Our sympathies go out to our readers in Alabama. Thanks to a recent state supreme court ruling, these folks still can’t go down to the neighborhood dildo shop and buy a butt plug or vibe – it’s illegal to sell or distribute sex toys in the state. It’s OK to use one in the privacy of your own home, but good luck getting your hands on one. A gun, however, you can pick up at any Wal-Mart.
Alabama has a long history of policing citizens’ bedroom behavior, and until six years ago, it was one of the few states that still had sodomy laws on the books. Retailers have been fighting the sex toy ban for years, but just suffered another blow as an appeal was knocked down and the law was upheld, under the auspices of “public morality”. The innocuously named sex toy retailer “Love Stuff” is challenging the ruling once again.
But, in the meantime, horny Alabamans will have to find alternative ways to get pervy playthings – by ordering online (if companies will ship there), hopping a state line to go dildo shopping, holding clandestine Passion Parties (we love the idea of housewives buying vibrators like Tupperware), or of course, making their own fun gadgets. And that’s what we’re here for. Thank goodness they can’t legislate the sale of cucumbers and electric toothbrushes!