Los Angeles County officials have approved a ballot initiative that will ask voters to decide whether porn actors should be required to wear condoms in sex scenes.

The Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 Tuesday to ask voters whether to require adult filmmakers to get health permits from the county for film production.

The initiative is backed by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and spokeswoman Lori Yeghiayan (yeg-ee-EYE-an) says condom use is one condition of getting the permits.

Porn producers would pay a fee to get permits, and the funds would be used to pay enforcement costs.

The city passed an ordinance earlier this year requiring condoms to be used in any porn that is granted a filming permit.

More than 371,000 signatures were gathered to get the initiative on November’s ballot.

But adult film industry representatives said that actors are tested frequently and that sexually transmitted diseases are more closely linked to poverty, lack of insurance and education.

They also said that film production companies could move out of the county to areas that have fewer restrictions.

“This law will drive a significant portion of the adult entertainment industry out of California. Don’t kid yourselves,” said Allan Gelbard, an attorney who frequently represents the adult film industry.

Others also argued that the law would violate free speech rights because it would require actors to wear condoms even if they did not want to.

Supervisor Gloria Molina, who was the only supervisor to vote against the measure, was strongly critical, saying that the county could not regulate the adult industry and that the law could open the county to lawsuits from adult performers who are infected by AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases on film shoots.

“I’m trying to understand why we would, as a county, take on the huge responsibility of workplace issues,” she said.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas abstained from voting.

Molina said she was also concerned about how effective the law would be since it would cover only unincorporated areas.

“It doesn’t apply to the San Fernando Valley, which I understand is the hub of where these films are made,” she said. “I don’t know how much porno is going on in East L.A. or Altadena now.”

Other county officials, including Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the county’s director of public health, have also said the law would be difficult to enforce.

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