vibrators now legal!

just in time for valentine's day, the statesman reports, "A federal appeals court has struck down a law that makes it a crime to sell or promote sex toys."

the decision was based on a 2003 supreme court decision that struck down a texas law prohibiting private consensual sex between two people of the same sex. that decision established that people have a broad constitutional right to sexual privacy.

the article continues, "The state also argued in a brief that Texas has legitimate 'morality based' reasons for the laws, which include 'discouraging prurient interests in autonomous sex and the pursuit of sexual gratification unrelated to procreation.'"

my understatement of the year: i'm glad the state lost that argument. imagining the state government wanting to peek in bedrooms statewide to see whether texas citizens had "prurient" interests in autonomous sex (what does that mean, anyway? masturbation? having sex outside of marriage?) or were having sex for pleasure, not procreation, sure puts a damper on my libido.

texas has come out of the dark ages on this issue, finally, and it took a new orleans court to create the change.

note: laws against sex toys are still in place in mississippi, alabama, and virginia.