Editing Fisting (section)

== Legal status ==
In some nations, fisting—particularly anal fisting—has historically been [[Censorship|censored]] and [[Criminalization of homosexuality|criminalized due to its association with gay sex]] and characterization by critics as an obscene and deviant act.<ref name=":32">{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Jarred H |title=Exploring gender subversion and recuperation in anal fisting among gay men |journal=South African Journal of Psychology |date=September 2020 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=336–346 |doi=10.1177/0081246319888975 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2263/73713}}</ref><ref name=":33">{{Cite journal |last=Van Meter |first=Eric |date=1978 |title=37 & Hot: Richard Locke Unlocked |journal=[[Drummer (magazine)|Drummer]] |issue=24 |pages=74 |via=Drummermen.com}}</ref><ref name=":15" />

=== United Kingdom ===
In the [[United Kingdom]], performing fisting<ref name="extreme-porn-trial">{{cite news|author=[[Myles Jackman]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/aug/08/extreme-porn-trial-simon-walsh |title=Extreme porn trial: consensual sex and the state |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=August 8, 2012 |access-date=January 4, 2013 |location=London}}</ref> and fisting pornography are both legal.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Long |first=Matilda |date=2019-01-31 |title=Ban on fetish porn including BDSM overturned in England in landmark ruling |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/violent-porn-including-bdsm-no-longer-illegal-uk-long-performers-consenting-155930303.html |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=[[Yahoo News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> However, until 2019, the [[Crown Prosecution Service]] (CPS) considered publication of fisting material to be grounds for prosecution under the [[Obscene Publications Act 1959]]<ref name=":9">{{cite web |title=Obscene publications: Legal Guidance |url=http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/obscene_publications/#a05 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215064811/http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/obscene_publications/#a05 |archive-date=2016-12-15 |access-date=April 20, 2023 |website=[[Crown Prosecution Service]]}}{{void|comment|Fabrickator|Evidently, fisting had been removed from the website by about 2019, claim may need to be reviewed and updated}}</ref> and [[Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008]], the latter of which prohibits so-called "extreme pornography."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extreme Pornography |url=https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/extreme-pornography |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=[[Crown Prosecution Service]] |archive-date=January 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118000008/https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/extreme-pornography |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1998, the [[Birmingham City University|University of Central England]] was involved in a controversy when a library book by [[Robert Mapplethorpe]] was confiscated from a student by the police, who informed the university that two photographs in the book (including one involving fisting) would have to be removed. If the university agreed to the removal (which it did not) the book would be returned. The two photographs, which were deemed possibly prosecutable as obscenity, included "Helmut and Brooks, NYC, 1978", which shows anal fisting.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="independent1998"/><ref name="autogenerated1999">{{cite web |title=UCE pages on the Mapplethorpe controversy |url=http://www.uce.ac.uk/mapplethorpe/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990209055420/http://www.uce.ac.uk/mapplethorpe/ |archivedate=February 9, 1999 |accessdate=12 November 2002}}</ref> However, after a delay of about six months, the affair came to an end when Peter Knight, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, was informed that no legal action would be taken.<ref name="independent1998"/><ref name="autogenerated1999"/> The book was returned to the university library without removal of the photos.<ref name="Smartt2011">{{cite book |author=Ursula Smartt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qCLR5fyc7N0C&pg=PA277 |title=Media and Entertainment Law |date=19 April 2011 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-136-73641-4 |pages=277–}}</ref> In ''[[R v Peacock]]'' (2012), the jury found Michael Peacock not guilty of breaching the Obscene Publications Act for selling [[DVD]]s containing anal fisting.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beaumont |first1=Peter |last2=Hodgson |first2=Nichi |date=2012-01-07 |title=Obscenity law in doubt after jury acquits distributor of gay pornography |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/jan/07/obscene-publications-act-future-doubt |access-date=2012-01-07 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> That same year, a jury took less than 90 minutes<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Caroline |date=2012-08-08 |title=Former Boris Johnson aide cleared of possession of 'extreme pornography' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/aug/08/boris-johnson-aide-extreme-pornography-cleared |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=[[The Guardian]] }}</ref> [[Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008#2012 test case|to acquit Simon Walsh]] for possession of images of anal fisting that the [[Crown Prosecution Service]] (CPS) alleged constituted illegal, extreme pornography.<ref name="extreme-porn-trial" /> In 2019, the CPS declared it would no longer prosecute pornography produced by consenting adults engaging in legal acts,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Waterson |first=Jim |date=2019-01-31 |title=Pornography of adult consensual sex no longer taboo, says CPS |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jan/31/pornography-of-adult-consensual-sex-no-longer-taboo-says-cps |access-date=2024-01-18 |work=[[The Guardian]] }}</ref> including fisting.<ref name=":10" />

=== United States ===
Fisting was historically subject to censorship in the United States. For example, in the 1970s, the Los Angeles Police Department forced director [[Wakefield Poole]] to remove depictions of fisting from his films as a precondition for airing them in the city.<ref name=":33" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fritscher |first=Jack |date=1978 |title=Dirty Poole |journal=[[Drummer (magazine)|Drummer]] |issue=27 |pages=15 |via=Drummermen.com}}</ref> Fisting was included on the Cambria List, meant to be a list of sex acts that carry risk of prosecution under [[United States obscenity law|U.S. obscenity law]], created by [[Paul Cambria]] in 2001 to help producers avoid obscenity lawsuits.<ref name=":6" /> However, as of 2019, the Cambria List is generally regarded as obsolete within the American [[pornography industry]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zorkin |first=Gene |date=2019-06-12 |title=Are Obscenity Prosecution Concerns Obsolete? |url=https://www.ynot.com/obscenity-prosecution-obsolete/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=YNOT |language=en-US}}</ref>