Bloggers go ballistic about proposed ban

Bloggers, citizens and reporters
around the world are going “nuts” about
a bill to ban rubber replicas of testicles
displayed on Virginia vehicles.

If passed, the bill would impose a
fine of up to $250 on anyone caught
with replicas of genitalia on his or her
vehicle.

The bill, being considered by a
committee in the General Assembly,
has received both criticism and praise.
Everybody seems to be talking about
it – everybody except the bill’s patron,
Delegate Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake.

“Mr. Spruill is done discussing this
matter with the media,” said Susan
Johnston Rowland, Spruill’s legislative
assistant.

Rowland said Spruill is fed up with
the negative press his bill has evoked.
But Spruill saw the media frenzy coming
before he introduced the bill Jan. 15.
“I’m going to be a laughing stock, but
I’m going to do it,” Spruill said, according
to The Associated Press.

His prediction came true. Type the
words “truck testicles” and “Virginia”
into any search engine on the Internet,
and it will yield thousands of results.
From Virginia to Europe, bloggers and
journalists alike are expressing their
opinions about Spruill’s bill.

Kerry Dougherty, a columnist for
The Virginian-Pilot, stated in her Jan.
17 column Spruill means well, but the
bill is unrealistic.

“This bill won’t pass. It’s an infringement
on free speech,” Dougherty
stated.

Dougherty said she finds the truck
testicles to be distasteful. But trucktesticle
supporters say they find the
accessories funny.

“I think they are a kick and so do
the cars who pull up behind me,” Matt
Weston, a customer, wrote in a product
review on bullsballs.com, an online
retailer.

Others disagree, but they acknowledge
drivers’ right to display the ornaments.

“Somebody forgot to tell these people
that humor of this nature is vulgar, and
it speaks volumes about their character,”
one reader stated in response to an article
on The Virginian-Pilot’s Web site last
month. “But that’s OK, let them have
them.”

Spruill sponsored the bill after
receiving a complaint from a constituent
about a truck displaying the testicles on
its hitch.

A man and his young daughter were
out for a drive when the 6-year-old girl
saw a pair of rubber testicles on a passing
vehicle. Spruill decided to sponsor the
bill in the hopes of protecting children
and adults who don’t want to see truck
testicles.

“They’re offensive to some folks,”
Spruill said, according to The Virginian-
Pilot. “It’s OK to express yourself,
but citizens have the right not to be
subjected to something vulgar.”

Other citizens are offended by Spruill’s
bill because they say the proposal is a
waste of the General Assembly’s time.

Spruill’s proposal, House Bill 1452, has
been assigned to the House Transportation
Committee.

This isn’t the first time a legislative
measure in Virginia has attracted international
publicity. In 2005, a delegate
proposed a bill that would have fined
Virginians for wearing their pants too
low and letting their underwear show.

“Apparently Virginia lawmakers have
so successfully managed the legislature
that spending state tax dollars to pursue
baggy pants and toy testicles have become
a major priority of the state,” Danny Vice
stated in his blog, weeklyvice.blogspot.
com.