Anyone who has visited my site and done a bit of reading should know that I have a definition for what is an inalienable right: Any and all non-violent, non-coerced, non-larcenous, consensual adult behavior that does not physically harm other people or their property and is not a direct and immediate threat to other people and their property; that does not disturb the peace or create a public nuisance, is the right of all adults.
This definition applies, logically, to all sexual behavior. There is no legitimate power of a supposedly rights-protecting and secular government to prohibit and criminalize consensual adult sexual behavior, including the sales, gift, or use of sex toys.
My definition of a sex toy is any object or device designed and produced specifically to provide stimulation of the genitalia and sexual pleasure. (There are, of course, many objects in most homes that could be used as sex toys, but were not specifically designed for that purpose.)
Laws against sexual preferences, sexual practices, sex toys, and the like are actually religious laws and have no place in a secular government. However, the various legislatures of the various states who have sexual prohibition laws (for instance: Alabama, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia) hide behind the ruse of protecting public morals.
But wait! What if my moral precepts are not your moral precepts? And what if I am not violating the rights of any other person with my sexual behavior? Do you, through the government, have the legitimate right to prohibit my moral beliefs, at least to the extent of criminalizing my action--actions that I will be doing in private, either alone or with consenting adults, and which harms no one? (And don't give me any crap about "social harm." Alcohol causes a whole lot more "social harm" than me and my honey participating in something other than penile-vaginal sex or stimulating her doo-dah with a vibrator or dildo.)
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution forbids the government from passing laws that establish a religion. If my religion, my belief in what is proper moral behavior, allows me, for instance, to sell or use sex toys, and your religious beliefs are codified in the criminal law to stop me from selling or using sex toys, then that law has, in fact, established one religion over another.
The Ninth Amendment basically states that the ten amendments is not a list of all the rights of the people. But no where did anyone define what an inalienable right is (except for me, above), not even the Supreme Court. The reason, I believe, is because if they had then a whole lot of laws that violate the rights of otherwise peaceful, honest citizens would have to be repealed.
The Tenth Amendment states that the powers not given specifically to the federal government are reserved to the states and the people. (Note, it didn't just say to the states. The people figure in here, too.) Remember, governments have powers, not rights. People have rights and powers. We have given some of our powers to the government, both federal and state, but I have never given to the government my power to determine my own personal moral code.
I own, or should own, the property of my body and my mind and I should be allowed to decide how I want to use that property, just so long as I do not violate or threaten to violate the rights of others.
The Fourteenth Amendment made the federal Bill or Rights applicable to the states. That is, the states are not supposed to pass rights-violating laws. The government, both state and federal, are supposed to protect our rights. All the laws against consenting adult sexual behavior are rights-violating laws. They are religious laws pure and simple.
Our nation was not founded as a pure democracy--for instance, two wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for dinner. There were some things, things we call inalienable rights, that were supposed to be beyond any vote by legislators or even the general public. Pure democracy leads to tyranny and the suppression of our rights.
The anti-sex laws regarding consenting adults are a form of religious tyranny and violate the rights of the those who do not go to that particular church or agreed with that particular religious dogma.
Besides, humans, whether through evolution or design, are the most sexual mammals on Earth. But that is an issue for another article.
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