When Mike Stabile first moved to Los Angeles in 2011, he was struck by a billboard he saw along the freeway. It showed a line of cocaine and a turned-over shot glass, with the caption:聽You know why.聽Free HIV test.
鈥淚 literally pulled over the car and was like 鈥榃hat鈥檚 going on?鈥欌�� Stabile remembered. 鈥淚 was having a panic attack.鈥�
Another ad showed two men in bed, looking nervous, with the question聽鈥淭rust Him?鈥�
鈥淎s a gay man, you really have to fight against this idea that you鈥檙e constantly in danger,鈥� said Stabile, who came of age during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. 鈥淔ear and stigma actually works against people getting tested.鈥�
One of many ads sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. (Image courtesy of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation)
Stabile said he sees the same heavy-handed, moralistic attitude behind聽, the state ballot initiative that would require adult film performers to use condoms on porn sets. If they don鈥檛, and state regulators fail to enforce the mandate in a timely manner, any Californian can sue the film producer.
鈥淚ts success depends on stigma around sex, stigma around porn,鈥� said Stabile, who now works for the聽.
The man behind Proposition 60 鈥� and all those billboards 鈥� is Michael Weinstein, president of the聽, and a long-time maverick in gay activist circles.
The nonprofit runs pharmacies and provides HIV care in 13 states and 37 countries, and gave away 38.5 million condoms last year. It鈥檚 putting $4.5 million from its pharmacy sales into backing the Proposition 60 condom mandate. (It also put $14.7 million behind聽, Weinstein鈥檚聽initiative aimed at lowering drug prices.)
Weinstein said he鈥檚 steadfastly promoting condoms when other groups seem to have forgotten them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfashionable,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was on a panel discussion and one of the guys said 鈥榊ou鈥檙e acting like our mother telling us to wear galoshes.鈥� And my reaction was 鈥榊eah, somebody needs to do that!鈥� I mean, I鈥檓 not trying to win a popularity contest. Obviously.鈥�
For Weinstein, Proposition 60 primarily is about protecting adult film workers against sexually transmitted diseases at a time when California鈥檚 infection rates are at a 20-year high. But it鈥檚 also another聽large-scale condom campaign.
鈥淎 lot of people get their sex education through these films and I think it鈥檚 sending a bad message,鈥� Weinstein said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want young people to be educated that the only kind of sex that鈥檚 hot is unsafe sex.鈥�
Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in his office in Los Angeles. Behind him is a painting of Chris Brownlie, who worked with Weinstein to found the first AIDS hospice in LA. He is backing Propositions 60 and 61. (April Dembosky/KQED)
Controversial Figure
Weinstein has long taken controversial positions, but he鈥檚 often landed on the right side of history. In the 1980s, he fought lawmakers in California who wanted to quarantine AIDS patients. When nurses were afraid touch patients, leaving them languishing in the hallways of county hospitals, he helped set up one of the first AIDS hospices, where people could die with dignity and compassion. And when the life-saving antiretroviral drugs known as the AIDS cocktail came out, Weinstein risked bankruptcy to provide the drugs to uninsured patients.
鈥淲e decided we had a moral obligation to give them and we paid for them and those people lived,鈥� he said.
One of Weinstein鈥檚 more recent and most unpopular stances is on聽, the daily medicine that . Many activists consider it a gift from God. Weinstein calls it a party drug.
鈥淚t鈥檚 often taken in conjunction with crystal meth and other party drugs,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really a get out of jail free card.鈥�
Weinstein argues PrEP gives people a free pass to not use condoms and be reckless, driving a rise in other STDs, which聽bear out. But other public health groups say PrEP will reduce HIV transmission and save lives, which the studies also support.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not helpful to have one of the largest HIV organizations in the world trivializing it or downplaying its importance,鈥� said Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, director of state and聽local affairs at the聽
Her group, along with聽, opposes Proposition 60, in part, because it ignores PrEP. Mulhern-Pearson said Weinstein鈥檚 singular focus on condoms is outdated and unrealistic.
鈥淐ondom fatigue is real,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I think that all of us are probably not realistic and not forthcoming about our condom use.鈥�
History And Opposition
Weinstein has been fighting to mandate condoms in adult films for years. While federal and state worker safety laws technically already require producers to protect performers against STDs with condoms, the law is largely ignored and poorly enforced. Weinstein has been pushing California鈥檚 Division of Occupational Safety and Health for years to refine and clarify regulations,聽. He鈥檚 backed local measures in Los Angeles County to require condoms, which聽, but enforcement has, again, been minimal.
At every turn, the adult film industry has opposed condom mandates. They say it will force them to make products that won鈥檛 sell, driving the business underground or out of state.
Adult film performers rally against Proposition 60 outside Michael Weinstein鈥檚 office. (April Dembosky/KQED)
In mid-October, more than a hundred adult film performers rallied outside Weinstein鈥檚 office in Los Angeles to protest Proposition 60. They chanted slogans like 鈥淥ur Bodies, Our Choice!鈥� and carried signs that read 鈥淲here is Weinstein?鈥�
They say they prefer to rely on the industry鈥檚 bi-monthly testing protocol over condoms. Performer Ela Darling says condoms don鈥檛 work on porn sets 鈥斅爐hey鈥檙e uncomfortable and cause friction rashes.
鈥淭he sex you have on camera isn鈥檛 like the sex you have at home,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like Olympic-level, athletic sex.鈥�
She鈥檚 frustrated that Weinstein is ignoring their concerns.
鈥淗e will not hear us, he will not speak to us, but he鈥檚 happy speaking聽for us,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the problem.鈥�
Weinstein defends his refusal to meet with the adult film industry.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to put myself in a position of debating people where all they do is call me names,鈥� he said.
It鈥檚 true. Weinstein鈥檚 critics have called him bombastic, a bully. They compare him to Donald Trump. They post tweets that refer to him as the Condom Nazi.
鈥淚n case they haven鈥檛 noticed, I鈥檓 Jewish and I鈥檓 gay, OK,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t makes my skin curl.鈥�
Weinstein said he鈥檚 never liked the limelight. He鈥檚 had to develop a thick skin to stay in this business, to stand up for what he believes is the moral thing to do, for what he believes is his responsibility toward young generations.
But it鈥檚 clear that the criticism bothers him.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been hurt,鈥� said Sharon Raphael, an old friend and fellow activist. 鈥淚 know that it hurts him.鈥�
But, she added, everyone knows he鈥檚 a force to be reckoned with.
鈥淲hen most people would be down and out, strike three, he鈥檇 get up again,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e never gives up. Ever.鈥�
This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.