In Springfield, Missouri, city leaders have been looking for ways to resolve a recent indecent exposure dispute among its residents. A few months ago, there was a dispute over a breach of an indecent exposure ordinance. This was then processed into a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Missouri as they fight for criminalizing breast-feeding mothers. According to Fusion, the group wants to criminalize women who breastfeed their children in public if these children are already over a year old.
As written on Courthouse News, the group is fighting for the city to be a "family-friendly" tourist spot. Thus, according to them, the exposure of women's breasts would undermine the mission. This has prompted activists to gather in the city and support the advocacy group, Free the Nipple.
The incident first caused alarm when a couple of women part of Free the Nipple group started a topless rally. They were fighting to dispute a city ordinance that required women to conceal their nipples. Following the topless rally, the city council moved a stricter ordinance that enforced most of the female breast to be covered at all times. In opposition of this ordinance was the ACLU, which sued on behalf of the organizers of the rally. They continue to argue that a new ordinance subjects women to "inferior legal status" and criminalizes their free expression.
On Monday, the ACLU announced that a federal judge has approved a temporary injunction. According to ABCNews, this would provide unenforceable the ordinance that barred any part of the female breast from the top or bottom of the aerola to be exposed. With the order in place, there is a narrower indecent exposure ordinance that prevents other parts of the body (such as the buttocks or genitals) to be exposed for sexual arousal and cause alarm to those in view of them.
