Saying No to the "The Naked Lady"

Ashland has a major 4th of July Parade.  It's an artsy college town on the progressive side, so it's not the usual parade you'll see in most places.  There are the things you'd expect on an Independence Day Celebration: the flag/color guards, fighter jets zooming overhead, Masons  in their little cars, politicians in vintage cars, political wanna-bees handing out flyers, fire trucks with guys throwing candy at kids along the sidewalks, floats sponsored by local businesses, and musicians from the civic band and rotund clowns on large penny farthing bicycles..

 But there are also lesbian Harley riders (D**** ON Bikes") and parents of gay and lesbian couples, and some funky floats with all kinds of political and social messages from legalizing pot to anti-war contingents--things you might not see in a Deep South/Middle West  parade.   

But is it possible for a parade entry to go "too far".  In my opinion, yes, it is and I offer this little item from the Ashland Daily Tidings as Exhibit A.

 

'Naked Lady' will abide by parade ban

By John Darling

For the Tidings

Declaring that she is standing up for individual liberty on Independence Day, near-nude rollerblader Jen Moss says she will go topless wearing a G-string and the crown of Lady Liberty at Ashland's Fourth of July parade, but will stay on sidewalks and other areas where she isn't banned.

The Ashland Chamber of Commerce, sponsor of the annual parade, has received overwhelming support for its decision not to approve Moss' application to participate, said chamber spokeswoman Katharine Flanagan.

The chamber's parade permit gives it control of Main Street, Siskiyou Boulevard and the Plaza from curb-to-curb, but not the sidewalk, cross streets and the after-parade festivities on Winburn Way, said Chamber Executive Director Sandra Slattery.

If Moss, known as "The Naked Lady," enters the parade route in any state of nudity that would offend a family audience, she will be asked to leave, and if she doesn't leave, the police will be informed, Flanagan said.

Ashland city ordinances allow nudity anywhere in town, but genitalia must be covered in city parks and the downtown commercial district. Since exposed female breasts are legal everywhere in town, Moss said she plans to go topless on the Fourth of July. Typically, Moss rollerblades or bikes in pasties and a hemp G-string.

Moss said she plans to contact the American Civil Liberties Union in hopes of filing suit against the Ashland chamber for what she sees as discrimination, based on her beliefs about freedom of expression and dress.

"I will sue them to the greatest extent I can," Moss said.

The chamber allows entries with controversial political views. But after consulting its attorney, Allen Drescher, the chamber denied Moss' application because nudity is inappropriate for the parade's "positive, family-friendly theme," Flanagan said.

ACLU Executive Director David Fidanque, reached at the organization's Portland office, said because the chamber receives money from the city, it may be an "actor of the government" and thus required to comply with the Constitution and "wouldn't be able to decide who's in the parade."

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Now I'm all for free speech, but there should also be standards protecting children from lewd behavior and skateboarding exhibitionists seem to fit that catagory in my humble opinion.  A parade is not a strip act and upper full-front female nudity would seem to be crossing the line, at least in Ashland.  Ms. Jen Moss has already been told by the local authorities she could no longer perform her "act" on a bike around Ojai, California, so she is relocated up here because of the more tolerent enviroment.       

And although upper body nudity is technicaly legal in the city limits, I have yet to see or hear of any women who exercise their right to go about their business topless. 

 Might I suggest you find another form of parade dress, and stick to the nude thing in your  own house or backyard, milady.