Sex toy-wielding students protest gun law at University of Texas
Students wielded thousands of sex toys at the University of Texas, Austin in protest of the hotly-debated conceal carry law that took effect Wednesday on campuses across the Lone Star State.
The law allows concealed handgun license holders, who must be at least 21 years old, to carry handguns on campus, including in dorms, classrooms and campus buildings.
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The reasoning behind the sex toy protest, according to organizer and recent alumnus Jessica Jin, was to fight absurdity with absurdity: Under current Texas law, a person can be arrested in some circumstances for the open carry of a sex toy.
"The State of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, however it does have strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence," Jin wrote on the Facebook event page. "You would receive a citation for taking a dildo to class before you would get in trouble for taking a gun to class. Heaven forbid the penis."
See photos from the protest:
According to media reports, more than 4,500 dildos were donated to Cocks Not Glocks, the protest group originally formed last fall, and students donned t-shirts with slogans such as "Take It and Come."
Police were standing by during the protest, but no arrests were made.
The protest is just the latest event in an ongoing debate over the conceal carry law that has its epicenter at the state's flagship university in Austin.
In July, three professors there sued the school and state in an attempt to prevent the campus carry law from going into effect. They argued in the lawsuit and continue to argue thatthe law is forcing the school to implement "overly-solicitous, dangerously-experimental gun policies" that violate the First and Second Amendments.
Specifically, they reasoned, the conceal carry law could prevent students from participating in robust classroom discussions and debates about sensitive topics.
A judge denied the request to block the law on Monday.
Eight other states also have laws on the books allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on public postsecondary campuses, including Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin. In 23 states the decision to ban or allow concealed carry weapons on campuses is made by each college or university individually, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
