500 signatures reached
To: Indiana State Representative Matt Pierce
Free the Nipple Indiana
Dear Representative Pierce,
My name is Reanne R. and I am a community member who resides in your district.
I would like to express my opposition to the parameters stated in the Indiana Code Title 35 on the definition of nudity to include the nipples of women in all spaces as stated “showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple”.
Indiana remains one of only 4 states in the United States who have directly targeted legislation against women being topless in public spaces, allowing police to arrest and charge women with class C misdemeanors for being comfortable on a hot day.
The direct targeting against women’s bodies in our legislation has contributed to a culture that shames women for their bodies, fetishizes our community members, and targets marginalized community members such as non-surgically reconstructed transmen, as well as women experiencing homelessness who must choose to either be arrested or suffer from heatstroke in the summer months.
This law is an infringement of a individual’s constitutional right not to be discriminated against on the basis of gender. Many of our fellow Midwest states, including neighbors Illinois and Ohio, have adjusted the language around public nudity surrounding female breasts, creating more equal and inclusive environments for all genders and all those in between.
Take up this cause as our representative and pass an amendment to this law - adjusting the language of the law to reflect values of equality and nondiscrimination. I have enclosed the signatures of other citizens from your district who feel the same as I do.
Please contact me via email or cell phone call. My information is included below.
Sincerely,
Reanne R.
My name is Reanne R. and I am a community member who resides in your district.
I would like to express my opposition to the parameters stated in the Indiana Code Title 35 on the definition of nudity to include the nipples of women in all spaces as stated “showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple”.
Indiana remains one of only 4 states in the United States who have directly targeted legislation against women being topless in public spaces, allowing police to arrest and charge women with class C misdemeanors for being comfortable on a hot day.
The direct targeting against women’s bodies in our legislation has contributed to a culture that shames women for their bodies, fetishizes our community members, and targets marginalized community members such as non-surgically reconstructed transmen, as well as women experiencing homelessness who must choose to either be arrested or suffer from heatstroke in the summer months.
This law is an infringement of a individual’s constitutional right not to be discriminated against on the basis of gender. Many of our fellow Midwest states, including neighbors Illinois and Ohio, have adjusted the language around public nudity surrounding female breasts, creating more equal and inclusive environments for all genders and all those in between.
Take up this cause as our representative and pass an amendment to this law - adjusting the language of the law to reflect values of equality and nondiscrimination. I have enclosed the signatures of other citizens from your district who feel the same as I do.
Please contact me via email or cell phone call. My information is included below.
Sincerely,
Reanne R.
Why is this important?
Indiana remains one of only 4 states in the United States who have directly targeted legislation against women being topless in public spaces, allowing police to arrest and charge women with class C misdemeanors for being comfortable on a hot day. This is discrimination on the basis of gender and cultivates a culture of shame around the bodies of women. This law fetishizes people, it minimizes the value of their bodies, it takes away ownership of their bodies, and it tells female identifying humans across the state that their body is a shameful object to be hidden. We can change this and make our state not one of the last strongholds of sexist law in the United States.
How it will be delivered
Upon reaching the required 200 signatures, I will include this petition with the above letter to Indiana State Representative Matt Pierce. Should he choose to not pursue this legislation, I will continue to gather signatures in Indianapolis districts until I find a representative who will carry this cause.