A still from the documentary, “Free the Nipple.” Photo courtesy of The Independent.
Summary: Free the Nipple has challenged a breast law in Fort Collins, Colorado.
A group of feminists called Free the Nipple want the right to expose their boobs in Fort Collins, Colorado. According to the Denver Post, Free the Nipple has filed a lawsuit challenging a city decency ordinance that bars women from showing their breasts in public. They said that the ordinance is sexist, discriminatory, and rooted in puritanical values.
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On Tuesday, the lawsuit was filed in Denver by group founder Brittiany Hoagland and member Samantha Six. Hoagland had complained to the city in the past that men and women should both be allowed to show their breasts in public. In October, the City Council rejected her proposal, but they tweaked their law to allow public breastfeeding and clarify how the law affects children.
But Hoagland and her group wanted more. Fort Collins’s city ordinances currently make it a crime for women to show their breasts and nipples in public while men are allowed to do so freely, and Free the Nipple finds this discriminatory. The group’s lawyer David Lane said that the law’s language essentially says “women are prohibited from” which is sexist and therefore unconstitutional. In Denver and Boulder, women are allowed to be topless in public.
The lawsuit states that any time a woman publicly shows her breasts in Fort Collins she can be fined $2650 or imprisoned up to six months. The lawsuit is asking for an injunction to stop the law’s enforcement and a declaration that the law is unconstitutional.
Fort Collins’ city attorney Carrie Daggett confirmed the complaint was filed but would not speak further about it.
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Local female indecency laws have been widely publicized in the past years thanks to the national Free the Nipple movement. Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Chelsea Handler have openly criticized social media sites for censoring their boob pictures while allowing shirtless photos of men; and a documentary called “Free the Nipple” was created to raise awareness of this issue.
Do you think women should be allowed to publicly show their nipples the way men are allowed? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Denver Post