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Sex Toy Ban Update
Since I last blogged about Rep. Davenport’s attempt to ban sex toys in South Carolina, more news outlets in that area have picked up the story. A new article states that the bill is stuck in a house subcommittee (thank goodness).
More interesting, however, is the author’s statement that apparently, Rep. Davenport admits that he doesn’t even know what a sex toy is. What is wrong with this picture? Either Rep. Davenport is trying to make laws around things about which he has no knowledge or he’s lying. Either way, he doesn’t sound like someone I’d want to decide what I can and cannot buy for my own personal use.
Rep. Davenport also says that he doesn’t have a strong opinion about sex toys. It’s funny that for someone who doesn’t have a strong opinon, he’s trying to make selling them punishable by 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. What disasters would insue if everyone created laws around things about which they had no strong opinion?
I was thinking that maybe we should put together a box of sex toys (I vote for Rabbit Habbits and Boss dildos) to send to him, but then I realized that maybe if he actually knew what they were, he might actually develop a strong opinion about them and then we could only guess what the punishment for selling them would be.
As I said in my previous post, if you’d like to tell Rep. Davenport what you think of his legislation, (H-4830)? Call him at (803) 742-2098 or send him an e-mail: GRD@schouse.org. If you happen to be a resident of his district (37 - Spartanberg, SC) then please make sure you tell him that. Rep. Davenport has also authored legislation to built a monument to “unborn children” and legislation that would enact the “right to life act” among other heinous bills.
May 25th, 2006 at 12:55 am
I’m really having a hard time figuring out what the motivation for these bans is supposed to be. As my boyfriend put it, “How does that help anyone?”
Although it should be noted for anyone who is unclear on the issue that the fact that sex toys are supposedly banned in Texas does not mean that you can’t get them. There are plenty of sex shops in Texas. The only difference is that they have to claim that what they are selling are “novelty items,” and often the text on packaging that indicates that it is a sex toy is blacked out. These stores are by no means secret/under the counter operations.
Still, the fact that they have to make that effort at all is ridiculous.
May 25th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
M,
Exactly. Your boyfriend’s question is exactly right. It doesn’t help anyone. That’s what is so frustrating about them. Especially when the person authoring the legislation (Davenport) admits he doesn’t know what a sex toy is.
Basically, what it all boils down to, is that sex toys are seen by some people as offensive and therefore, they feel the need to legislate their personal opinions into people’s lives. Legislating against this can create stigma against sex toy use and also makes it that much harder to buy a sex toy. Even if you can still get them in Texas, you can’t admit to what you’re actually using it for. Can you imagine saying you were only going to wear that shirt you were buying to church and not to a bar? It’s a rediculous idea but it does have ripple effects.
The other thing this kind of legislation does is pave the way for bigger and badder legislation. To see the effects of that, you only have to look at the way abortion rights opponents have steadily chipped way at the state level until in many states, abortion access is almost impossible. It’s small, un-noticed baby steps that add up to big time rollbacks in civil rights.
That’s why we need to keep our eyes on the Davenports of this country and make sure they don’t get away with things like this while most of the country isn’t looking.
Thanks for your comment.
June 12th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Actually, they’re usually deemed “cake toppers” in the state of Texas–where I’m currently sitting. There’s nothing like seeing a giant inflatable chair with straps and an already-mounted gargantuan dildo deemed a “cake topper”.
Of course, that would make for one hell of a birthday cake.
From the state that allows concealed handguns but no artificial love guns,
T
July 3rd, 2006 at 3:07 pm
I’m a Passion Parties consultant and I know that ’sex toys’ in Texas are illegal, and, exactly why I go into the business. I was reading an article about a consultant who lives in Texas and is in/out of the court system because of it. We all use “novelty items” on our business cards, though, and why? Because America is too busy trying to please everyone, we always have to be “politically correct.”
There are a few other states that resort to the same practices as Texas. I just know that you aren’t allowed to solicit in public, but are welcomed to have those items in the privacy of your own home.
I know the company I rep for is destined to opening the lines of communication, so that it encourages intimacy between partners. I do in-home parties (not in Texas, but in Florida) and we educate women, couples and show them how to spice up their bedroom life. I know, for me, I’ve had people come back to me for helping them re-live the passion they once had. My products arent just toys, but books, games, edibles, lotions and lingerie too. Our products are designed to increase the longevity of the love-making process; to unify couples as one and to bring them together again.
I’m a Christian and I have sex. God didnt just create a penis and a vagina for procreation, if that was so, then why did he create a clitoris with 8000 nerve endings [twice as much as the head of the penis]? I can go on-and-one with a three-pager on “What God Says About Sex” but you can write me directly for that. I know many people of the church think it goes against God and what he has, but which is worse as a Chrisitan >> going out to the bar and taking a man home or coming home alone and satisfying an urge with a toy?
Ok, done venting. Thank you for reading.
Hugs from your Passion Coach,
sharon gadbois
October 19th, 2006 at 7:21 pm
[…] South Carolina state representative Ralph Davenport (Republican, SC) has proposed a bill that would make sex toys illegal in SC. If passed, selling them would be a felony in the state. More info on the babeland blog. What’s worse is that Davenport readily admits that he doesn’t know what a sex toy is - yet he wants them banned. […]