Shirts off, heat on
Issue #26
This woman from Bowling Green, Ohio, faces fines for going topless
By Britt Julious
Published: December 1st, 2005 | 12:00am
Refusing to accept that guys can bare their chests whenever they want while ladies are forced to sweat under cumbersome tank tops, Bowling Green, Ohio, resident Lorien Bourne decided to do something about it. In June 2005, she removed her shirt on the very public Slippery Elm Trail. “I [performed] an act of civil disobedience [by] challenging the double standards and protesting the selective enforcement of laws … and the control of women’s bodies by men,” Bourne said.
After a half hour of above-the-waist nudity, a park ranger accused Bourne of bringing “all the wrong elements” to the park and threatened an investigation. Days later, he arrived at Bourne’s home and issued three citations: indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, and public indecency. These charges could have meant up to $300 or more in fines, court costs, and several weeks in jail.
With the help of a friend, Bourne researched Ohio law and found the Bowling Green ordinance requiring everyone, except males under age 12, to wear a shirt. The law also defines “indecent exposure” as “the deliberate exposure of the private parts of the anatomy,” which typically refers to genitalia, the defender said. The prosecution ended up dropping disorderly conduct and public indecency, but the indecent exposure charge stuck because of the park district’s rule against any “state of nudity” at the park.
Bourne is considering fighting the charge because breasts are not genitalia, but a trial could have cost as much as $700, and her chances of going to jail were high. So Bourne took the prosecution’s offer: she pled no contest and paid a $50 fine plus court costs ($110 in total), without jail and without parole.
“It broke my heart to take the offer,” Bourne said. “I didn’t want to do it — I cried.” She filed a grievance, but officials denied her request for signs in the city’s parks explaining the mandatory shirt rule.
The prosecution never acknowledged the selectively sexist law enforcement, which violated the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection, but the fight for the right to bare chests continues. “I am planning to do a workshop at Allied Media Conference next summer,” Bourne said.
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more