Law School Cancels ‘Sex Toys 101’ Seminar; Students Want Apology
A student group at the University of Wisconsin law school wants an apology for the abrupt cancellation of its “Sex Toys 101” seminar.
Students for Reproductive Justice learned on the day of the planned event that associate dean Walter Dickey had called it off because student organizations are not allowed to sell or promote commercial products, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The group says that rather than selling sex toys, it planned to educate participants about safe-sex alternatives.
A notice of the event said “the lecture will provide tips and tricks as well as information about health, hygiene, satisfaction, and yes, the law, of sex toys.” Reproductive Justice chair Maria Selsor told the Badger Herald that a representative from a local retailer, A Woman’s Touch, was going to give a presentation at the seminar, but would not be selling any products.
“They received no monetary benefit from coming in—they do it as a public service,” she said.
Now the group wants an apology. Its formal complaint filed with the school says the administration discouraged freedom of expression and canceled the seminar without “justification or consultation.”
Law school dean Kenneth Davis told the State Journal that the school “un-canceled” the seminar when it learned the students did not intend to sell any products, but the student group may not have gotten the message.
“This is a case where, given First Amendment issues, you err on the side of having the event,” he said.
A hat tip to Above the Law, which posted the stories.
