Gay health group comments on bareback porn scandal
GMFA, a gay men’s health charity, has said that if gay men do not want people who perform in pornographic films to risk their health they should not buy so-called ‘bareback’ porn.
The comments follow an investigation by the BBC’s Newsnight programme that exposed the activities of an porn production company called Icreme.
Several models discovered they were HIV+ after filming bareback scenes for the company. Bareback is the practice of having sex without condoms.
“We welcome any moves on the part of the gay porn industry to protect their performers,” said GMFA’s Matthew Hodson.
“I suspect that so long as there continues to be a demand for bareback porn there will continue to be companies that produce it.
“If gay men don’t want porn stars to risk their health, they should stop buying bareback porn.”
On Wednesday BBC news programme Newsnight broadcast an investigation into bareback porn.
As a result three porn films have been withdrawn from sale after the programme revealed that some performers are becoming infected with HIV.
Two of the DVD titles featured eight young men having sex with each other “in various combinations” without using condoms.
Four of them were diagnosed as HIV positive shortly after filming.
One of the men told Newsnight that he was “distressed that footage which he believed showed him becoming infected had been put on sale.”
So-called ‘bareback’ porn now accounts for 60% of all sales.
As a result of the investigation Icreme has agreed to stop filming bareback scenes. The company claims to produce more adult material than any other in the UK.
