Happy America’s Sexuality Day!

The symbol of Comstock's Society for the Suppression of Vice

Yesterday was the anniversary of the Comstock Act of 1873. The act was geared towards preventing the sale of birth control through the mail. It was eventually expanded to include the complete prohibition of birth control distribution and use. The Comstock Act received a major blow in 1916,  when Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

According to Act of Congress, “the act’s restrictions regarding abortion-related information remain on the books, even though the restrictions are inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.  In 1994, Congress increased the maximum fine for a first-time violation of the act from $5,000 to $250,000.  In 1996, Congress amended the Comstock Act to extend the ban on abortion-related information to the Internet.  Although bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate to repeal the abortion-related provisions of the Comstock Act, they have not become the law. Alexander Sanger, president of Planned Parenthood of New York City, and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the 1996 amendments to the Comstock Act, but the suit was dismissed because the government had not yet attempted to enforce the act. As long as the government chooses to ignore the Comstock Act, it is unlikely to go away.”

America’s Sexuality Day,  a movement created by The Comtockery Collaborative, is striving to establish a nationally celebrated day of remembrance, celebration, and advocacy in honor of America’s tumultuous relationship with sex. I believe that this is another (great) push against censorship and intolerance in the 21st century.

Tags: condoms, education, power, sexual regulation

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 12:12 pm and is filed under Sharon Watson, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.