Women File Suit Over Ban on Sex Aids in Alabama
A group of women have filed a federal lawsuit to block a new Alabama law that bans the sale of sex toys, arguing the law violates their right to privacy.
“No one wants the government in their bedroom,” Sherri Williams, one of six plaintiffs, said Friday.
Williams owns two Alabama stores that sell sex devices. Another plaintiff, B.J. Bailey, sells similar items at in-home gatherings. The other four women challenging the law are described in the lawsuit as needing sexual aids to have orgasms.
The law, which took effect July 1, makes it a misdemeanor in Alabama to distribute “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”
Violators are subject to maximum penalties of a $10,000 fine and one year in jail. While distribution of such items was banned, possession remains legal.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, which called the ban an invasion of privacy and a misguided attempt to impose a moral viewpoint on adults.
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