Oh, The Tangled Webs We Weave, When First We Practice To Deceive: Derrick Burts (2010 "Patient Zeta") Gets Exposed

Let's just say that today was not a particularly good day for Derrick Burts, the "Patient Zeta" of the 2010 HIV porn "scare".

Actually, tomorrow might be an even worse day for him...but I'll get to that later.

The fun began this morning when Mark Kernes of AVN released a new blog article on Burts and his current legal problems, as well as his being called by his mentors over at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the UCLA School of Public Health to participate in another seminar on health and safety in the porn industry, scheduled on October 11th.

Problem is, Burts might have a bit of a problem making that panel. Well..more than a bit. Unless they can do teleconferencing from his jail cell.

You see, tomorrow is when Burts is due to appear in Riverside County Municipal Court to be arraigned on some serious felony charges (burglary and laundering), for which he was arrested on July 31st.. And that's only the beginning of it, because those charges also put him in violation of not one, but TWO probations that he was serving for past offenses (one in LA County, and the other in Orange County, the latter of which is now repealed and an arrest warrant now active).

But it's not his personal life that is making the most headlines, his story about how he contracted the HIV virus is starting to unravel the way a house of playing cards collapses under the gentlest of breezes.

Also this morning, The Real Porn Wikileaks (the revised and legitimate version that replaced the racist/homophobic version first originated by Donny Long) ran their own article quoting emails that had been exchanged between DBurts and porn agent Mark Spingler, regarding the challenge issued by Spengler that Burts take a polygraph test to prove his accusations that he contracted HIV from shooting porn. At first, DBurts agreed, but then attempted to crawfish his way back from his commitment by attempting to set some conditions to the questions that would be asked him.

Some deets from the RPWL article (bolded emphasis in original):

Burts initially agreed to the offer, but the emails exchanged between Burts, Spiegler and the potential polygraph examiner reveal that Burts backed out after Spiegler refused to allow Burts to choose or substantially re-write the questions!

Regarding his alleged “escorting” activities – which came to light when his ad on the gay hook-up site Rentboy.com surfaced — Burts wanted to narrow the questioning to: “Did you ever meet or have sex with anyone from escorting on RentBoy?”

Burts explained that because he had never acted on his RentBoy ad, there was “NO WAY possible for me to have contracted HIV from escorting….”

He also sought to alter a question about whether he had contracted HIV on set to “Did Jennifer Miller from AIM tell you that you had sex with a known positive gay performer while in Florida shooting?” In addition, Burts sought to narrow the question concerning whether or now he’d ever had bareback gay sex to whether or not he’d ever had bareback sex during a gay shoot.

“I would never risk having bareback sex as I am aware of the high risks involved of getting HIV from that method,” Burts wrote. “My agency is 100% against bareback porn and I never participated in a bareback shoot.”

Asking things like “If I ever did this or that” could refer to any point and time in my life before contracting HIV. I would like to stick to the time frame in which I may have contracted HIV which is between August and September as the widest gap. Based off the Western Blot test I contracted HIV around mid September. My last negative test was September 3rd… I tested positive on October 8th. There is a 60 day time frame for HIV to show in the body. So that would be all of August and September.

Yes, I did have sex with partners while swinging without a condom. Is it possible that I got if from swinging? No. It was outside of the time period and every girl I did swinging with was cleared on the quarantine list. Have I EVER had anal sex with a guy before? Yes… long time ago before starting porn…. If I am going to do this test then the 4 questions have to be specific and not broad.

On the next go-round, Burts suggested another configuration of the questions, including, “Did you have bareback anal sex with guys in any of your shoots in the time frame you may have contracted HIV?” [emphasis added]

Spiegler was flummoxed, and wrote the polygraph expert,

Please remind Derrick that the questions will be questions that I choose – not him. I am paying for the test and I want to have MY questions answered. Derrick cannot craft the questions to HIS liking.

Even more interesting is how DBurts attempts to explain away his belief that he couldn't have contracted HIV from anywhere other than on set.

After reading Spiegler’s ultimatum, Burts wrote a lengthy response — and also mentioned in passing both his “AHF Legal Council” [sic] and his Florida attorney, Norm Kent. Having previously stated, in his initial email, “I NEVER met with anyone from escorting PERIOD!” Burts now contradicted himself with some startling new admissions:

I had a posting for escorting during the time I got HIV, however, I did not meet with anyone from the ad. The reason I am time specific on the escort question is because back in May or June I met with a guy from Craigslist and gave a massage and a handjob on a guy… I classify that as escorting, however, there is no way I got HIV from that time since there was no sex and out of the time frame of being able to get HIV.

As for the anal sex question, there was a time I had unprotected sex with another guy while participating in a threesome at some point in June. I know I didn’t get HIV from that time as well because it was out of the range of time I could have got it and all people in that threesome have been tested since, it was also before I started porn….

Spiegler, interviewed the next day on AdultFYI, mocked Burts’ logic: “He goes, ‘I didn’t get it from [swinging] because they all tested negative.’ Like who gets everyone’s name and number at a swinger party?”

Many in the industry continue to speculate that Burts sought to alter the questions because he may have contracted HIV from someone involved with his Florida gay porn shoots with whom he had sex off –camera – perhaps even on set.

It's also interesting because since becoming AHF's point man for the trashing of AIM and the condom mandate (despite the known fact that all of the hetero scenes he did were condom-only), Derrick Burts' recollection of how he got infected has been, to say the least, more than a bit fleeting. Quoting from Kernes' article:

Indeed, since joining up with AIDS Healthcare, Burts has rarely told the same story twice regarding the source of his infection, claiming at times that he may have contracted the disease through oral contact (since the scene itself was condom), or that he may have become infected by having rubbed a towel coated with infected semen to clean up after his scene.

AVN has acquired much more information on Burts' pre-porn life as well as more complete background on the polygraph test that agent Mark Spiegler asked Burts to take regarding his statements about his HIV-positive status and how he acquired it, but Spiegler and Burts were never able to come to an agreement as to which questions would be asked, and the exam was never given.

Hold up here...isn't the prevailing rule that unless your throat or mouth happens to be infected with some way, there's no way you can contract HIV from oral sex?? And...even if you do happen to wipe yourself with a contaminated towel, you still would have to have open bloody sores in the anal passage in order for the virus to be transmitted?? Oh, and did I mention that that scene was a condom scene where the condom was deliberately removed for the pop shot on the back??

And then there is that infamous Rentboy.com ad that Derrick Burts made in September 2010..the one where he promotes himself as "AIM-TESTED", based on his September 3rd negative test.  Strangely enough, when Burts was exposed to be "Patient Zeta", he nuked all of his sexual contacts...except that ad. Coincidence?? Conspiracy??  You decide.

But wait...there's even more!! This afternoon, the blog LukeIsBack.com unleashed Part 1 of a two part essay documenting the life and times of Derrick Burts, and it does not paint a flattering portrait of him. The most troubling aspect was his flip-flopping between his early dream as a "Christian magician" and his...shall we say, his sexual experimentations.

However, his financial debts and troubles at home might not be the only reasons Burts left Hemet to take his magic act on the road. Two local parents, who did not know anything of Burts’ life after 2005 – including his porn career – and were surprised to hear that he’d returned to live in Hemet in 2011, offered an alternative explanation involving Burts and some minors at the Ramona Bowl Ampitheatre.

Burts moved suddenly to Hermiston, Oregon to live with his grandmother, and worked up a magic act. In April 2006, an article in the East Oregonian featured the heading, "Illusionist Never Runs Out of Tricks".

Burts, then 19, announced he planned to embark upon a nation-wide magic tour to_raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

It is a two-part tour. The first trip is simply to raise $20,000 in pledges_from businesses to finance the show. Burts and others will actually perform on_the second trip in towns where funds were raised. Donated proceeds from_performances will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Essentially, Burts was planning to use the charity’s name to raise money for his own magic tour; to later return and perform in those cities where enough money had been raised – and then send the charity some portion of the show proceeds.
Burts’ grandmother, Susan Dickens, was quoted in the article. "He was always a trickster," Dickens said. "He liked center stage."

Burts’ next stop was Spokane, Washington, where he partnered up with a young local magician called "Kenneth K." He adopted the stage name “Derrick Chambers”, and over the next few years he took work wherever he could find it: including the Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, Idaho in 2007. Burts later found stable work on a cruise ship, Norwegian Cruise Lines’ 2000-passenger Pride of Aloha, and eventually, settled down in Orlando, Florida.

He toyed with the idea of creating "Christian based magic ministries", but returned to California in March 2009, having found a job as Front Office Supervisor at Marriott Hotel in Anaheim, right next to the Disneyland Amusement Park.

And this Sybil-like dichotomy would only get more amplified later:

In June 2010 Burts and Crystal walked into the office of porn talent agency OC Modeling as a couple, and signed a two-year contract with agent Phil Mack. As Burts would tell later the world, they wanted to make some good money fast. What he didn’t mention is that there was another couple that approached OC Modeling at the same time – Crystal’s friend Hayden Winters, and Hayden’s boyfriend.  Of the four, only Hayden’s boyfriend was not signed by OC.

OC Modeling primarily booked performers for "straight" porn shoots, but had also been dabbling in gay porn bookings. "When he saw me, the agent said I had money written all over me in the gay business." Burts later told The Independent. Translation: uncircumcised, shaved smooth, now quite lean and standing a mere 5′ 7", Burts was the all-American "collegiate" type – and being "uncut" had a novelty appeal in gay porn.

Crystal, under the name "Kaycee Brooks" would work in "straight" porn, working with both men and women; Burts would do "crossover" work in both "straight" and gay porn, using different names for each side of the business.

But porn wasn’t Burts only part-time gig.

From June to August of 2010, Burts also worked as a counselor at the Salvation Army’s Wildwood Ranch Christian Camp in Ramona, California. The camp’s website states that it "strives to serve the physical, social, and spiritual needs of children from the ages of 7 – 12."

"It is our desire to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to all at camp; staff and campers alike! … Camp counselors help campers make good decisions, gain confidence in their own talents and abilities, grow in independence, and learn to have fun with other children in a nurturing, supportive, loving environment."

WOW.  A gay/bi porn performer/swinger doubling as a Salvation Army counselor. Not even Shelley Lubben could top that for mendacity.

The LiB post also chronicles Burts' entry into the world of Florida gay crossover porn, including Burts' attempt to play himself as being more comfortable as a gay male star, even as he tried to cross over into the "straight" side. It was during this time that he made his interview with gay male performer James Jameson....the one that would soon be released to the public as proof that Burts was using gay porn to infect others. (For the record, Jameson was and still is HIV-.)

The LiB post promises to go into how Burts ended up with AHF on their next segment.

So, what does all of this mean?? Well, it shows the depths to which some will go to pursue their agenda, and it shows that all that glitters might not be gold.

But, I'll just leave it to Lydia Lee (using her former porn altar ego Julie Meadows) for the proper perspective to all this:

What is amazing to me (and as Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals so eloquently points out in her own article on the .XXX sTLD), is that the adult industry is accused of profiteering and immorality (to name a few), yet no one questions the moral intentions of people and organizations from the outside who gouge the industry for their own profit. AHF’s Michael Weinstein has been unrelenting in finding any means necessary to insert himself into the Los Angeles-based adult industry in what appears to be an effort to take over and reap the financial rewards of policing the industry through condom mandates and clinical testing. It didn’t matter that their first personality for the ‘dangers of the porn industry’, Shelley Lubben of Pink Cross Foundation, is anti-gay, or that her own credentials and testimonies are dubious. (Lubben touts a theology degree from a non-accredited college and claims that god cured her herpes, though she has no medical data to prove she ever had herpes.)

And now AHF is using Derrick Burts to parade their campaign, even though it appears he is just as questionable at the core of his intentions. In fact, Burts is scheduled to appear on behalf of AHF at a UCLA discussion on performer health and safety this October 11th, 2011.

[...]

I have two questions.

How many questionable people will Michael Weinstein slap his brand name upon in the name of performer safety? And how many details is Michael Weinstein willing to overlook in his unceasing effort to mind the details of adult industry performers?

I guess that's what happens when you get caught in your own web of deception.


ADDEDUM:  MIchael Whiteacre has emailed me a timeline of the legal problems of Derrick Burts over the past couple of years, all of which are public record. Here it is for your review and background:

On March 18, 2010, Burts was arrested in Orange County and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving without a valid driver's license, straddling or changing lanes when unsafe, and reckless driving.

On April 19th, Burts failed to appear in court in Westminster, CA, and a warrant was issued. He was eventually arraigned on May 6th, where he pleaded guilty to reckless driving in exchange for all other charges being dismissed. Burts was sentenced to 3 years probation, as well as a 12-hour Alcohol and Drug Program, and ordered to pay a $250 fine.

Then, in August 2010, Burts was arrested in LA County and booked for domestic violence and misdemeanor-level assault. Burts pleaded to a charge of disturbing the peace in a Van Nuys courtroom on August 3rd, and he was fined and sentenced to 52 weeks of classes.

But this arrest constituted a violation of his Orange County probation, and it was reported to the court in mid-August (Orange County notes case activity on August 18, 2010, and his probation was revoked on that date). Following an arraignment on September 21, 2010 for violating the terms of his probation, probation was re-instated.

Back in the LA County court system, a progress report from January 2011 shows that Burts had paid his fine, and that he requested his court-ordered classes be moved to Riverside County.

He was supposed to show up in court in Van Nuys on July 6, 2011 to inform the court that he had complied with its order and taken his classes, but he failed to appear. A $50,000 warrant was issued in his name on that date.

According to LA County, that warrant is still outstanding.

On July 31, 2011, Burts was arrested by Hemet police and charged with felony embezzlement and burglary in Riverside County. He posted $5,000 bail through a bondsman on August 4th.

Due to his Riverside County arrest, Burts’ Orange County probation was revoked on August 31, 2011. The Orange County Superior Court website currently lists Burts' status as "Fugitive".

  

Burts is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, September 29th at Riverside County’s Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

Like I said at the beginning: tomorrow should be quite an interesting day.

The Adult Performers Association: The Latest Attempt To Organize Porn Performers..But, Can It Suceed Where Others Have Failed??

Of all of the byproducts of the latest porn scares, the most obvious has been the historical lack of organization by performers to fight for their rights and their profession.

Earlier attempts at worker organization, such as the Pink Ladies Social Club of the 1980's, tended to fail on the same factors that haunted earlier organizations: the transient nature of porn work, and the fear from the producers of "unionization", where performers could collectively attempt to gain a larger share of the profits and proceeds from their work, as well as improved benefits and workplace conditions.


However, in the wake of the latest round of porn scares and activism to protect the free choice of performers, a new attempt at forming an activist group for performers is now arising with what they see as a different approach.

The Adult Performers Association is the brainchild of Nica Noelle, a former performer turned director, who was radicalized into action by the latest HIV porn scare and the strength of performers turning out to defend themselves against the threat of the condom mandate and the existing testing regime. Her primary goal, as noted by the organization's newly built website, is to provide alternative health services and other benefits that are typically provided by other worker organizations to its members, and to speak out for the freedom of choice and more flexible options for health care and privacy protection for porn performers.

Their "Core Metrics" page provides a nice summary of the kind of activism they would provide to their members, including:

-- a greater choice in choosing their testing facilities
-- a focus on education and mentoring for entry-level performers, and a system of etiquette and protocols for talent-producer relationships
-- balancing the goal of standardized testing for STI's with freedom of choice for performers in where and with whom they are tested with
-- a focus on retaining performer privacy protection
-- a development of a performers-only forum for feedback and discourse

The development of APA, though, has not been without some controversy. While the reaction by most performers has been greatly positive, there have been some degree of grumbling behind the scenes that the prime motivation for APA might be a backhanded slap towards the Free Speech Coalition, which remains the principal activist organization for the industry, and its Adult Production Health and Safety Services (APHSS) database, which serves to replace the previous testing regime formerly adjucated by Adult Industry Medical Foundation (AIM).

Nica Noelle, along with porn performer January Seraph -- who was also instrumental in the founding of APA -- had often been more than a bit critical of the FSC for not doing more to protect performer privacy, especially concerning the security of the APHSS database. In addition, Nica had been critical of FSC for what she saw during the latest HIV in porn scare as an unwarranted attack on Talent Testing Services, the independent agency whose testing of "Patient Alpha" had been called into question by APHSS after they obtained the services of "PA". (TTS had originally been the go-to replacement for testing after AIM was put out of business, but they were eclipsed by APHSS; also, TTS had refused to join APHSS' network of testing sites, choosing to stick with their own system.) By contrast, performers such as Darryl Hanah and spokespeople such as Michael Whiteacre have responded in defense of APHSS and FSC, resulting in some heated exchanges. For the record, though, Nica and January have praised APHSS for their inclusion of active performers in their organization...especially the inclusion of Nina Hartley as their Educational Advisor.

This organization is still in its budding stages, and it remains to be seen whether it can overcome the usual obstacles that has blocked every other attempt to unite and organize the vast diaspora of adult performers. Considering what's at stake, however, it is more than worth giving it a chance to succeed.

One Important Reason Why We Exist: Tay Stevens' War On Cancer (And How You Can Help Her And Others Kick The Hell Out Of It)

This may be a bit of a tangent from what we normally do here at BPPA, but considering the importance of the message, I figured that now was a good time as any.

If there is anything that this blog stands for, it is the humanity of those who take the risks to work and live as erotic performers. It's very easy to see the glamorous side, with all the pretty faces and stacked bodies...and of course, all that smiley, happy, monkey sex goings on. It's not so easy to see the human beings behind the orgasms, the nakedness, the erections or erect clits. But, porn performers and erotic models, like most other regular people, have lives far beyond the webcam or the screen; and they suffer through the slings and arrows of life just as regular "civilians" do.

And, just as occasionally, they can get hit with the life-changing blows that test their ultimate courage and will to live.

Like, for instance, the body blow that erotic model/Internet big-breasted model Taylor Stevens is attempting to beat down right now.

On New Year's Eve of last year, Tay was found to have been diagnosed with lymphoma, a particularly dangerous and potentially lethal form of cancer. After a variety of tests and verifications, she is now undergoing radiation treatment to treat her sickness.

Most people would simply knuckle under to such a fate, and simply wait for the inevitable Grim Reaper to befall them.

Thankfully, Tay isn't most people...she's decided to go on an all out assault to survive this disease, through not only full treatment, but also education and support for all whom have suffered from not only cancer in general, but lymphoma in particular. She's still doing her regular online shows via her fan club site PlayWithTay.com, and she's still active with her fans via her Twitter page (@TAYSTEVENS).

However, for this month, which happens to be her birthday month as well as National Lymphoma Month, she has decided to go above and beyond the call of duty and mount a campaign in support of research and even towards a possible cure for lymphoma.

To that end, Tay has produced a video that is currently running at both her blog and her YouTube channel where she updates people on her condition, and puts the call out for support and education on lymphoma and the efforts for an ultimate cure. It's a testimonial to her strength in the face of calamity, as well as her inner beauty.

I'll simply repost the video here and allow you to see for yourself.

Porn Panic 2011: The Climax: FSC/APHSS Clears The Air On "Patient Alpha" Testing Process And Debunks Nasty Rumormongering

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Because Pride And Delusions Are Always Greatest Before The Fall Off The Cliff: Ministress Lubben Breaks Out The Tiny Violin Quartet On HIV Scare 2011..Before The Truth Blindsides Her

I'm probably guessing that somewhere in Bakersfield or wherever Shelley Lubben is domiciled right about now, she's probably hearing the news that the performer whom she thought had infected 13 other female performers turned out to not have had HIV after all.

Maybe, the limited syapses in her brain -- at least, the ones not warped by her fundamentalist Christian ideology mixed with her seamless drive for exhibitionism and undivided attention -- will kick in enough to actually have her feel some bit of remorse and empathy for the performer she and her associates defamed.  Perhaps, she will get a bolt of lightning inspiration from her God to actually understand that part of loving people is accepting that they can make mistakes and that they should be free to exercise their own free will and protect themselves in their own way.

And, perhaps, I will win the lottery tomorrow and retire a millionaire, and become Rush Limbaugh's chief assistant.

But while the charade was still on yesterday, the Ministeress decided to try her best to use her usual Godly womanly wiles to persuade the faithful about the deep harm of the latest "pandemic".

And as usual, Shelley was on her game.

Here's what she posted to the Pink Cross blog yesterday:

Another HIV Outbreak in Porn Industry

News is breaking in the porn industry that another performer has tested positive for HIV and possibly exposed a dozen or more performers before it was discovered.

This means that there have now been a total of 27 cases of HIV in the porn industry since 2004 - that we know of!  The last known HIV outbreak was in October of last year.

This comes only two weeks after a press conference was held in L.A. where former porn performers talked about the illegal and abusive practices of the porn industry.

And just last week the porn industry was bragging about their 'safe' health practices all the while they continue to flagrantly violate California law that mandates condom usage. Earlier this year, Hustler was fined $14,175 by Cal-OSHA for violating workplace health and safety law.

Lives are at stake. Pray that many men and women will leave the porn industry while they still can.  Porn kills!

If you are in the industry and want out, Pink Cross is here for you. You were made for greater things than porn! 

Oh, so much to break down here.

First, this notion of an "outbreak".  Usually, an outbreak implies that more than one person was involved. The 2004 HIV scare qualifies as an outbreak fully because one person (allegedly Darren James) got infected doing outside work, and then went in and accidentally infected
three other women with HIV. Not much of an outbreak, but it does qualify.

The 2009 scare, though, had only one person who got HIV from outside activity, and no one else was infected. Thusly, NOT an outbreak.

The 2010 scare (featuring Derek Burts) is a bit questionable because both Burts and some folks at Cal/OSHA insist that a second performer was infected with HIV, although they have refused to comment on exactly who that second person is and how exactly he managed to get infected. Two people, though, is still not an outbreak, which assumes a bit more people getting infected with the virus.

Now, a performer getting infected with HIV and passing it on to 13 women?? That would count as a bonafide outbreak. Provided that the person actually was confirmed to actually HAVE HIV, and was confirmed to have worked with and infected various women. Course, we now know that the performer has tested negative with a better array of tests, but even then, wouldn't it be worthwhile to suspend judgment until the tests are confirmed? Wouldn't the more prudent policy be to wait until the actual tests confirm the infection before going out on a limb and screaming about a mass outbreak pandemic??

Please. This is Shelley Lubben we are talking about. She's never been known to let patience or truth get in the way of a good morality scare play.

And speaking of truth..again with the "27 HIV+ cases in the porn industry since 2004" meme. You know, the one that leaves out the inconvenient facts that most of those cases were of either gay male porn performers totally out of the jurisdiction of the adult hetero porn testing structure (16), private non-performer civilians contracting out AIM for their own private testing (4), or people just blown out of Shelley's buns. (And remember when the original stat was 22?? Then upped by Mike Weinstein to 23?? Get your propaganda numbers in sync, Shelley!!)

And how nice of Ministress Lubben to add that nice little tag line, "that we know of"...because we all know that the industry can't be trusted to tell the truth about HIV, there must be hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of porn boys and girls around spreading their legs and inserting their diseased sex organs into each other and spreading AIDS like Halloween candy!!!

Now..to that truth-telling press conference Shelley was talking about...that would be the one where the Ministress shared the dais with AHF's Weinstein, Darren James, and a couple of Pink Cross disciples to announce their drive to put a condom mandate ordinance to Los Angeles city voters for a vote. A pretty nice job of propaganda, if you ask me..but a bit light in the actual fact department. No matter how much Shelley may rant about the illegality of condomless porn or the notion that "exchanging bodily fluids" is illegal under California law, or that, the official legal opinion of the LA city attorney be damned, the local film board can and should forbid permits for any adult production not totally wrapped up, the actual debate is still quite up for grabs...and tending not to their benefit.

Oh..and about that HUSTLER fine?? Never mind that $14K to Larry Flynt is like a dollar to most of us regular folk, or the basic fact that Cal/OSHA probably doesn't have the resources or the manpower to be stalking every single porn shoot looking for wrapped dicks or dental dams when there really is a legitimate HIV pandemic in the larger population of LA County...enforcing a "law" that has never been enforced merely to soothe her revenge for those who dissed her 17 years ago is far more important to Lubben than common sense. Besides, it's all in the name of Jeeeeeeeee-zus, who died for your sexual sins and cured her herpes to show the world how He gives salvation to those evil sluts who most need it.

The closer, is the usual altar call for people in porn to get the heck out because, in Shelley's mind. "Porn Kills!!!!" At least, porn stars get killed...of course, most of them aren't killed by porn, and many of them die of causes attributed completely outside of porn...but again, the Ministress isn't known for understanding nuanced thoughts.

And when you do get out, Shelley would very much love it if you consider joining her ministry. Of course, there are those pesky conditions of surrendering all your hard earned money and having to basically starve yourself financially and convert to Lubben's kind of holy rolling sex-hating religion...but that's a small price to pay for God's salvation.

The sidebar of that post includes some of the more whacked out stats about the wages of porn sin (like the 37 porn stars who died of HIV, suicide, or drugs, or the 100 "straight or gay" performers who died of complications from AIDS, or the nearly 2,400 cases of chlamydia and 1,400 cases of gonorrhea that has infected performers since 2000). Been there, covered that.

But, no Shelley Lubben promotion would be complete without the obligatory Serious Activist Pic, and this one's a dooze.

Yes, that was Shelley at the Weinstein presser where they unveiled their asstroturf (no pun, deliberate mispell) group, "For Adult Industry Responsibility" (FAIR, although I still think that Norman Solomon over at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting would probably not like their acronym abused like that). And yes, that woman in the background pointing at the "FAIR" logo happens to be Jan Meza, Lubben's closest protoge, who has a special history of whackadoodleness all her own. Gee, Ministeress...I thought that God didn't like women showing off their bare arms...didn't they attempt to condemn First Lady Michelle Obama for something like that??

In any case, now that it has been confirmed that all their efforts were essentially for naught, I'm seriously looking forward to when Shelley and the Pink Cross Foundation will post their official apology and retraction to the performer they accused publically of infecting 13 innocent people, or to the company (Brazzers) they claimed wrongly to have used him even though he "tested positively". I'm sure that it will happen. Ultimately. The same day pigs fly.

Prove me wrong, Shelley. Woman up, admit your mistake, and apologize....and if you do, I will give you...a bit more respect.

Porn Panic 2011: BAH-LOCKED!!! BREAKING: FSC/APHSS Reports That "Patient Alpha" Tested Negative For HIV; Moratorium Now Lifted

Well..what do you know? All that crowing, all that smack, all those press conferences...and it turns out, all for NOTHING.

The Associated Press is now reporting that the Free Speech Coalition, through their APHSS testing program, has announced via an email that initial test results on the performer whom had been originally found to have tested positive for HIV through a previous test is now completed....and "Patient Alpha" was found to have tested NEGATIVE.

Based on that, FSC has also announced that the voluntary moratorium on porn production that had taken effect when the initial test was revealed last week can now be lifted, and porn production resumed.

FSC did say that just for verification sakes, they would run follow up tests on "Patient Alpha"..but, it does appear that the worst fears of an "outbreak" have been settled.

If I was Michael Weinstein or Brian Chase of AHF or Shelley Lubben, I'd probably want to make plans for a long vacation. And, stock up on some lawyers. The checks they cashed with their big mouths just bounced. Let's hear the coverup conspiracies now, Mr. Weinstein.

And perhaps now, we may finally get everyone together and hash out a real plan for worker protection that actually respects the will and competence or performer choice??

If I find that AP article, I will repost it here. (Found. Scroll down.)



UPDATE: The FSC just released this statement on Patient Alpha's HIV- test over at their blog:

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announced today some important news for the industry. An HIV test for “Patient Alpha,” administered by an APHSS.org testing facility, has been returned with negative results.

Recognizing the importance of accurate information being presented to the industry and media, FSC stresses that while test results indicate a negative result for the patient, follow-up testing is appropriate in this case.

“This is good news for the primary patient, the industry will continue to be abundantly cautious as we try to nail down the reasons for what now appears to have been a false positive result on a previous test,” FSC Executive Director Diane Duke said. “After discussion with our medical expert, he has advised that it would be appropriate for production to resume and the focus of attention brought to those who had worked with the performer. That group is already receiving care.

“FSC/APHSS.org will narrow the circle of caution to focus our concern on the group of people who had worked with the performer,” Duke continued. “Our prayers and utmost empathy go out to the performer in what has been a very difficult period.”

FSC called for an industry-wide precautionary moratorium on production last Sunday, after reports of a preliminary HIV positive test result for an adult performer in Florida. The performer in question and the adult industry were demonized as rumors and misinformation spread like wildfire. But recent developments imply that industry standards are working.

Duke continued, “Industry self-regulation and best practices are alive and well in the adult entertainment industry – and they work. We fully understand that it is vitally important for the adult performers have a place to go that is safe, trusted and transparent.”

UPDATE #2: Here is the AP story:

APNewsBreak: Porn performer retests HIV-negative

 LOS ANGELES (AP) — An adult film performer who tested positive for HIV and caused the porn industry to shut down production as a precaution has been retested and the actor does not have the virus, a porn industry trade group said Saturday.

Production can now resume, said Free Speech Coalition executive director Diane Duke.

"The industry will be abundantly cautious as we try to nail down the reasons for what now appears to have been a false positive result on a previous test," Duke said.

The actor, who was in Florida, had been slated to work on a shoot for Mofos.com, but production was halted last week when the test came back positive for HIV.

Duke declined to release the performer's name, age or gender, citing the person's right to medical privacy. She also declined to say how her group learned of the case.

Production has been shut down since Monday in the San Fernando Valley's multi-billion dollar adult entertainment industry, which includes Hustler and Evil Angel's productions. The case was found at an out-of-state clinic that does not report to California health officials, Duke said. The porn industry was similarly shuttered in late 2010, after porn actor Derrick Burts was diagnosed as HIV-positive. His case was confirmed, and he has since left the industry to become an advocate for the use of condoms in pornography.

The Free Speech Coalition is working on a database to track sexually transmitted disease testing among porn actors, a task formerly handled by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation before it closed in December 2010.

Known as AIM, the San Fernando Valley clinic had catered to porn stars since it opened in 1998. It was forced to close because of inadequate licensing.

 Update #3:  Michael Whiteacre just made this comment over at LukeIsBack.com that deserves reprinting here, because it addresses concerns about following up on the testing of "Patient Alpha" as well as the other 13 performers that he had been assumed to have infected.

The Associated Press reports that Patient Alpha has now tested negative in the latest round of confirmatory testing. However, the question remains whether it is legally and medically sound to DEFINITIVELY declare the patient HIV negative as of yet.

According to what I’ve been reading, most experts (including those at the CDC) recognize that it can take 30 to 90 days before one can make a definitive determination.

That’s why this quote from Weinstein’s latest self-serving press release is so frustrating:

“Why is any ‘investigation’ needed, when two rapid tests that would take 40 minutes, are sufficient to determine if someone is positive?”

This jackass — the president of the largest global AIDS organization, with clinics and testing sites in Florida (where this case reportedly occurred) — is obviously ignorant of the fact that in the state of Florida, NO ONE is deemed POSITIVE until the results of the confirmatory test come back. In fact, clinics are not permitted by the state to tell any one they are positive until the tests come back from the State. What people are told is that they are “reactive” even in AHF’s own clinics and testing sites, not positive.

Not only doesn’t Michael Weinstein understand testing, he doesn’t even know his own protocols. What a douche.

However, the FSC’s update makes it clear that the first and second generation people have been identified and contacted, and that testing has commenced, so it is appropriate to recommence production.

The only question left that would close this out is this: Where did the false positive (or false "reactive") test come from? Was it simply a screw up from the testing facility? Or...could it have been a deliberate plant used by AHF and its associates to cook the books and plants the seeds of panic just to grease the wheels for an HIV porn panic and the condom mandate??

I guess that we will never find the answer to that.

Porn Panic 2011, The Series: Here Come The Big Dawgs: Manwin, Brazzers' Parent Company, Busts Out The Whupping Stick Against AHF's Accusations

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