New Hampshire's state motto of "Live Free or Die" doesn't extend to female body parts, it seems.
In response to the #FreetheNipple movement, state lawmakers are considering a bill making it illegal for women to expose their nipples in public. Currently, both males and females are allowed to bare their chests. The law would only prohibit women from going topless, which would be considered "indecent exposure."
Though the proposed bill has an exemption for mothers who are breastfeeding, New Hampshire State Representative Amanda Bouldin (D) took the opportunity to slam the bill in a public Facebook note to its sponsor, State Representative Josh Moore (R).
"The very least you could do," Bouldin wrote, "is protect a mother's right to FEED her child."
Moore responded with a poorly spelled comment suggesting that men would then have the right to grab a woman's exposed nipple. He deleted the comment, but not before Bouldin took a screenshot.
"If it's a woman's natural inclination to pull her nipple out in public and you support that," Moore wrote, "than [sic] you should have no problem with a mans inclantion [sic] to stare at it and grab it. After all... It's ALL relative and natural, right?"
That comment has prompted Facebook users to storm Moore's page, accusing him of threatening sexual assault against women.
Meanwhile, State Representative Al Baldasaro (R) weighed in, accusing Bouldin of wanting to turn the state's beach "into a pervert show." He also added this insult:
"No disrespect, but your nipple would be the last one I would want to see," he wrote.
Baldasaro defended that remark to The Huffington Post on the grounds that he is a "happily married guy."
In a separate interview, Bouldin stated that her views were being ignored because she is a woman.
"This is bad governance, plain and simple," she told HuffPo. "The merits of the bill have nothing to do with the flesh between my thighs."
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