The Betty Pages sprung out of some conversations Betty Desire a local drag queen and I were having in a gay bar. These editorials may be out of context now and were written for a local audience in the Bellingham area. but I am sure readers everywhere can make some sense of parts of them.

A Tough One to Swallow

November 2005

I started this column with the idea that I would take on tough subjects about sexuality. Once in a while a subject comes along that is tough for even me. recently a man died of a perforated colon after having sexual intercourse with a pony near Enumclaw. He had two partners in this adventure who dropped him at the emergency room and were eventually caught. They had videotaped this event and several like it. One of the survivors was just charged with criminal trespass as the police discovered the horse in question was the neighbors. But no other charges are being filed. In Washington state there is no law against having sex with an animal unless you are cruel and/or harm it.

I started to write a column on this when the story first broke and then backed off. I really had no idea where I stood on this issue. And had to work on my own understanding of it. At first blush the response is the usual "oooh ick!!!". But I myself do things that others deem "icky". Then I started thinking about YKINOKism. This is an idea that spread in the early days of usenet discussions about sexuality. The acronym stands for Your Kink Is Not OK. And basically it was a condemnation of arguments against particular sexual practices based upon my not liking them. The argument was that its not OK to judge something because it grosses you out or just does not turn you on. The criteria should be safety, consent, harm etc., but not "it's icky".

So lets start with safety. The man in question died. And I really doubt that there is a way to make this safe. Horses are large and strong and you are just not going to get them to slow down when you want them to. And horses are herd animals prone to panic. I grew up around them and still would be nervous just under the feet of one with no sexual activity at all. Trampling to death is a very real possibility, let alone forceful damage to your insides. But this is probably no more dangerous than climbing in the Himalayas. So yes its is unsafe, but lots of things are unsafe and we allow them, and even cheer them on.

Consent is a much tougher debate. Some argue (and I researched this) that its pretty much impossible for an animal consent to sex with a person. Others argue just as strongly that it is pretty much impossible to have sex with an unwilling animal, especially a large one. Because an animal can not verbalize consent does it not exist? If an animal had shame would it still consent? And is the absence of shame enough to allow an animal to consent to anything that feels good or fits its instinctive drives. I just do not know. I will probably always have to wrestle with both sides of this argument. I tend to find myself agreeing with everyone.

Harm appears easier. If a sexual practice with an animal harms it, it is illegal. Flat out, get you time in jail with a whole bunch of probably unsympathetic new friends, illegal. But what if there is no physical harm to the animal, no pain during the act? What about the animals psychology. Animals can react poorly to traumatic events. They can also pick up habits that are hard to break. Is the neighbors pony safe to have around the kinds now that it has developed a habit of sex with people. Harm for me is an area that needs more attention. If i train an animal to depend upon me for food I make myself or someone else responsible for feeding it during its life. If I train an animal to like and even attempt to have sex with people do not I incur an equal responsibility. Not one of providing it with human sex partners but of taking care of it and keeping it safe from committing this unsafe habit with someone who may not enjoy it. I may very well have made the animal an inappropriate pet for anyone else.

Needless to say this is a thorny issue. I will probably bounce back and forth on it many times. The legislature will be under pressure to outlaw the practice next session, and I am sure the "ick" factor will make it easy for them to do so. Or at least hard for someone to stand up in the legislature and take any other tact. If you want your opinion heard on this issue write me at jim@jimduvall.com.