A Minnesota lawmaker has issued a proposal that would make it legal for women to go topless in public if they so desire.
The proposal comes on the heels of a ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals to uphold the conviction of a woman who was arrested and sentenced to 90 days in jail on an “indecent exposure” charge after going topless in a convenience store parking lot.
“This to me seems really wrong,” Minnesota House Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura told The Star Tribune in regards to the conviction. “Particularly now, as we as a society are thinking differently about gender and gender identity, I think this law feels very antiquated.”
Legalizing Going Topless
Sencer-Mura, a member of the Minnesota Deocratic-Farmer-Labor Party, noted that while her proposal likely won’t be heard this year, she hopes it can spark some discussion among lawmakers about the changing attitudes towards gender identity and a person’s ability to express themselves.
Sencer-Mura developed the proposal after hearing about the story of Eloisa Plancarte, who was arrested in Rochester in 2021 after police received a call about a woman walking around a convenience store parking lot with her breasts exposed. Plancarte appealed her original conviction to the Court of Appeals, who voted 2-1 to uphold the decision. In the decision to deny the appeal, Judge Kevin G. Ross referenced a nearly 40-year-old decision that upheld a conviction for a woman who was seen sunbathing topless in a Minneapolis Park.
Judge Diane B. Bratfold issued the dissent on the appeal’s court, saying that the decision to uphold the ruling “raises more questions about criminal conduct than it clarifies.” Judge Bratford went on to question whether it would be illegal for a transgender man who had yet to undergo breast removal surgery to have his breasts exposed in public.
Sencer-Mura said the current laws don’t account for the new views on gender and gender identity.
“If law enforcement believes that someone identifies as a female, then they’re going to treat them differently if they have their shirt off than they would someone that they perceive to be a male,” Sencer-Mura said. “As we have a shifting understanding of gender, that law just doesn’t make sense anymore.”
The current law defines indecent exposure as a time when someone “willfully and lewdly exposes the person’s body, or the private parts thereof,” which is why breastfeeding in public doesn’t reach the threshold for punishment in Minnesota. And while “lewdly” is still up for interpretation, plenty of laws from decades ago probably stand to be updated for the betterment of the public. We’ll keep tabs on the measure if it ever gets to a point where it is voted on.
In the meantime, if you need assistance fighting a criminal matter of your own, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
