In our society, the group that has done the WORST job of stemming the spread of HIV SINCE THE DAWN OF HIV has been what the CDC terms MSM (men who have sex with men). By any logical and statistical standard, the stigma around the dangers of male on male sex (outside of monogamous relationships) has been well earned. Having failed to fix the problem (by successfully encouraging testing and rigorous condom use in the MSM population at large), the goal of guys like Weinstein is to spread the misery around. After all, isn’t it so unfair that non-IV drug using heterosexuals and lesbians don’t live in the same terror as MSMs.

Is there a financial component? Absolutely. As Steele would doubtless agree, condoms are an intrinsic part of AIDS fear and hysteria. Mandatory condoms in porn would constitute permanent, universal product placement for that hysteria. Without that fear and hysteria, funding for AIDS programs would dry up.

The problem is, no one looks at this logically. Even if HIV were the sole cause of AIDS, and there were no co-factors (which, to anyone who has studied either the history of AIDS, or microbiology, should seem ridiculous), viruses are spread through behavior. Everyone does NOT have AIDS, and we’re not ALL at any measurable risk. Your grandmother is not going to get AIDS. Look at the numbers: it’s MSMs, drug users, babies who contract it from their mothers, etc… with a heavy emphasis on the poor and disenfranchised. But those groups have proven difficult to reach — so the cynical move is to transform adult performers into the new Typhoid Marys. Weinstein’s goals are: 1) to punish in order to save face, and 2) to keep fear alive.