HIV-Positive Porn Actor Calls for Mandatory Condoms

Derrick Burts, an adult film performer known to gay audiences as Derrick Chambers, who tested positive for HIV in October, said he wants mandatory condom use in film production, better testing for STDs, and follow-up care for performers.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Burts performed in gay and straight porn films, where he was credited as Cameron Reid. He had tested negative as recently as September, and he believes he may have contracted the virus during a gay porn shoot in Florida, where the performers did not use condoms during oral sex scenes.

“Although straight porn performers must show negative HIV test results before filming, the gay porn industry does not have the same restrictions, although condom use is typically required,” the Times reports.

The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation in Sherman Oaks, where Burts was tested in October, initially traced his infection to work contact with a “known positive” whose name or gender the clinic could not reveal because of patient confidentiality. However, the Times reports that the clinic released a letter last month saying he contracted the virus through “private, personal activity.”

Fed up with the treatment at the clinic, Burts sought help from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles. He and the foundation will hold a press conference Wednesday morning in support of his proposals, which include mandatory condom use.