College Sex Toy Party Canceled By Outraged Parents Who Have No Idea What Happens At College

Some parents and students at Cal State are furious after learning that student fees were going to be used to pay for a campus event promoting sex toys. I can’t help but pity the exactly 2% of those students who didn’t already know what a dildo is.

Local station CBS Los Angeles was contacted by an angry mother after her, “18-year-old daughter brought home a flyer promoting [the event] ‘Sex Toys R’ Us.'” Because that’s what you do when you’re mad about something – you contact the media. There’s nothing more important when you’re outraged then to let everyone else know about it. Good choices, Mom.

At any rate, the station says that the school wasn’t aware of the party until they contacted them, and they quickly canceled it. The event was to be held by Cal State’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Center along with an adult store using funds that the school sets aside for “student activities, clubs, and events.” So a campus club, which I’m presuming the administration knew about, was going to hold an event using funds that are meant to be used by clubs to hold events. So far, I am Team Sex Toy Party.

The flyer that got everyone upset mentioned handcuffs, swings, and had the hashtag #PlayTimeAtCalStateLA. I can’t for the life of me imagine what the parent of a college student would have to get angry about, here. If your 18-year-old college student doesn’t know that handcuffs are sometimes used in sex play, then your kid is lying to you because they all know about this. If you are still trying to protect your college student from dirty sex talk, then you are in for a world of hurt because even the kids at Brigham Young could tell you how to properly use anal beads.

So aside from using money they were within their right to use, and a Sexuality Resource Center trying to teach adults about sexuality, what else is there to complain about? Well, it turns out that there are also two high schools on Cal State’s campus: The L.A. County High School for the Arts, and Alliance Marc & Eva Stern Math and Science High School. I’m still not sure what we’re worried about, however. Is the concern that teenagers are going to see the flyer? Because if those teenagers also have access to the internet, that flyer is going to be the least shocking thing they’ve seen all year.

I suppose the other concern would be that some of these high school students would try to attend the party. That shouldn’t be a worry because 1) if you’re doing a little bit of parenting, then your fourteen-year-old won’t be going to a sex toy party, and 2) the hosts of the party were planning to check IDs at the door.

It’s cliched to blame this on “pearl-clutchers,” but I don’t know what else to call a parent who is horrified that their college student might learn about sex toys. And why be upset that student fees are paying for it? I’ll bet there are a lot of student activities that parents don’t necessarily want to be paying for, just like taxes are used to pay for things we don’t necessarily agree with. That’s part of living in a diverse community. Suck it up.

College students are adults, and they have the right to explore their sexuality. I’m assuming there wasn’t going to be an orgy in “Meeting Room B,” but even if there was, so long as everyone was safe, and it was consensual, who the hell cares?

As student Paulina Rubino said to CBS Los Angeles, “If it’s trying to raise awareness on things people don’t know too much about, I think it’s OK.” So do I, Paulina.

(Photo: PathDoc / Shutterstock)