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Keep Your Nipples Unclamped! Newly-Released Documents Reveal Maggie Thatcher Wanted To Ban Sex Toys
We always knew Margaret Thatcher was a prude, but we had no idea she was this puritanical.
A trove of new documents released by the National Archives in the U.K. have unveiled that the Iron Lady once considered a law banning sex toys (i.e. dildos, butt plugs, nipple clamps, etc.) in an effort to promote “public decency” and prevent “physical injury.”
The documents reveal the former prime minister was persuaded to consider the law by notorious antifeminist, antigay, anti-television, anti-obscenity, anti-everything campaigner Mary Whitehouse.
Thatcher’s home secretary, Lord Leon Brittan, wrote to his boss in September 1986 about Whitehouse’s “strong case” for banning sex toys under the 1959 Obscene Publications Act, the same law used to prosecute the publisher of DH Lawrence’s classic romance novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
Brittan explained: “Some of the items in circulation are most objectionable, including some which can cause physical injury.”
He went on to say that he believed that sex toys could be deemed “deprave and corrupt.”
In response, Thatcher requested Brittan prepare a test which would allow lawmakers to set a new bar for measuring what was indecent. After mulling it over for a bit, Brittan replied that trying to measure that sort of thing would be too complex a concept for the courts to litigate over and the plan was swiftly abandoned.
The news of Mrs. Thatcher’s war on sex toys comes mere weeks after the U.K. government imposed a new law banning certain sex acts in British-made adult videos, including spanking, facesitting, and caning, among other things. Lawmakers deemed the acts morally corrupt and dangerous, sparking outrage among many who accused the government of attempting to police their bedroom behavior and impose upon their civil liberties.
Related stories:
Hey Brits, You Can Perform And Watch These Sexual Activities, Just Don’t Film Them
How The UK Ruined Gay Sex For Everyone
Graham Gremore is a columnist and contributor for Queerty and Life of the Law. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Graham Gremore
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