(Texas Scorecard) – After conservative activists voiced their concerns, one lawmaker has filed a measure that, if passed, would ban sex toys from family-friendly retailers.
State Rep.-elect Hillary Hickland (R-Belton) has filed House Bill 1549 to allow the sale of obscene devices only in stores classified by law as “sexually oriented businesses.”
Any other business would not be allowed to sell, offer for sale, or hold for sale an obscene device.
According to the state penal code, an obscene device includes a dildo or artificial vagina “designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”
State Republican Executive Committeewoman Christin Bentley celebrated the measure in a post, stating that it is needed to protect children from sexualization.
“The state has a compelling interest to protect children from sexualization, as it leads to their exploitation and is critical to both their safety and natural development,” Bentley wrote on X. “This includes safeguarding the community spaces designated for their use.”
“We are thrilled to see Representative Hickland taking strong action to protect Texas kids. This is a priority issue for Texas Family Project,” said Brady Gray, president of the organization. “Our kids are inundated with adult subject matter on an everyday basis.”
Months ago, Bentley raised concerns about the lack of enforcement of the Texas Penal Code which states that, “A person commits an offense if, knowing its content and character, he wholesale promotes or possesses with intent to wholesale promote any obscene material or obscene device.”
“The law is outdated and no longer enforced, which is why we see sex toys on the aisles of family-friendly retailers like Target, Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens where children are present as both consumers and employees,” Bentley told Texas Scorecard in October.
“Whether on TV, the internet, in the classroom, or even at the drugstore, it’s insane that these obscene devices would be on public display and for sale in such places,” Gray told Texas Scorecard. “We must work to restore order and decorum in our society, measures like this are necessary steps in the right direction.”
One of the Republican Party of Texas’ priorities for the 2025 legislative session is to stop the sexualization of Texas children, which includes closing loopholes that allow minors to be exposed to obscene material.
The 89th Legislative Session will begin on January 14.