# 20 wacky sex laws in the U.S.: Are you breaking any? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689 "2014-02-19T05:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/21 "2014-02-20T18:40:30Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > It doesn’t look good: > > [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fgc&group=02001-03000&file=3000-3012](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fgc&group=02001-03000&file=3000-3012) > > [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fgc&group=04001-05000&file=4500-4501](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fgc&group=04001-05000&file=4500-4501) Aw, crap…another childhood illusion destroyed. (Guess I’ll have to settle for having sex with the whale…) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/22 "2014-02-20T18:57:21Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Still not getting why selling sex toys, especially at private parties, should be against the law at all. Because the law is an idiot? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/23 "2014-02-21T04:19:38Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > And adultery is not illegal in New York (Eliot Spitzer, for one, would have gone to jail for it if he did). Adultery was for many years the sole grounds for divorce in New York, though; the law was expanded in the 60s as lawmakers realized that people would fake adultery (hire someone to be the co-respondent) or get divorced in Nevada. Which brings up the question: Who is the last person in the U.S. to be charged or convicted solely for the crime of adultery? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/24 "2014-02-21T04:36:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > And adultery is not illegal in New York (Eliot Spitzer, for one, would have gone to jail for it if he did). Adultery was for many years the sole grounds for divorce in New York, though; the law was expanded in the 60s as lawmakers realized that people would fake adultery (hire someone to be the co-respondent) or get divorced in Nevada. Unless it changed very recently, adultery is [still on the books in New York](http://law.onecle.com/new-york/penal/PEN0255.17_255.17.html). It’s just very rare for someone to be charged. [This article](http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/woman-charged-adultery-challenge-york-law/story?id=10857437) about a woman being charged in 2010 said only 12 other people had been charged in the history of the state. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/25 "2014-02-22T01:46:06Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > _13. INDIANA: It is illegal for a man to be sexually aroused in public._ > > Indiana, like many states, did a massive overhaul of its laws decades ago. Most things sexual are no longer illegal here. > > To be sure, we still have some embarrassingly stupid laws. We are Indiana, after all. Isn’t Indiana The state where they tried to legislate that pi was 3.14? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/26 "2014-02-22T03:41:01Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > Isn’t Indiana The state where they tried to legislate that pi was 3.14? 1. It was Alabama. 2. Snopes says [it’s an urban legend](http://www.snopes.com/religion/pi.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/27 "2014-02-22T03:53:29Z")
It’s an urban legend about Alabama. It’s true about Indiana, as Snopes notes. Except that the bill in question didn’t make pi 3.14; it made it 4. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/28 "2014-02-22T05:10:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s an urban legend about Alabama. It’s true about Indiana, as Snopes notes. > > Except that the bill in question didn’t make pi 3.14; it made it 4. Note quite true about Indiana. There was a bill proposed by a legislator in 1897 making pi equal to 3.2, 4 or 3.23 depending on… oh hell I don’t know. It was not enacted into law. Anyway the perfect Master wrote about it. [Did a state legislature once pass a law saying pi equals 3? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/805/did-a-state-legislature-once-pass-a-law-saying-pi-equals-3) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/29 "2014-02-22T05:31:57Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Still not getting why selling sex toys, especially at private parties, should be against the law at all. If I had to take a guess, it’s because they’re running an illegal business. A business with no licenses, not okay’d\* to operated in the city/state and almost certainly not collecting and paying sales tax. \*okay’d sort of goes with ‘no licenses’ but if the city or state would require any kind of inspection, they’d be bypassing that. Look at it this way, the head porn shop down the road is paying a few hundred dollars a year, just on fees, not counting property taxes or sales taxes. I’m just talking about fees to the city and states to stay be a legitimate business. The lady selling dildos out of the trunk of her car can sell them cheaper by not skipping all those. Also, she’s almost for sure not carrying business insurance. If she’s working for a place like Surprise Parties they may carry it for her, but I doubt it and that’s not really what we talking about here. If it were a legit business she may be required to carry some kind of insurance to not only protect herself but protect her customers in case something goes wrong. Again, this is why you can get the same dildo from her for half the price as the one from the head shop. Or pay the same price and she takes home a lot more profit. Why yes, I do know a thing or two about running a business. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/30 "2014-02-22T06:19:50Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > If I had to take a guess, it’s because they’re running an illegal business. A business with no licenses, not okay’d\* to operated in the city/state and almost certainly not collecting and paying sales tax. Fortunately you don’t have to take a guess since I linked to the actual statute in post #4. I get the impression you haven’t spent a lot of time in Texas. 🙂 The law is based on “morality” not business licenses. It falls under the obscenity laws. Up until 2008 such items could only be bought or sold in Texas illegally, whether from an ‘adult novelty shop’ with a business license or the trunk of someone’s car. In 2008 a federal appeals court ruled the law unconstitutional, but a circuit court in Corpus Christi told them to shove it. (no pun intended) They ruled that the state law stood unless the highest state appeals court said otherwise because states have the right to make ‘morality’ based laws of their own choosing. At that point the case should have gone to the Supreme Court, where it surely would have been declared unconstitutional again, but the Attorney General declined to file an appeal. The situation this currently leaves Texas in is that in most of Texas it is now presumed legal to buy, sell and own all the sex toys of whatever variety you want. But anyone, legal business or private person, within the jurisdiction of the 13th District Court of Appeals is still subject to prosecution under the statute today. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/31 "2014-02-22T06:37:30Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Fortunately you don’t have to take a guess since I linked to the actual statute in post #4. I get the impression you haven’t spent a lot of time in Texas. 🙂 The law is based on “morality” not business licenses. It falls under the obscenity laws. I didn’t know if that was a ‘blue law’ or not. Besides, in theory, in most states I’d suspect selling dildos out of the trunk of your car would technically be illegal (for reasons stated above). Also, just because the law you linked to said ‘dildos’. If I go into Texas and start selling T-shirts and jeans out of my trunk I’ll get in trouble as well. (As I typed that I realize the law was about owning them, not selling them). I could be wrong I but I think even rummage sales are technically illegal (without a permit at the very least). Hell, from time to time you hear about cops shutting down kids with lemonade stands, but, in the cops’ defense, that can be a food safety issue. Kool-aid sitting out in 90 degree weather for 7 or 8 hours isn’t all that safe and actually could make someone sick. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/32 "2014-02-22T07:05:02Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I didn’t know if that was a ‘blue law’ or not. Besides, in theory, in most states I’d suspect selling dildos out of the trunk of your car would technically be illegal (for reasons stated above). Also, just because the law you linked to said ‘dildos’. If I go into Texas and start selling T-shirts and jeans out of my trunk I’ll get in trouble as well. (As I typed that I realize the law was about owning them, not selling them). The distinction is that under the Texas criminal code you are presumed to be promoting obscenity by having 6 or more dildos in any context, whereas in your example there may or may not be some civil code about being able to operate a business without a license that would probably not be very controversial to anyone if it existed. But things like garage sales, ebay selling, swap meets, etc. don’t require any kind of special licensing. I could advertise 6 cars for sale privately in Texas without running afoul of the law. I don’t think selling jeans out of your car without a license is illegal either. But even if it is, that isn’t the basis of the law mentioned in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/33 "2014-02-25T01:37:27Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > But things like garage sales, ebay selling, swap meets, etc. don’t require any kind of special licensing. I could advertise 6 cars for sale privately in Texas without running afoul of the law. I don’t think selling jeans out of your car without a license is illegal either. But even if it is, that isn’t the basis of the law mentioned in the OP. I don’t have a cite handy, but I’m led to believe that, at least in my city, there is a limit on how _often_ an individual can hold yard/garage sales on their property. Have yard sales too often, and you’re considered a business and had better have a business license. And live in an area that is zoned “residential/commercial”. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/34 "2014-02-25T02:38:17Z")
#5…by about…um…oh never mind. My boyfriend and I have quite a collection. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/35 "2014-02-25T02:50:36Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Fortunately you don’t have to take a guess since I linked to the actual statute in post #4. I get the impression you haven’t spent a lot of time in Texas. 🙂 The law is based on “morality” not business licenses. It falls under the obscenity laws. > > Up until 2008 such items could only be bought or sold in Texas illegally, whether from an ‘adult novelty shop’ with a business license or the trunk of someone’s car. In 2008 a federal appeals court ruled the law unconstitutional, but a circuit court in Corpus Christi told them to shove it. (no pun intended) They ruled that the state law stood unless the highest state appeals court said otherwise because states have the right to make ‘morality’ based laws of their own choosing. > > At that point the case should have gone to the Supreme Court, where it surely would have been declared unconstitutional again, but the Attorney General declined to file an appeal. > > The situation this currently leaves Texas in is that in most of Texas it is now presumed legal to buy, sell and own all the sex toys of whatever variety you want. But anyone, legal business or private person, within the jurisdiction of the 13th District Court of Appeals is still subject to prosecution under the statute today. This is factually incorrect. As a senior in high school in 2007, a female friend asked me to go to the Adult Emporium with her on a day we had off due to exams. She wanted a vibrator and thought I was too sheltered or something. I can promise you that all sorts of things were sold in Texas, ranging from tame to absurd - as long as every package had a sticker that said “for educational use” on it or similar. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/36 "2014-02-25T02:57:49Z")
I haven’t clinked any of the links, but I make it a habit to break as many laws as I can without getting caught. So, probably. (I texted this while driving a 4 axle vehicle without the proper endorsements over the speed limit and drinking, with headlights off 36 minutes after sundown) ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/37 "2014-02-25T03:22:07Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I don’t have a cite handy, but I’m led to believe that, at least in my city, there is a limit on how _often_ an individual can hold yard/garage sales on their property. Have yard sales too often, and you’re considered a business and had better have a business license. And live in an area that is zoned “residential/commercial”. All of this being the case it still isn’t the basis of the “wacky law” referred to in the OP. It actually has nothing to do with selling anything anyway. By simply having them you are promoting obscenity. But even if it had to do with selling them it would be an obscenity law unrelated to licensing or taxes. If there was a law that said owning more than 2 cars was presumed to be driving while intoxicated, it wouldn’t be particularly relevant to the wackyness of such a law that you need to have insurance and registration to operate a motor vehicle. Same kind of thing. > [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > This is factually incorrect. As a senior in high school in 2007, a female friend asked me to go to the Adult Emporium with her on a day we had off due to exams. She wanted a vibrator and thought I was too sheltered or something. I can promise you that all sorts of things were sold in Texas, ranging from tame to absurd - as long as every package had a sticker that said “for educational use” on it or similar. It’s factually correct. What did I say that contradicts your story of senior year vibrator purchases? I din’t say they weren’t being bought and sold, I said they were being bought and sold illegally, and they were. In a direct, blatant, thumbing of the nose at this “wacky law” that was seldom enforced anyway, and as you noted, everything was sold under the guise of ‘educational’ or ‘for novelty purposes only’ That didn’t make it legal. It was just what people did to avoid being prosecuted under this wacky law (or to at least have a defense strategy if they were). Places did still get raided and shut down despite those efforts. The reason all these appeals court rulings listed above happened is because people were prosecuted under this law and appealed. So ergo propter hoc and all that, it must have been illegal, right? And it actually still is in some jurisdictions, thus its inclusion in a list of wacky laws. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/38 "2014-02-25T03:27:58Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > #5…by about…um…oh never mind. My boyfriend and I have quite a collection. 😃 Do speculums and probes count as dildos? They are, after all, technically medical devices. Hmmm… I’m gettin’ kinda het up just thinkin’ 'bout certain devices… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/39 "2014-02-25T03:42:50Z")
Not in those specific states necessarily, but I’ve violated #6 #8 #13 #15 #17 You’ll never take me alive, coppers! ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689/40 "2014-02-25T04:49:52Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > #5…by about…um…oh never mind. My boyfriend and I have quite a collection. 😃 > [@Arrendajo](#): > > Do speculums and probes count as dildos? They are, after all, technically medical devices. Hmmm… I’m gettin’ kinda het up just thinkin’ 'bout certain devices… Speculums and probes, eh? Hmm…well…maybe. I suppose it depends on how you are using them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-wacky-sex-laws-in-the-u-s-are-you-breaking-any/681689.md?page=1)