(NOTE: This story appears in the June 2025 issue of SE Magazine.)
My original title for this note was “The President of the United States is a Big, Dumb Dildo.” And while, in my opinion, there remains no lies detected and would look handsome in bold, 18-point font, I came to the conclusion that there are more constructive ways to discuss an important subject.
Enter: Kim Faubel. Kim and I have been in the industry for roughly the same amount of time (20-ish or so years), and like her, we are both graduates of adult retail. While our chosen paths have gone in different directions once our time behind the counters ended — she eventually became the B2B Sales Director at the boutique brand, COTR, and I, well, still right here, hi — we’ve crossed passed over the years via the annual tradeshow tours and too-many-to-remember circle bar conversations. While an expert in sex toys, Kim is, above all else, hysterically funny (she’s co-founder of the Vegas-based improv comedy group, Bleach) and holds a fifth-degree black belt in sarcasm and an honorary doctorate in self-effacement. Beyond that, Kim is a fantastic writer whose talent has been featured in numerous trade magazines and has recently published her first short story, entitled “Clumsy,” in the noir anthology, Crimeucopia.
Lately, however, Kim has been pissed-off and it all has to do with the aforementioned cult of personality. About a month ago, Kim mentioned to me that another industry trade magazine (narrow it down) had conspicuously edited an Op-Ed penned by her criticizing the President (employs air quotes). This struck a cord for a few reasons: (A.) It’s just cowardly and (B.) Is this industry’s press going the way of tech bros and billionaires kowtowing to an administration that is two shades away from unchecked authoritarianism ? Who’s to say? Can’t speak for them. But we have our own magazine and after listening to the urgency in Kim’s voice about how this is affecting her — and how it could affect our industry — I politely begged her to write a column for SE. Which she probably liked, but you’d have to ask her.
Kim’s newest SE Op-Ed, “No Freedom, No Fucking: How the Trump Era Undermines Marginalized Bodies and the Sex Toy Industry” is something every pleasure product professional should read. It is a clarion call to our industry espousing what potential dangers lie ahead. Spoiler: there are many. And if the first 100 days has shown us, this will potentially go beyond threats, farther from talking points and well past tariffs to directly threaten our individual sovereignty to earn our livings, especially those who are considered marginalized. Make no mistake, we are in uncharted territory and some of us helped draw the map. For the rest of us it is time to act.
Last time I mentioned Trump in a popular Facebook Group page, I was told that I have “TDS” from a retailer out in Texas. Well, sure enough that retailer is in danger of being shuttered due to the state legislature’s over-abiding need to eradicate sex toys being sold to the general public (under the guise of going after big-box stores first). Just this past week, Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced a bill to criminalize online pornography. Where in the past politicians would go after low-hanging fruit in order to get booked on Fox News, now the threats carry weight and, worse yet, a Congress hell-bent to write blank checks when it comes to limiting personal freedoms. The call, quite literally, is coming from inside the house.
I assume talk at this year’s ANME will center around tariffs. That’s only fair. Word around the campfire is that certain brands are petrified. For reference? Count how many new releases you order this quarter. This hasn’t been felt since the pandemic closures. But unlike the existential threat that the virus provided, this threat is literally man-made. And no matter what the opposition may claim, in all their faux alpha-male bullshit screamed from podcasts out of Austin, they remain vulnerable.
My recommendation? Be like Kim. Most importantly don’t give them your fear. Speak up. Hang a trans flag in your window, I don’t know. Or simply, remind your customers they are valued. Because that is what this administration doesn’t want you to believe — that we are equals, all of us, no matter how hard they try to convince us otherwise.
This too shall pass.
Managing Editor
