Montana Republican state Rep. David Moore has introduced a bill that would alter Montana’s indecent exposure laws to include banning yoga pants and other “tight-fitting or revealing” clothing, reported Addicting Info.
Moore’s bill, HB 365, states that
any device, costume, or covering that gives the appearance of or simulates the genitals, pubic hair, anus region, or pubic hair region or exposes any device worn as a cover over the nipple or areola of the female breast that simulates and gives the realistic appearance of a nipple or areola while in a public place or visible from a public place without taking reasonable precautions to prevent exposure, and disregards whether a reasonable person would be offended or alarmed by the act.
This ban includes yoga pants, which many women wear while doing yoga, or maybe wear while lounging around the house. Yoga pants are as common as flip flops. However, Moore can’t stand yoga pants: “Yoga pants should be illegal in public anyway.”
“I want Montana to be known as a decent state where people can live within the security of laws and protect their children and associates from degrading and indecent practices,” said Walt Hill, the bill’s co-author. “I believe this bill is written preserving that reputation.”
For a bunch of so-called freedom-loving Republicans who surely believe in small government, they sure do think government ought to have a say in what people wear. Many other sources have made the comparison between Moore and “draconian” Middle Eastern laws that force women to completely cover themselves. What’s next, banning women from driving and reading?
The proposed punishments for violating the bill are overly harsh, also. First-time offenders could serve six months in jail, and three-time violators could be sentenced to five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.