Sex Robot Brothels? Houston and Vancouver Face Unwelcome Guests in Cities

Sex robot brothels could soon be opening their doors across the continent in the coming months, if they could only get the appropriate paperwork together. That even includes what could be the first-ever robo-brothel in the United States.

That’s according to a number of local media reports that surfaced this week in both Vancouver, Canada and Houston, Texas which say that city authorities are scrambling to figure out what to do about a series of sexbot brothels that have already started taken appointments, in some cases. Somewhat unsurprisingly, these municipalities don’t seem to have had the time to get some sex bot statutes on the books.

This is all thanks to KinkySdollS, some Toronto-based innovators in the field who have already opened one location in their home city. After company posted on Facebook last month that it had plans to open a Houston location, likely the first such, er, establishment in the United States, the Houston Chronicle reports, the mayor and local activists quickly mounted some opposition.

“Unfortunately, there are currently no laws in the U.S. to prevent the sale of the type of dolls intended for this ‘robot brothel,’” a local attorney observed to the Chronicle. Might be time to get on that!

Even our more permissive neighbors to the north seem to have reservations.

The Vancouver Sun reports that a company called Bella Dolls has already pamphleted the town with advertisements saying that “pre-booking available now.” But it also seems like Bella Dolls has gotten ahead of itself, with local officials telling the Sun that it has yet to receive the proper business license.

It’s easy to see why cities are a little hesitant to be the first to dip their toes into the nascent industry, particularly during a news cycle beset by a steady, never-ending onslaught of misogyny. While proponents of sex robots have argued that they will yield all sorts of benefits, from reducing the incentive to engage in sex trafficking or the incidence of STIs, researchers have argued that there’s simply no evidence to support these claims.

“The overwhelmingly predominant market for sex-bots will be unrelated to healthcare,” the authors of the June research paper conclude. “Thus the health’ arguments made for their benefits, as with so many advertised products, are rather specious.”