TX Lawmaker Proposes Ban on Sale of Sex Toys in Major Retailers

AUSTIN, Tex.—A newly elected Republican state lawmaker in Texas has pre-filed a new bill for the 2025 legislative session seeking to ban the sale and display of sex toys in drugstores, retail pharmacies and supermarkets. Homemaker Hillary Hickland, the incoming member-elect for House District 55 in Bell County, filed House Bill (HB) 1549. HB 1549 would “protect” children from viewing what Hickland considers to be “obscene devices” in stores that aren’t classified as sexually oriented businesses by state law. The bill would prohibit the sale of such products at virtually every major retailer, including Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, Meijer and Kroger, among others. “A business in this state may not sell, offer for sale, or hold for sale an obscene device, unless the business is a sexually oriented business,” reads the draft of the bill. State statute already defines an “obscene device” to be a “device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.” This chapter in the statute highlights the fact that Texas remains one of the only states in the union that has a cap on the number of sex toys an individual can own. It is illegal for an individual to own six or more sex toys or exhibit an “intent to distribute” them, as if the products were illicit drugs. Hickland said in a statement, “Parents do not consent to their children being exposed to obscene devices while shopping for toothpaste. House Bill 1549 provides common-sense protections for families by ensuring parents can shop with their children without encountering sexually explicit items that compromise their innocence.” She refers to the major retailers that sell so-called “obscene devices” as “family-oriented retailers,” and says businesses should “reflect the values of the communities they serve.” HB 1549 also grants local and county governments new civil remedies against companies that county and district attorneys believe violate the law. The bill describes this action as protecting the so-called “public interest.” If adopted by the state legislature, the bill would enter force immediately if two-thirds of all members of the House and Senate vote to adopt it. If the lawmakers don’t reach two-thirds, the act will enter force on September 1, 2025, if it is passed. The Houston Chronicle online platform, Chron.com, speculates that Hickland’s pre-file was inspired by a state GOP committeewoman who criticized a CVS in Carthage, Tex., for selling sex toys along with condoms and other pleasure and family planning products.   Hickland rose to prominence as a school choice advocate and advocate for book bans in K-12 institutions across the state. In November 2024, she was elected to office with endorsements from President-elect Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott, and Attorney General Ken Paxton.    Note that Paxton is defending Texas at the U.S. Supreme Court in the First Amendment age verification case of Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton.