ZorCrow
Banned
PORN, HIV AND THE LIVES OF YOUNG GAY MEN OF COLOR.
From Chicago comes disturbing news of unsafe health practices and exploitative working conditions involving a well-known gay Internet porn site that specializes in the use of Black and Latino models. The Chicago Free Press reports that Department of Health officials there have slapped a cease and desist order on the owners of FlavaWorks.com, which operates a live sex website, CocoDorm.com, where these young men of color, typically between the ages of 18 and 24, engage in sexual acts that can be viewed by subscribers for a fee. FlavaWorks.com also produces videos and magazines. The activities include unprotected sex, and the Health Department claims the business has knowingly allowed the spread of HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases.
Christopher Brown, assistant commissioner for HIV/AIDS/STD programs at CDPH, said health officials acted after uncovering “credible” evidence that models at FlavaWorks.com, which also operated CocoBoyz Dorm Room online, were HIV-positive, were engaging in unsafe sex practices and were spreading HIV, syphilis and gonorrhea through contact with individuals outside the business. Brown said CDPH’s initial involvement came in late December after HIV service providers called CDPH to express “concerns that some of their clients could be seen on the website engaging in unsafe sex. We also became aware of cases of HIV linked to some of the models,” Brown said. While the models are Black and Latino, the owner of the company, Phillip Bleicher, is White. Brown said the business owner had been “less than cooperative” with city officials’ efforts to stop the spread of HIV and other diseases and get CocoBoyz models in for counseling, treatment and testing. “Our main concern was the dorm,” Brown said. “Our goal is to immediately look at the models, screen them and address their needs. We had evidence and reports from what I would consider credible sources that there was HIV and STDs among the models at CocoBoyz dorm room, and unsafe sex could be viewed right there on the website,” Brown said. Equally distressing are reports centering around the conditions under which the young men worked. Most of them are reportedly at-risk youths, runaways, homeless and easily manipulated.
There are also allegations that the business used unusual labor contracts with its models, which, according to one source, “at least bordered on illegal servitude.” The 30-day contracts allegedly required the models to perform a certain number of sexual acts in exchange for a stipend. But, when the models tried to collect the stipends, they were told they were being charged for such things as food and bed linens, leaving them, in some cases, in debt rather than collecting money. They were then pressured to sign new contracts. No one is discounting the role that pornography plays in the lives of many people. The worldwide adult entertainment industry generates more than $12 billion annually.
-For more information, click on the corresponding link:http://www.bejata.com/archives/2006...en_of_color.php
-To view the porn site, click here: www.cocodorms.com
From Chicago comes disturbing news of unsafe health practices and exploitative working conditions involving a well-known gay Internet porn site that specializes in the use of Black and Latino models. The Chicago Free Press reports that Department of Health officials there have slapped a cease and desist order on the owners of FlavaWorks.com, which operates a live sex website, CocoDorm.com, where these young men of color, typically between the ages of 18 and 24, engage in sexual acts that can be viewed by subscribers for a fee. FlavaWorks.com also produces videos and magazines. The activities include unprotected sex, and the Health Department claims the business has knowingly allowed the spread of HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases.
Christopher Brown, assistant commissioner for HIV/AIDS/STD programs at CDPH, said health officials acted after uncovering “credible” evidence that models at FlavaWorks.com, which also operated CocoBoyz Dorm Room online, were HIV-positive, were engaging in unsafe sex practices and were spreading HIV, syphilis and gonorrhea through contact with individuals outside the business. Brown said CDPH’s initial involvement came in late December after HIV service providers called CDPH to express “concerns that some of their clients could be seen on the website engaging in unsafe sex. We also became aware of cases of HIV linked to some of the models,” Brown said. While the models are Black and Latino, the owner of the company, Phillip Bleicher, is White. Brown said the business owner had been “less than cooperative” with city officials’ efforts to stop the spread of HIV and other diseases and get CocoBoyz models in for counseling, treatment and testing. “Our main concern was the dorm,” Brown said. “Our goal is to immediately look at the models, screen them and address their needs. We had evidence and reports from what I would consider credible sources that there was HIV and STDs among the models at CocoBoyz dorm room, and unsafe sex could be viewed right there on the website,” Brown said. Equally distressing are reports centering around the conditions under which the young men worked. Most of them are reportedly at-risk youths, runaways, homeless and easily manipulated.
There are also allegations that the business used unusual labor contracts with its models, which, according to one source, “at least bordered on illegal servitude.” The 30-day contracts allegedly required the models to perform a certain number of sexual acts in exchange for a stipend. But, when the models tried to collect the stipends, they were told they were being charged for such things as food and bed linens, leaving them, in some cases, in debt rather than collecting money. They were then pressured to sign new contracts. No one is discounting the role that pornography plays in the lives of many people. The worldwide adult entertainment industry generates more than $12 billion annually.
-For more information, click on the corresponding link:http://www.bejata.com/archives/2006...en_of_color.php
-To view the porn site, click here: www.cocodorms.com
