Bill addresses breasts, buttocks, yoga pants
There was a Naked Bike Ride in Missoula, Montana in the summer of 2014, a Bare as You Dare event, and Rep. David Moore (R-Missoula) found it offensive and worked to get rid of it by giving the state’s laws on indecency more teeth. As part of the same bill he also tried to ban, of all things, yoga pants. Rep. Moore introduced Bill 365 to the house on Tuesday.
And it died an ignominious death in the House on Wednesday.
There were reportedly snickers from some elected lawmakers in the House when it was tossed out. The Billings Gazette wrote in an editorial on Saturday the attempt served to “reinforce the notion that the Legislature is nothing more than a collection of nuts. How are we supposed to take folks seriously when they propose laws that try to regulate human nipples?”
Rep. Moore, who believes “Yoga pants should be illegal in public” proposed a bill that sought to get rid of yoga pants and other tight clothing and put a serious crimp in the Naked Bike Ride. It was a long-winded bill and the sentences tend to run-on, but here’s a portion:
“A person commits the offense of indecent exposure if the person knowingly or purposely exposes the person’s genitals, pubic hair, or anus or exposes the areola or nipple of the person’s breast with anything less than a fully opaque covering while in a public place or visible from a public place without taking reasonable precautions to prevent exposure,” the bill read in part.
There was more.
“Or exposes any device, costume, or covering that gives the appearance of or simulates the genitals, pubic hair, anus region, or pubic hair region or exposes any device worn as a cover over the nipple or areola of the female breast that simulates and gives the realistic appearance of a nipple or areola while in a public place or visible from a public place without taking reasonable precautions to prevent exposure, and disregards whether a reasonable person would be offended or alarmed by the act.”
Naked Bike Ride, yoga pants and Montana
Here are two local commentators, one from a Walt, another from a Wally, who supported the bill:
“I want Montana to be known as a decent state, where people can live within the security of laws that protect their children and associate from degrading and indecent practices,” Walt Hill of Missoula said.
“I want to tell you that the behavior that prompted this piece of legislation being brought before you is offensive to me and offensive to my children,” Wally Helcher from Helena said.
The bill wouldn’t have affected breastfeeding women or anyone who exposed themselves to nudity in a stripper club, or someone who attended the Testicle Festival (yes, that is the name of the yearly music and fun festival in Clinton, Montana).
The worldwide Naked Bike Ride is staggered, with different cities and countries holding yearly naked rides on whatever date suits them. Some 33 countries have now had a least one Naked Bike Ride.
Missoula’s Naked Bike Ride, its one and only to date, took place on August 17 and went off without any problems.
