LUBBOCK, TX — While some may consider Sherri Williams’ Supreme Court challenge to the Alabama state sex toy ban to be much ado about nothing, the recent experience of a Texas adult shop clerk drives home the serious implications of such so-called morality-based laws and how devastating they can be to those caught in their net.The owner of Lubbock, TX Somethin’ Sexy isn’t revealing the name of the female clerk who was arrested during a police raid of his shop, but he does admit that “I feel like I’m in 1690 Salem, MA and we’re looking for a witch to burn.”
In this case, the witch may wind up being forced to register for her entire life as a sex offender – all because she sold vibrators to adults who wanted to buy them.
The shop’s owner speaks for many when he insists that the obscure law is “ridiculous. She’s not a sex offender. She was selling something that I had instructed them it was ok to sell. I think it’s ridiculous.”
Ridiculous or not, Somethin’ Sexy was courageously raided by police last week for being in violation of the city‘s sexually oriented business ordinance. During the raid, four police officers took possession of an assortment of toys they believed were illegal under the Texas penal code, which states that “a person who possesses six or more obscene devices is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same.”
The shop’s owner is confused about why his business attracted attention when the same items are for sale elsewhere in the state. “We went to several places in Dallas,” he explained to the local television news, “where the merchandise was deemed obscene here, they were in open view on the shelves. Lubbock seems to be taking the most hard line approach to we’ve seen anywhere in Texas.”
According to the shop’s owner, not only has he gone out of his way to keep the items away from easy view, but keeping them stocked is an issue due to their popularity.
“We kept it in a closed cabinet, we did not promote it,” he explained to KLBK13 television news, “If anyone asked, then we showed them the merchandise. Our guest book, we’ve had over 1,500 people sign up to receive emails and mail outs.”
While the Lubbock Assistant District Attorney researches the case, the shop remains open, selling items that its owner insists are legal. From what he has to say, though, legality can be a thin line. “If they tell them this is a candle, put it on the birthday cake, this is a novelty,” John Grace explains. “If they tell you to enjoy sexual gratification, it’s no longer a candle on the birthday cake.”
In other word, anything could become an obscene device depending on how its marketed.
“If the seller is selling it as a novelty and the buyer is buying it as a novelty to make fun of it, then it probably has not reached the level of obscenity,” Grace says, diving further down the logic rabbit hole. “What’s considered obscene in LA is different than Lubbock and different than Des Moines,” he insists, showing how muddy the entire business ultimately is. “The community ultimately decides what is obscene,” he concludes, not defining which community or how it came to its decision.
Grace points out that it’s not the District Attorney’s job to determine when laws are fair or not, merely to enforce them. “As a voter and a taxpayer,” he advised the media, “if you think the law is not fair, that’s what democracy is all about. Go talk to your congressman and see if you can get the law changed.”
