Let's talk about sex . . .

It's doubtful that any conversation about sex begins with "well, in Alabama they ..." but maybe it should. Some pretty kinky things have happened in the state over the past decade.

Remember the 1998 law passed in Alabama outlawing the sale of vibrators? My favorite report on this came from Wendy Kaminer in The American Prospect who wrote:

". . . Alabama criminalized the sale of vibrators and other 'devices designed or marketed as primarily useful for the stimulation of human genital organs.' Legislators in Alabama apparently consider masturbation immoral, although I doubt that they approach the issue with clean hands."

Well, those wacky folks are at it again -- only this time they have decided to toss in the issue of race to spice up the pot!

It seems that lesbian candidate Patricia Todd won the Democratic primary runoff for a seat in the Alabama Legislature last month. The New York Times reports:

With no Republican opponent, Ms. Todd seemed poised to become what political observers said would be the first openly gay officeholder in state history.

But instead, it is the fact that she is white, in a majority black district in Birmingham, that has become the burning issue. One of the state’s most powerful Democrats, who had earlier urged voters not to support Ms. Todd because she is white, is backing a challenge to her nomination that could end her candidacy.

Does anyone really believe a state that would outlaw vibrators is going to let a lesbian sit in the state legislature?

“This is really not about race,” Ms. Todd said in a telephone interview as she traveled to Montgomery for the hearing. “This is about Joe Reed controlling the party and trying to get his way, and he’s just a bully.”

Looks like it's going to be a while before the glass ceiling for lesbians and gays is broken in Alabama.