State lawmakers refused April 29 to rescind a state ban on sex toys that was included in a 1998 obscenity law, the Birmingham News reported.
"It's not about sex toys," said Rep. John Rogers (D-Birmingham), who sponsored the repeal measure, about those lawmakers who voted to let the ban stand. "They're confused. It's about having a legal obscenity law. It's a good bill. It just sounds bad."
The original obscenity law aimed mostly at adult video stores and nude dancing clubs, but it also makes it a misdemeanor to distribute "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of the human genitals," according to the paper.
The original obscenity law sponsor, Sen. Tom Butler (D-Madison), told the News he didn't intent to ban the sex toys, but the Madison County District Attorney's office put that language into the original bill and he just went along. Alabama is appealing a federal judge's ruling that the ban was an unconstitutional invasion of privacy, the News said.
