Sex

Sex Educators Say They're Being Harmed by Age Verification Laws

Plus: Wisconsin governor vetoes porn age-check bill, more charges for penis protester, the Komodo dragon theory of social media, and more...

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 4.6.2026 11:45 AM

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"Oh, so you want kids to look at pornography?" That's the absurd accusation often thrown at people who oppose age verification mandates for online adult content. Opponents of these laws counter that actually this is about adult free speech: Grown-ups should be able to create, publish, and view constitutionally protected erotic content without undue burden or infringement on their privacy. And indeed, that's the message Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers put forth recently when vetoing an age verification law in his state.

But there's another important—if less prevalent—argument against the age verification laws sweeping so many states: They may ensnare way more than just pornography. Enacted as regulations of any content "harmful to minors," these could be used against sex educators, sexual health organizations, reproductive freedom groups, sex worker rights advocates, transgender rights advocates, and queer creators of all sorts.

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"If you let them ban porn, they will call you pornographic when they ban you," Bluesky user @ghostingdani.bsky.social posted recently. Replace "ban" with "put special, burdensome regulations on," and the same applies here.

A new poll from the Woodhull Freedom Foundation hints at some of the unintended consequences (or, some might speculate, intended albeit unspoken consequences) of these age verification mandates. In March, the sexual freedom advocacy group conducted a national survey "of sex educators and........

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