Apparently the late Baroness Margaret Thatcher was not a fan of sex toys.

 

As the British Prime Minister, she thought about using the country's anti-pornography laws to ban dildos and other sex aids in an attempt to protect the public. (Elizabeth, watch out for that vibrator; it could kill you!)

 

According to documents from the National Archives released this week, Thatcher discussed the possibility with anti-obscenity campaigner Mary Whitehouse. The PM even received support from then Home Secretary Leon Brittan, who said there was a “strong case” to be made for extending the legislation to ban sex toys.

 

“Some of the items in circulation are most objectionable, including some which can cause physical injury,” a note from Brittan read. "There is a strong case for bringing sex aids fully within the scope of the ‘deprave and corrupt’ test in the 1959 [Obscene Publications] Act. However, certain conceptual difficulties in extending an act designed only to deal with pornography would need to be overcome."

 

This is the same anti-porn law that was used to successfully ban Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960, which was seen as "obscene" with elements that were "such as to tend to deprave and corrupt."

 

Could it have been a random encounter with a large fist-shaped dildo that convinced her to reconsider?

 

Margaret Thatcher considered banning sex toys in UK [Gay Star News]