Public nudity just doesn't work. It needs to be illegal. Even nudists
should realize that.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091105/NEWS/911050327/-1/NEWSMAP
The City Council voted 5-1 to outlaw genital exposure after a
Minnesota man flaunted the privilege near a few schools
T
ASHLAND — The City Council voted 5-1 Tuesday to ban public nudity
anywhere within the city limits.
Council members Russ Silbiger, David Chapman, Kate Jackson, Carol
Voisin and Greg Lemhouse approved the first reading of an ordinance
that would make it unlawful for a person to intentionally expose his
or her genitals in view of a public space. Councilman Eric Navickas
cast the sole dissenting vote.
The council must approve the proposed ordinance a second time for it
to become law.
The new proposal goes beyond previous efforts to create 200-foot or
1,000-foot nudity-free buffer zones around schools, licensed child-
care centers and the Ashland Family YMCA.
The council directed city staff members to look into issuing parade
permits to people who want to hold protests in the buff. That option
will come back to the council at a future meeting when members will
consider approving the second reading of the ordinance, the final
action required to enact city laws.
Ashland already bans the display of genitals downtown and in parks.
In September, a council majority voted not to expand that law to ban
nudity around schools. But after a naked man from Minnesota appeared
near three Ashland schools in October, Mayor John Stromberg decided to
put the nudity issue back before the council.
Stromberg did not cast a vote on Tuesday. Under the city charter, the
mayor votes only to break ties.
Navickas tried unsuccessfully to run the clock out to the mandatory
10:30 p.m. meeting closure without a vote on the measure by talking at
length about how society views the naked body. He said that nude
protesters will seek parade permits and go into school zones.
"We'll bring more people who want to challenge the law," he said.
Chapman said the language of the proposed ordinance, which makes it
illegal to "intentionally expose" genitals, will protect people who
are exposed accidentally to the public — such as if a person has his
or her pants pulled down by someone else.
Before the vote, the council heard a range of opinions on public
nudity from educators, parents and members of the Southern Oregon
chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Ashland School District Superintendent Juli Di Chiro said the man from
Minnesota was seen in close proximity to Walker Elementary School,
Ashland Middle School and Ashland High School.
"He traveled some distance to get here, and all because he knew that
he would not be arrested for this behavior," Di Chiro said. "Let's
send a clear message to those types of visitors that Ashland is a
community that treasures and protects its children, and let's adopt a
citywide nudity ban."
The Ashland Police Department has not released the name of the man
from Minnesota. Some parents have made threats against the man.
Police Chief Terry Holderness said he believes the man has left
Ashland.
Ashland resident Ralph Temple, a member of the ACLU, said Ashland
hasn't experienced a rash of public nudity, and therefore shouldn't
sacrifice people's personal freedoms.
"Civil liberties are fragile," he said, adding that they are the first
things to be discarded when difficulties arise.
Public nudity just doesn't work. It needs to be illegal. Even nudists
should realize that."
Horsefeathers!! What stupid people the councils in Ashland have got to
throw the baby out with the bathwater. They need to have more tolerant
people in office.
--
Best wishes,
Dario Western
"In order to be what you want to be you've got to learn to be everything
you're not" - Alicia Moore (aka P!nk)
(07) 3267-6789
(0437) 428-859
http://www.myspace.com/fatpizzaman
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Nonsense. They were extremely tolerant. The first vote they had in
September regarding outlawing public nudity went down to defeat.
And what did they get for all that tolerance?
They became a magnet for sickos like that Minnesota man who took
advantage of their tolerance for his sicko desire to walk nude outside
of schools.
I am surprised it took them this long to outlaw public nudity.