Pornographic actors and STDs

Because of the nature of their work, usually involving sex without condoms, pornographic actors were traditionally vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases. In a paper written by LA Public Health officials claimed that among 825 performers screened in 2000–2001, 7.7% of females and 5.5% of males had chlamydia, and 2% overall had gonorrhea. These rates are much higher than in patients visiting family planning clinics, where chlamydia and gonorrhea rates were 4.0% and 0.7%, respectively. Between January 2003 and March 2005, approximately 976 performers were reported with 1,153 positive STD test results. Of the 1,153 positive test results, 722 (62.6 %) were chlamydia, 355 (30.8%) were gonorrhea, and 126 (10.9%) were coinfections with chlamydia and gonorrhea. Less is known about the prevalence and risk of transmission of other STDs such as syphilis, herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus, hepatitis B or C, trichomonal infection, or diseases transmitted through the fecal–oral route. The data collection of LA public health was criticized by adult industry sources on the grounds that most of those testing positive had never made an adult film-and were in fact being excluded from adult film acting until they had treated their STDs. Non-treatable STDs like HSV represent a difficult case: according to actress Chloe, "After you've been in this business for a while, you have herpes. Everyone has herpes."

The high rate of STDs in the adult film industry started to change in 1998 when major adult film producers started implementing a regular periodic testing program for adult film actors. In the 1980s, an outbreak of HIV led to a number of deaths of erotic actors and actresses, including John Holmes, Wade Nichols, Marc Stevens, Al Parker, Lisa De Leeuw. This led to the creation of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation (AIM), which helped set up a voluntary standard in the U.S. adult film industry where erotic actors are tested for HIV, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea every 30 days-and twice a year for HSV, Hepatitis and Syphilis. AIM posts test results on their website identified with the actors drivers license number so they can be shared without any possibility of fraud. AIM claims that this program has reduced the rate of STDs among adult film actors to 20% that of the general population. These claims have been criticized by various public health authorities-but there have been no controlled studies that support the claims of public health authorities that AIM's testing approach is not working.

Autobiographies

• "Inside Linda Lovelace" (1974), "The Intimate Diary of Linda Lovelace" (1974), "Ordeal" (1980), & "Out of Bondage" (1986), Linda Lovelace
• Raw Talent, Jerry Butler, 1990 (ISBN 087975625X)
• Hard, Raffaëla Anderson, 2001 (ISBN 2253154490) (in French)
• Penetrating Insights, Peter North, 1994 (ISBN 1885591225)
• The Secret Lives of Hyapatia Lee, Hyapatia Lee, 2000 (ISBN 1587219069)
• Traci Lords: Underneath It All, Traci Lords, 2003
• Sex Star, Clara Morgane, 2003 (in French)
• J'assume, Nina Roberts, mai 2005 (ISBN 2350120201) (in French)
• How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale, Jenna Jameson, 2005
• Secretos de una pornostar, Celia Blanco, 2005 (in Spanish)
• Porno - Ein Star packt aus, Kelly Trump, 2005 (in German)
• Lights, Camera, SEX!, Christy Canyon, 2005 (ISBN 0972747001)
• Io, Rocco, Rocco Siffredi, 2006 (in Italian) (ISBN 8804559950)
• The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz, Ron Jeremy, 2006 (ISBN 0060840838)
• Per amore e per forza, Ilona Staller, 2007 (in Italian)
• Zen and the Art of fucking Pornography, Harold Johnson, 2008 (ISBN 1438204302)
• The Devil Made Me Do It, Georgina Spelvin, 2008 (ISBN 0615199070)
• Candy Barr AKA Juanita Dale Slusher, Candy Barr, 2009 (ISBN 97809818220)
• Sinner Takes All: A Memoir of Love and Porn, Tera Patrick, 2009 (ISBN 1592405223)
• Truth Behind the Fantasy of Porn: The Greatest Illusion on Earth, Shelley Lubben, 2010 (ISBN 9781453860076)