Preposterous Universe

 
Sex is fun...

... but we're not allowed to admit it. At least, not in Illinois, which remains stuck in the Midwest no matter how blue it appears on the map.

It would appear that Governor Blagojevich has decided to stop the Illinois Department of Public Health from handing out free colored and flavored condoms. (Ironically, the announcement was made on World AIDS Day.) Condoms that look and taste ordinary will continue to be handed out as usual.

Apparently the worry is that handing out condoms with color and flavor (just like quarks!) will encourage people to have sex. I cannot quite imagine how these people think a typical pick-up routine might go. "Hey baby, how'd you like to back to my place and have some safe sex? No? What if the prophylactics were ... lemon-flavored?"

Allow me to point out what these condoms would actually encourage: using condoms. The campaign on the part of certain people to prevent other people from enjoying sex has been going on as long as we've had civilization, and it's not likely to succeed any time soon. But we can continue to make it safe as well as fun.

~ posted by Sean Carroll at 8:18 AM ~ link ~ ~ ~