Dildos Illegal in Texas?

[indigobusiness]

If dildos are illegal in Texas, how then did George Bush ever become Governor?

-----------------------------------

Is That a Perfectly Legal, Anatomically Correct Condom Education Model, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?
BY ERICA C. BARNETT

August 11, 2000: Cock rings. Anal plugs. Nipple clamps. Dildos.
One of these things is not like the others. Can you guess which one?

Sure, they're all sex toys, but only one -- the humble dildo -- is legally verboten in the state of Texas. According to the Texas Penal Code, which details what devices good, law-abiding Texans may and may not purchase for their personal pleasure, dildos (and all other items made specifically to stimulate the genitals) can't be collected, bought, or sold in the state.

snip

It wasn't always that way. As recently as the late Eighties and early Nineties, at least two high-profile raids were conducted on local shops by two prominent vice squad commanders. Forbidden Fruit was raided by the notorious Bubba Cates in 1989 (for offering dildos, vibrators, and other so-called contraband); and four years later, Planet K got stung by Cates' successor Jack Kelly, for selling a plastic inflatable sheep.

"They came flying through the door, busted in, and ransacked the place, and took everything they could get their hands on," recalls Lynn, the owner of Forbidden Fruit (who spoke to the Chronicle on the condition that her last name not be used). According to a news report in the Austin American-Statesman the day after the raid, the sting "netted about 400 sexual devices and the arrest of the store manager," Carole Vise. After taking a huge loss in the raid, the store got more careful about the packaging and display of its merchandise, most of which is marketed almost exclusively to women.

The irony -- that most sex crimes are committed by men, yet the people targeted by "obscene device" laws are predominantly women -- isn't lost on Lynn, who speculates that the men writing the laws "must have three-inch penises" to be so concerned about regulating female pleasure. Still, no one has talked seriously about rescinding the law since it was passed in 1973.

On the bright side, the dildo law -- or the "obscenity" ordinance, as puritans would have it -- has made adult-oriented businesses more creative about what they sell and how they sell it. Forbidden Fruit, for example, could probably get by, financially speaking, on its piercing and fetishwear businesses alone, not to mention its massive (and perfectly legal) collection of bondage gear. They're even branching out into e-commerce, but unlike such massive mail-order companies as Xandria and Adam and Eve, they won't let any "questionable" merchandise cross state lines. Instead, Lynn says, they'll focus on things you can find only in Texas: custom body harnesses, handmade leather restraints, and other toys the laws of Texas smile upon.


http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2000-08-11/xtra_feature2.html

[SheBop]

1. No wonder the First Lady

spends so much time in D.C.


:evilgrin:

[mhr]

2. She Might Need "The Toys" Out Of Fear For Having ..... With Her .....

eom

[Ruffhowse]

3. LOL-Pickles caught in crime sweep-interstate transfer of sex toys

[Dirty Hippie]

4. Also illegal in Alabama

I've always wondered what the produce isle looks like in those states.

"I'm sorry ma'am we are out of cucumbers AGAIN!"

[indigobusiness]

6. LOTS of zuchini

and cucumbers.

[RubyDuby in GA]

5. Well that explains why

Bush had to steal the election. He had to legally get out of Texas.

[tandot]

7. They can sell them as "novelty items" only

I think as long as they don't call it by what it is or say what it is used for, they can sell it.

Texas: It is like a whole other country ... need I say more. :crazy:

[indigobusiness]

8. This paragraph cracks me up... Is that illegal?

It's not that businesses are going to personally hold you to that promise, any more than head shops really think you're going to use that "water pipe" to smoke tobacco. It's just that they've been burned before. The law is a harsh, unforgiving mistress, but what it says is fairly simple: "Obscene devices" -- defined as anything, including a dildo, vibrator, or artificial vagina, "designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs" -- can't be sold in the state of Texas (or in Georgia, for those keeping track), except for "a bona fide medical, psychiatric, judicial, legislative, or law enforcement purpose." If you can prove you're using those models to demonstrate how to put on a condom, that's fine. If you're thinking about using them for a more personal sort of education, that's not. (Oddly, the law doesn't prevent people from owning sexual devices; it just makes selling them illegal. But don't let your collection get out of hand: If you're hiding more than six dongs in your closet, that's intent to "promote" -- a class A misdemeanor.)

[yellowcanine]

9. How "Pickles" got her nickname? Does * slip sometimes and call her carrot?

After all a pickle is just a cucumber.

[indigobusiness]

10. bwahahaha..."How Pickles got her name...."

bwahahahahahahhaaahaaaaaaaa.....



edited to correct spelling of bwahahahahahahhaaahaaaaaaaa

[tom_paine]

11. Would that be the Texas Penile Code?

:evilgrin:

[yellowcanine]

12. Yeah I saw that too. Cheap but still funny in a potty humor way.

Far be it for me to denigrate appropriate use of some good potty humor.