AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Defending a Texas state law banning the sale of sex toys, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz argued in a 2007 court brief that individuals have no legal right to use them, even in the privacy of their own bedrooms.
Cruz often cites his five years as Texas’ solicitor general to burnish his credentials as a Christian conservative. He used the position to defend capital punishment, oppose abortion, and keep using “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.
But Cruz doesn’t mention his advocacy for the state in an unsuccessful defense of Texas’ sex-toy ban.
In a court brief, Cruz defended the ban as protecting public morals, while discouraging excessive interest in sexual gratification. He also argued that those who used sex toys might be more likely to hire prostitutes.