Houston Amends SOB Ordinance to Put Kibosh on Proposed Sex Robot Brothel

Houston Amends SOB Ordinance to Put Kibosh on Proposed Sex Robot Brothel

HOUSTON — Houston’s City Council today put the kibosh on a proposed sex robot brothel after it approved several updates to the city's ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses.

The council amended Chapter 28, Article II, of its Sexually Oriented Business ordinance, to specifically ban individuals from having sex with an "anthropomorphic device," a device that resembles a human being, at a sexually oriented business.

In another amendment, the council also banned the sale of sex robots near churches, schools, parks or residential areas. The amendment, however, wouldn't ban KinkySDolls from selling the dolls elsewhere.

In recent months, KinkySDolls operator Yuval Graviel proposed to build the first robot brothel in the U.S. in Houston. He already has opened one up in Toronto.

Both male and female sex dolls would have been available for Houston patrons at $120 an hour, or they could have purchased them outright (on the KinkySDolls.com website, models are priced from $2,199 to $3,500).

It wasn’t clear at post time if Graviel would consider another U.S. city to open up his sex robot brothel. He didn’t immediately reply to an XBIZ email query.

Just recently, a group of sex workers spoke out against the emerging business of sex robot brothels, specifically pointing to KinkySDolls, which has operated one brothel in Toronto for about a year.

Allissa, a sex worker at Sheri’s Ranch in Pahrump, Nev., said that she became concerned about hearing that Graviel was considering opening a sex robot brothel up in Houston.

“Offering sex dolls as a substitute for human sex workers is not only an insult to sex workers, but it’s also an insult to the millions of clients that seek genuine sexual and emotional connections with professional women like me every day,” Allissa said.

Roxanne Price, another sex worker at Sheri’s Ranch, said that sex robots are “rape-fantasy” objects that men can mistreat and abuse without consequences.

“Men should not be using sex dolls as training wheels for seeing a human sex worker,” Price said.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Trump Administration Issues Executive Order Against 'Debanking'

The White House on Thursday issued an executive order limiting financial institutions’ ability to restrict access to financial services for people or groups involved in lawful industries, a longtime goal of adult industry advocates and stakeholders.

Nalpac/Entrenue, Tenga Sign US Distro Deal

Nalpac/Entrenue and Tenga have signed a deal for U.S. distribution.

Orion Debuts 4 New Styles From 'Cottelli Party' Line

Orion Wholesale has expanded its Cottelli Party line with four new styles.

Blush Expands 'Performance Plus' Line With 10 New Cock Rings

Blush has expanded its Performance Plus collection with 10 new cock rings.

Wild Flower Debuts New 'Enby 3' Vibe

Pleasure brand Wild Flower has introduced its new Enby 3 vibrator.

Florida AG Sues EU-Based Adult Companies for Failing to Age-Verify Users

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit Monday with the 12th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida against five EU-based adult companies for allegedly failing to require age verification before allowing access to adult content.

Arcom Warns 5 Adult Sites Over Age Verification

French media regulator Arcom has sent enforcement notices to the operators of five adult websites that the agency says have failed to implement age verification as required under France’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law.

Ball & Chain Announces 2 New 'Sex Dice' Games

Ball & Chain has announced the debut of two new Sex Dice games, dropping in September.

SBJ/TAF Names John Lyons as VP of Sales, Dave McDaniel as Buyer

SBJ/TAF has named John Lyons as its vice president of sales and store standards, and Dave McDaniel as buyer for its Adam & Eve stores.

FSC: Identity Theft Targeting Adult Performers

The Free Speech Coalition has put out an alert warning of an individual found to be targeting adult performers for identity theft.

Show More