Montana lawmaker seeks to outlaw provocative clothing [View all]

Last edited Wed Feb 11, 2015, 04:25 PM - Edit history (3)

16 hours ago • By ALISON NOON

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana lawmaker is seeking to strengthen the state's indecent exposure law, stopping just short of his wish to outlaw yoga pants. ... Rep. David Moore on Tuesday introduced House Bill 365 in the House Judiciary Committee in response to a group of naked bicyclists who rolled through Missoula in August.

The proposal would expand indecent exposure law to include any nipple exposure, including men's, and any garment that "gives the appearance or simulates" a person's buttocks, genitals, pelvic area or female nipple.

The Republican from Missoula said tight-fitting beige clothing could be considered indecent exposure under his proposal. ... "Yoga pants should be illegal in public anyway," Moore said after the hearing. ... Moore said he wouldn't have a problem with people being arrested for wearing provocative clothing but that he'd trust law enforcement officials to use their discretion. He couldn't be sure whether police would act on that provision or if Montana residents would challenge it. ... "I don't have a crystal ball," Moore said.

Moore and Walt Hill, a retired professor in Missoula, initiated the drafting of HB 365 after the Bare as you Dare bicycle event outraged some residents last summer. Fearing that denying organizers an event permit would breach free speech, city officials allowed participants, many of them completely nude, to ride through downtown Missoula on Aug. 17, 2014.