User:Studentinhistoryofsexuilty/Comstock laws

Comstock actively targeted individuals associated with the Free Love Movement, particularly those involved in advocating for birth control and the rejection of traditional marriage. He used the Comstock Act of 1873, which criminalized the distribution of obscene materials through the mail, as a tool to prosecute and censor those he deemed promoting immoral or indecent ideas. One of Comstock's notable targets was Victoria Woodhull, a prominent figure in the Free Love Movement and an advocate for women's rights. Woodhull and her sister, Tennessee Claflin, published a newspaper called "Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly" that promoted radical ideas about sexuality and challenged traditional norms. Comstock had Woodhull arrested and charged with obscenity for publishing information about contraception.