Second Porn Star Tests Positive for HIV
A second adult film star claims to have tested positive for HIV, two weeks after porn star Cameron Bay's diagnoses temporarily halted production across the industry.
The porn actor who goes by the name Rod Daily tweeted Tuesday that he was HIV positive.
"Drumroll please!! I'm 32 years old and I'm HIV positive. Acute HIV, which means I recently was infected. For that I am blessed," he tweeted.
Read about what Cameron Bay's HIV diagnosis meant for the porn industry.
In the tweets that followed, Daily said that he'd tested negative the week before, and doctors told him the contracted HIV within the last month. He also conveyed that he is accepting of the situation and optimistic.
"I felt bad for the guy who had to read me my first test result. His face turned to stone, I wanted to give him a hug and say it will be ok," he tweeted.
The Free Speech Coalition, a porn industry trade group, said in a statement that it could not confirm whether Daily tested positive for HIV because the diagnostic tests to which he referred in his tweets were not performed at a facility that feeds into its industry STD testing system. Although the tweets appeared to be authentic, the coalition did not know whether Daily wrote them, according to the statement.
"Beyond that, all we can say is that if the Twitter postings are in fact legitimate, that our thoughts are with Rod Daily and we urge him to immediately seek medical consultation," the statement read. "We can assist him in this area if he reaches out to us directly."
Daily performed exclusively in gay and transsexual scenes with condoms, according to the Free Speech Coalition. Although the coalition said that Daily's partners should seek additional testing, it said its medical advisory board has yet to make a decision about whether another industry moratorium on production is necessary.
On Aug. 28, The Free Speech Coalition lifted moratorium on production prompted by Bay's HIV diagnosis on Aug. 23.
"All performers who worked with Cameron Bay have been tested and cleared," it says on an Aug. 28 blog maintained by the Free Speech Coalition's STD testing organization, Performer Availability Screening Services, or PASS. "It is safe to lift the moratorium."
Bay released a statement through the Free Speech Coalition when doctors confirmed her HIV status Aug. 23:
"As difficult as this news is for me today, I am hopeful that no other performers have been affected," she said in the statement. "I plan on doing everything possible to assist the medical professionals and my fellow performers. Following that, my long-term plan is to take care of myself and my health."
Bay's agent, Mark Schechter, said she was "obviously distraught" at the diagnosis but was cooperating with testing organizations to make sure all her partners are notified and tested.
"Cameron has been a model citizen acting responsibly at this most difficult time," Schechter said through the Free Speech Coalition. "Her courage should be lauded."
Read about the porn industry's opposition to Measure B here.