Thanks Jon
NL-This interview with Mr. Marcus is from 2004 when we had the HIV outbreak. His views are very interesting when mirrored with what we know happened recently.
from http://www.xbiz.com/articles/80453/interracial
XBIZ: Do you think the adult industry mirrors society in any way?
Mr. Marcus: This is a great question, because, yes, I think [porn] holds the mirror up to society and says, "Hey, this is what you guys are like." We’re actually all collectively kinkier and perverted than we want to believe, or what is polite to share. Porn captures many forms of sexual expression. I hope it leads people to be more sexually expressive and adventurous. It should be a positive thing.
XBIZ: Tell us about your plans to organize talent in 2004 when a handful of performers tested HIV-positive.
Mr. Marcus: Basically this happened when [black male performer] Darren James was reported as HIV positive all over the news. The state of California has laws in place to prevent "outing" people’s confidential medical records, but he was put out there to dry. He receives a devastating blow and then all of a sudden his face is everywhere on the news.
More than anything, I understood his pain. This story pulled me in in a weird way because I was in one of the clips they showed on the news, so I was getting called constantly from people thinking I was involved somehow.
XBIZ: I just didn’t see anyone protecting him from the onslaught of the media. He deserved his privacy.
Mr. Marcus: I wanted to do right by Darren. Here he was, a black man being vilified on the nightly news, so I wanted them to look at me too and use me as an example of a black guy who was trying to make some good of all this.
XBIZ: Had there been attempts for performers to organize or unionize before?
I don’t think unionize is the right word. The big companies back in the 1960s and 1970s didn’t want performers to organize as a group. When the debate came up, there was a large group of old-school people who don’t want to see this industry change.
It’s a moral obligation for this industry to protect its performers.
Our organization didn’t stick despite our dominant front because performers are ultimately a transient group; here today, gone tomorrow. How could we represent this group if our constituency was constantly changing?
There has to be some amazing plan in place to make it work; I didn’t have it. I’m not some great motivational speaker, I just wanted to put people in the same room and hoped ideas would materialize from that.
A lot of people don’t know this, but I sought the advice of the president of AFTRA (the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). He sympathized with me but thought we weren’t well organized. He told me he had to take care of the reality stars first and I told him that porn stars are the real reality stars.
I think we tapped into something important though, looking back. As the business grows, some sort of performers’ organization is inevitable. It’s not a dead issue.
However, the meetings did turn into a form of therapy for some performers and we did learn more about AIDS and the transmission of STDs through Sharon Mitchell.
Mr. Marcus: This industry needs benefits. It needs the social services that are afforded to many other industries. We need medical care, mental healthcare, pensions, residuals like Hollywood actors’ and drug counseling. The adult entertainment industry makes so much money, I know this is possible to achieve.
Unfortunately, it takes a tragedy or dire circumstances to get people to change.