Are dildos really illegal in Texas? (and other weird sex laws)

[TexasTowelie]

Earlier this week, i09.com published the above map illustrating “the weirdest sex laws in the United States.” While acknowledging that many sex laws you read about online are “urban legends,” i09.com went on to say that in Texas, “you can’t own more than six dildos.”

Up until 2008, this was actually true. Under Section 43.21 of the Texas Penal Code, first passed by the Legislature in the 1970s, it was illegal to sell “obscene devices” — or any device “including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”

However, in 2004, two adult store chains challenged the law, and in 2008, a federal appeals court struck it down as unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based its decision on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling in Lawrence. V. Texas.

“Because of Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), the issue before us is whether the Texas statute impermissibly burdens the individual’s substantive due process right to engage in private intimate conduct of his or her choosing,” the majority wrote. “Contrary to the district court’s conclusion, we hold that the Texas law burdens this constitutional right. An individual who wants to legally use a safe sexual device during private intimate moments alone or with another is unable to legally purchase a device in Texas, which heavily burdens a constitutional right.”

More at http://www.lonestarq.com/fact-check-dildos-really-illegal-texas/ .

[Silent3]

1. You can't use them for pleasure, but you can elect them to public office. n/t

[mindwalker_i]

2. I was about to ask why Rick Perry was still allowed there

Then I saw that the law states you can not own more than six dildos, which makes this a bit murkier.

[winter is coming]

3. You can only own six dildos in Texas?

I guess their congressional delegation is smaller than I thought.

[Monk06]

7. You can own more than six if you can attach them to a rifle and use them for bayonets.

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Dude, I had a roommate who got busted for selling dildos in Austin!

And inflatable sheep.

It was in the '80s. Or maybe the early '90s (got a little fuzzy there for awhile). He worked for one of the head shops, Planet K, maybe. He was a black guy and musician named Harry, who played in a band called Jesus Christ Superfly, among others. He wasn't really amused by the whole experience. I think he moved to New York.

[NoOneMan]

5. Compare and contrast to gun laws

[mwrguy]

6. The AZ law is off the books

Have as many dildos as you want now.

[edbermac]

8. I wonder if Bush had something to do with this.

[ismnotwasm]

9. Apparently if I give a stripper friend of mine a ride to work

I could lose my car. Jesus.

[Warren DeMontague]

10. This is what happens, when Puritans write laws.

Although I have to say the thing about boobie pillows near the highway makes an odd sort of sense.