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The owner of Kinky Dolls sex robot shop in Toronto announced weeks ago that he would open a second shop in Houston. The store allows customers to buy and use robots for sex, according to the store's website.
Residents to council on sex robot brothel: 'It's bad for Houston'
Residents to council on sex robot brothel: 'It's bad for Houston'
Last week, city officials say a store representative applied for an occupancy permit for a location in the 5500 block of Richmond. City inspectors went to the location, said work was ongoing without a permit and stopped the construction until permits could be approved.
So far, city officials haven't issued any permits for construction of the store.
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That was followed by a hastily changed city ordinance that would not allow customers to touch a robot inside a store. That change was in front of the city council on Wednesday.
City leaders re-wrote an ordinance dealing with "arcade" games, which in this case, the robot was classified as.
The ordinance does not stop the sale of the robots, it just stops the use of them for sex in public.
"It's my prerogative to think it's gross," said council member Greg Travis. "We're not getting into your bedroom."
The coverage of the issue drew ire from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who said the media was saturated with coverage of this issue, but not others he felt are important.
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"We're not legislating morality," Travis said. "We want to have a good image for our city."
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