Court Lifts Ban on Sex Toys in Texas

Sex toys got a pardon in the Lone Star State yesterday, when a federal appeals court overturned a law banning their sale. The court ruled that the law prohibiting the possession of six or more devices used primarily for sexual stimulation violates the right to privacy. The decision cites a 2003 Supreme Court ruling that struck down Texas bans on consensual sex between people of the same sex, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

"Whatever one might think or believe about the use of these devices," said the court opinion, "government interference with their personal and private use violates the Constitution." The ruling leaves only Mississippi, Alabama, and Virginia with similar laws on the books, and some speculate they, too, will be short-lived. "It's about time," one attorney said, arguing that the law unfairly targeted women. (More sex toys stories.)