The X-rating?

lots of nudity and drug use, I didn't think the nudity level was much worse than the animated movie Heavy Metal yet that movie got off with an R rating, I think this movie deserves more of an R rating than an X rating if you ask me

It was 1972. Midnight Cowboy received an X-rating. Originally the "X" was not for pornography.

I still remember having to sneak into the theater to see this as I was not 21 yet.

I'm open to the possibility it's possible.
Is your mind open to the possibility it's impossible?

Having read this thread in its entirety, I'd like to add my own two cents. I think that, if submitted today, "Fritz the Cat" would probably squeak by with an R rating. As controversial as it was at the time, it's mellowed with age, and subsequent forays into adult animation ("The Simpsons," "Family Guy," "South Park,") make FTC much less shocking than it used to be. It's still raunchy, but the sex scenes are too comical and exaggerated to be taken seriously - at least, it's different than it would be if the attempted something similar in live-action.

I realize that another poster stated that it was indeed given an NC-17 rating when it was re-submitted for its DVD release (hence, the original X rating being surrendered), but so far I've seen nothing to independently verify this. (And even if it's true, this was already twelve years ago.)

I knew I wasn't going crazy. I remember that X rating at the time of the release.
A lot of people don't believe me. Midnight Cowboy too was rated X when it came out. "Anyone under 18 will not be admitted"