Alabama vs. Dildos

Attorney General Troy King stands hard against stimulators by David Holthouse


Last November 15th, UPS delivered a box to Alabama Attorney General Troy King. Inside was a “Ms. Piglet" blow-up sex doll. “The Original Inflatable Party Pig" was a gift from Loretta Nall, 33, a popular Alabama blogger, Libertarian activist and former gubernatorial candidate (“Vote Nall, Y'all") who spearheaded a “Sex Toys for Troy King" drive in protest of Alabama's “Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act."That law criminalizes the sale of dildos, clitoral vibrators or any other “ - device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs."

“What's next, knobby cucumbers?" says Nall.

According to the actual language of the law, sex toys are obscene because they promote a “prurient interest in autonomous sex" through “the pursuit of orgasm by artificial means." Its penalties are stiff. While selling a handgun to a child is a trivial crime in Alabama punishable by no more than a $500 fine, violators of the dildo ban are subject to one year of prison or hard labor as well as a $10,000 fine.

In other words, Alabama lawmakers deemed that G-spot stimulators in the hands of consenting adults are more of a threat to public safety and welfare than Glock .45s in the hands of children.

“The difference is, firearms are not inherently immoral," says Rev. Dan Ireland, executive director of the Alabama Citizens Action Program, a coalition of conservative Baptist preachers and activists who claim to serve as “Alabama's moral compass."

“There are moral ways and immoral ways to use a firearm," says Ireland, whose organization is clamoring for stringent enforcement of the dildo ban. “There is no moral way to use one of these devices [sex toys]."

Originally passed in 1998, Alabama's dildo ban was quickly frozen by an injunction pending a court challenge of its constitutionality. After a Federal District Court judge overturned the law in 2002, Attorney General King's office appealed, arguing, “There is no fundamental right to purchase a product in pursuit of having an orgasm."  Two years later, the 11th District Court of Appeals ruled in the state's favor. Last October, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, ending the legal battle and clearing the way for the law to finally be put into effect.

“They can have my vibrator when they pry it from my cold, dead hand,"  says Sherri Williams, owner of two “romance shops" in Alabama. Williams was one of the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit that preemptively challenged the law's constitutionality before a single arrest was made. (The other plaintiff was Alabama resident B.J. Bailey, owner of Saucy Lady, Inc., who sells dildos and other sex toys in private homes at Tupperware-style parties).

Currently the “Pleasures" stores owned by Williams, one in Decatur, Ala., the other in Huntsville, both carry more or less the same inventory as before the U.S. Supreme Court declined her final appeal. Now, however, customers who wish to purchase a dildo or a vibrator must sign a lengthy disclaimer that includes the following statement: “By asking to purchase this item you represent and warrant that any resulting sale of the product is for a bona fide medical purpose. No exceptions."

 

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