Victory: Vibrators, etc. Liberated in Alabama, USA

As of November 7, 2002, vibrators and other similar items can now be legally bought and sold in the state of Alabama. The first victory came in March of 1999, when a Federal Court overturned Alabama's ban on sex toys, saying that the state had no compelling interest in prohibiting them.

This was followed by a setback in October of 2000, when a Federal Appeals Court ruled that there were possible moral grounds for a prohibition, and sent the case back to the lower court for reconsideration on other grounds.

Then, on October 11, 2002, the Federal court ruled that the Alabama statute violates a well-established right to privacy.

This victory has resonance as Alabama is one of the states referenced in V-Day Founder/Artistic Director Eve Ensler's play "The Vagina Monologues" where handguns are legally sold, but vibrators, and the like, were illegal until now.