The owner of a proposed sex robot store in Houston says city council's vote against his "try before you buy" policy opens the door for more prostitution, sex trafficking and disease.
“Pimps and prostitutes are going to start pimping out dolls around the city without regulating anything, without any kind of procedures, without doing anything in the right way,” says Yuval Gavriel, founder of KinkySdollS.
He says city leaders are hypocrites for allowing scores of illegal message parlors to continuing operating, but won't allow his business.
The location in Toronto is described on its website as the “first adult love dolls rent before you buys service in North America.”
But Houston City Council voted Wednesday to ban the “use of any device or item used to provide sexual stimulation or gratification inside a business.” KinkySdollS would still be allowed to sell the robots for people to take home.
“We're not trying to legislate morality. We're not talking about what people can or can't do in their bedrooms,” says Council Member Greg Travis. “But when you're going to come into our city and try to do a business like this, that's not who we are and it's not family-friendly.”
“I'm sort of offended they came to Houston, I don't know why they didn't try to do this in Las Vegas or somewhere else,” he says. “I don't know what gave them the right to think they could come in here and this would be alright with all of our citizens.”
Gavriel argues that Houston each year ranks near the top in the U.S. for the number of sex trafficking victims, something he believes his business could help stop.
“I'ma father of two little girls and I'm the husband of a wife that I love dearly, and I have a huge respect for women,” he says. “If we could prevent one person, or two people from going down that road,we've accomplished something.”
Gavriel says he's now in talks with his lawyers to figure out his next move.