HAMPDEN — The Hampden Town Council voted this week to update a 1997 ordinance that made it illegal to display material depicting homosexuality. 

The ordinance regulates the public display of media deemed sexually explicit and harmful for minors, including acts of sexual conduct. 

However, its wording specifically labeled homosexuality as an act of sexual conduct. 

“It was interesting wording from 30 years ago, but it was just really a list of things not to be displayed on covers,” said James Bailey, Vice Chair of the Hampden Town Council. “One of the things that popped into my head was that just two men or two women holding hands on a magazine cover would technically violate that ordinance, because that was how a sexual act was defined. Which is, of course, absurd to me.” 

Bailey happened to discover the law’s wording while searching for another, unrelated, town ordinance. 

“I read it, and the ordinance is about covering up magazines or videos that might have explicit materials on their covers in any place where a minor might be, so they don’t see them — which is perfectly appropriate,” said Bailey. “[But] in their definition of a sexual act they included homosexuality, and that struck me as both grammatically incorrect and, to me, not appropriate for an ordinance in 2025.” 

The word “homosexuality” was removed from the ordinance on Monday. 

“I feel it’s just outdated. It represents, to me, views of a different era,” said Bailey. “I don’t believe that homosexuality is something that is either sexually explicit, nor do minors have to be protected from it. That’s really it, I didn’t think it was necessary for a modern ordinance.” 

Bailey said some Hampden residents have thanked him for the change. 

“I felt like it was housekeeping more than anything,” said Bailey. “I have not had anyone contact me to complain and I’ve only heard people thank me, so I believe Hampden is perfectly happy with how things panned out.” 

Bailey said it’s unlikely the section of the ordinance banning displays of homosexuality would have been enforceable, but he felt it was important to remove the language. 

The City of Bangor eliminated a similar rule in 2019.