A Republican lawmaker from Texas has voiced her concerns regarding the presence of sex toys and sexually explicit items within common grocery stores and supermarkets such as Walmart and Target, stating that she does not believe they should be displayed in stores where children could encounter them.
Republican Rep. Hillary Hickland has emerged as a strong opponent of the sale of sexually explicit objects in such stores and is taking action to prevent exposing children to obscenities, reported Xataka On.
“Our family-oriented retailers should reflect the values of the communities they serve,” Hickland said in a statement, according to Chron. “Parents do not consent to their children being exposed to obscene devices while shopping for toothpaste. House Bill 1549 provides common-sense protections for families by ensuring parents can shop with their children without encountering sexually explicit items that compromise their innocence.”
Just this week, Hickland filed HB 1549, a legislative measure that would prohibit regular retail stores such as Walmart, Target and CVS from selling sex toys. The bill would limit the ability to sell such items to “sexually oriented businesses”.
Adult bookstores, video stores and nude studios are all permitted to sell such items, along with other commercial enterprises where “the primary business of which is the offering of a service or the selling, renting, or exhibiting of devices or any other items intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer,” according to the Texas Administrative Code.
In 1973, the state instituted an Obscenity Statute, or Section 43.21. of the Texas Penal Code which banned the sale of sex toys. Violations were punishable by up to two years in prison. However, the statute was overruled in 2008 for violating the 14th Amendment, which guarantees a right to privacy. The Texas Obscenity Statute then limited the number of sex toys people could own to only six per person.
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