UPDATE: Rep. Moffitt intends to re-introduce the bill next month, even though other Republicans in the House say making toplessness a felony is going too far.
North Carolina women who go topless in public could face felony charges - if state Republicans have their way.
Introduced in February by GOP Rep. Rayne Brown, the
bill would add the female nipple to the existing indecent exposure law, leaving it up to the DA to decide if the intent of the exposure is “sexual gratification” and a felony, treating it like crimes that cause serious bodily injury to another.
In NC a man can assault a female and face only
misdemeanor charges. The same is true for assaulting a child, assault with a deadly weapon or driving under the influence.
Even those who oppose women going topless in public say the issue should be addressed at the local level and certainly not considered a felony, under any circumstances.
But these valid concerns haven't killed the bill, and Co-sponsor Tim Moffitt says he’s sure it will come to a vote during the current session. Tell NC, don’t imprison women for going topless.
We, the undersigned, find it absurd and disturbing that NC lawmakers would attempt to turn female toplessness into a serious crime that carries felony charges and as much as six months imprisonment.
The incidents that triggered the introduction of this bill - rallies in Asheville, NC supporting women’s equality - could be better addressed at the local level and perhaps also by properly addressing women’s concerns motivating the protests, in the first place.
Asheville Citizen-Times columnist Casey Blake, like others, calls on a common sense approach to this issue. Along with a number of those who’ve made public comments, she wants to see the legislature focusing on priorities - bare breasts not being one of them.
Personally, I think in an economic climate where one in five kids don’t know where their next meal will come from, protecting them from breasts is sort of like giving away free manicure vouchers during a plague. It’s just poor prioritizing.
Likewise she notes, correctly, that this is an equal rights issue.
But if our lawmakers insist on wasting legislative time on nipple regulation, the 14th Amendment and common sense dictate that it had better be everyone’s nipples they’re regulating.
Blake’s co-columnist, John Boyle, represents the side that doesn’t oppose a law restricting women from going topless, but he’s, nevertheless, very much against the “felony part.”
We request the NC legislature leave this matter up to individual communities and certainly don’t pass a law that would imprison women for going topless, under any circumstances.
Thanks for your time.
