AIDS activists praised city officials Tuesday for approving a new city ordinance requiring performers in adult films to wear condoms, a day after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed the ordinance into law.

“At the end of the day, the idea that this was about worker protection and fairness prevailed,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the primary organization that advocated for the ordinance. “It shows the power of the activism that is coming out of the HIV community.”

The ordinance will go into effect in early March, and Weinstein said the next step will be for the city to establish a system of monitoring adult film sets to ensure condoms are being used. The film companies will pay a fee when they apply for permits, and it is anticipated that code enforcement inspectors will conduct random site checks at the film sets. Fines will likely be established for violations, and companies that do not comply will presumably not be issued future permits, Weinstein added.

The AHF had been pushing for a law on condom use in adult films for the past five years, and Weinstein said the spread of HIV among adult film performers is a key public health issue. The AHF had gathered approximately 70,000 signatures on petitions calling for the issue to be decided through a ballot initiative. City Councilmember Paul Koretz, 5th District, authored the motion calling for an adult film condom ordinance, and the council voted 11-1 last week, to approve the new law. The lone opposition vote was cast by Councilmember Mitch Englander, 12th District. Koretz said the decision spared the city a $4 million expense in holding an election on the issue.

Weinstein added that 90 percent of the adult film industry is centered in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, and that the AHF will now concentrate on getting other jurisdictions to pass similar laws, possibly at the state level.

“We know the battle to protect these workers will go on for many more years,” Weinstein said. “We definitely have the wind at our backs, and we are going to continue the fight.”