One woman’s legal case has been causing a stir across the internet, as she fights for her right to be topless in the privacy of her own home!
Tilli Buchanan faced court on Tuesday on charges of lewdness.
27-year-old Tilli Buchanan was arrested ealier this year for being topless in front of her three stepchildren in her own home.
Ms Buchanan lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband Jared.
Ms. Buchanan was topless in her own home, when she was seen by her three stepchildren.
The three children — aged 9, 10, and 13 — were apparently embarrassed by their stepmother’s topless state.
Ms Buchanan and her husband were topless due to the fact that they were hanging drywall in their garage, and didn’t want to ruin their clothes, according to WLS-TV .
Ms. Buchanan apparently used the moment to teach a lesson about equality.
According to the Daily Mail , Ms. Buchanan carefully explained to the children that there was no need to feel embarrassed.
She also explained that there was no difference between her being topless, and her husband being topless right next to her.
The question of why it is okay for men to be topless in public, but not for women to do so, has been a particularly prominent political and social question over the last few years.
If convicted, Ms. Buchanan could be placed on a sexual offender’s registry.
Not only could Ms Buchanan potentially face prison time for the supposed offence, but she could end up on a sexual offender’s registry. As Ms. Buchanan’s attorney Randy Richards told the Salt Lake Tribune , this would place her amongst the likes of child abusers.
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“If we lose this, she’s on the sex offender registry with child rapists and things of that nature […] The magnitude of the penalty on this is enormous.”
Ms Buchanan’s attorney asked the judge to dismiss the charges.
Her attorney also put forward that there should be changes made to the state’s lewdness laws to stop them from causing discrimination against women again in the future.
In the map above, put together by advocacy group GoTopless.org , states shown in red are where it is still illegal for women to go topless in public. Utah can clearly be seen to be one of these states.
The judge is expected to announce a ruling over the next two months.
The American Civil Liberties Union defended Ms Buchanan, with senior attorney Leah Farrell declaring the law to be unconstitutional. As Ms. Farrell said in court to Fox :
“[In the statute,] there’s one part of it that says this part of a woman is found inherently obscene and this part of a man isn’t, and that really sets up an unequal and unfair dichotomy. I think Tilli’s case is an example of something none of us would expect to happen to us.”
Ms. Buchanan said she is “hopeful” for the outcome of the case.
Ms. Buchanan was vehement that she has done nothing wrong, and that she is hopeful for the outcome of the case due to the fact that it was in the privacy of her own home and her husband stood next to her in the exact same state of undress.
She also explained that she was disappointed that this moment of teaching for her children has been ruined.
As she said, “I was devastated. Because the moment I took to teach the kids [about sexism], it was kind of smashed. Like you can’t teach kids this. In fact, you’re going to be charged for even bringing this up.”
People across the internet were largely in defence of Ms. Buchanan’s actions.
One of these people’s responses to the story included:
“Whether you agree with what occurred doesn’t matter. Kids walk in rooms accidentally all the time. Bottom Line: It unfairly burdens women only with high cost (JAIL + 10 YRS on REG. SEX OFFENDER LIST). It was in her own home. Not in public. For what? Nipples? Everyone has them.”
Another one was incensed at what their tax dollars were supporting.
“What a ridiculous way of wasting tax payers money. I don’t see a crime in any way. The father was there so I don’t see a problem. When I was a child women would shower on the river half naked. This society is twisted.”
However, there were also some who suggested that the children’s biological mother was using the story.
Due to the fact that Ms Buchanan was reported to the police by the children’s biological mother, there were a lot of people suggesting that the biological mother may have been using the story for personal gain:
“Key phrase in all of this, ‘reported by children’s mother’. Clearly this was pushed by the ex. I suspect the ex was looking to modify custody and this was an easy way to do it. Stupid laws helped out.”
“Stepchildren means, the biological mother has it out for the new mommy. Give me a break.”
Hopefully, the case will reveal the archaic ideology behind some of this state’s laws.
Over the last few years, there has been a lot of campaigning done in relation to the “Free The Nipple” movement. However, there are still cases where women are arrested for being topless, even in states where it is not against the law.
In these instances, as GoTopless.org writes, “Don’t be intimidated! You can sue the city back for wrongful arrest (if your only crime was to go topless).”
Who knows how this case will turn out for Ms Buchanan. It’s hard to imagine that the next two months will be an easy wait for her and her husband.
h/t: WLS-TV & Daily Mail
