the classics featuring Ron Jeremy or Mandingo.:eek::nilly:

Ghost
12-22-2010, 09:49 AM
I love movie/TV-based titles like that, real or made up. "Pile Driving Miss Daisy" is probably my favorite.

Marlin275
12-22-2010, 10:08 AM
I am not sure what all of the hate is about.

The Golden Age is gone . . . this is no glamor profession!

Holmes ventured into crime, selling drugs for gangs, prostituting himself to both men and women,
and committing credit card fraud and petty theft, he died of AIDS.

The Hedgehog
12-22-2010, 11:43 AM
The Golden Age is gone . . . this is no glamor profession!

Holmes ventured into crime, selling drugs for gangs, prostituting himself to both men and women,
and committing credit card fraud and petty theft, he died of AIDS.

Yes, some folks have a problem with money and fame. Take Charlie Sheen for example. All sorts of problems there. On the other hand, some of the other actors have really done some good things with their money. No, big Johnny Wadd did not do so well. Ron Jeremy, conversely, is quite the enterprising fellow. A real gentleman and scholar that pays taxes and contributes a lot to society. He has really done well for himself.

We need some more great porn themes. I really liked that Pyle Driving Miss Daisey theme. I may just know of one or two more.:kingme:

Marlin275
12-22-2010, 12:13 PM
Ron Jeremy on the other hand is quite the enterprising fellow. A real gentleman and scholar that pays taxes and contributes a lot to society. He has really done well for himself.

My buddy used to work with him waiting tables up in the Catskills resort, years ago.