Idaho legislative committee moves bill forward to ‘modernize' indecent exposure law
Hundreds of members of Idaho's LGBTQ+ community commemorate the 10th anniversary of Idaho's first and only public hearing on an 'Add the Words' bill at a gathering at the Idaho State Capitol on Jan. 28, 2025. "Add the Words" encourages the addition of the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to Idaho's Human Rights Act. (Mia Maldonado/Idaho Capital Sun)
Idaho legislators are advancing a bill to update the state's indecent exposure law.
The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee in a 12-3 vote along party lines on Tuesday advanced in a House Bill 270, which bill sponsor Rep. Jeff Cornilles, R-Nampa, said was inspired by a Canyon County Pride event in June.
The legislation aims to modernize Idaho's indecent exposure law, Cornilles said, which currently is defined as the exposure of someone's genitals in any public place. It's a misdemeanor on the first offense, and a felony on the second offense within five years.
The legislation would add to that law, also making it a misdemeanor to show the following in public spaces:
Developed female breasts, not including those of someone breastfeeding a child
Adult male breasts that have been medically or hormonally altered to appear like developing or developed female breasts
Artificial breasts
Toys or products intended to resemble male or female genitals
Nampa City Councilmember Sebastian Griffin helped craft the bill, and told the committee why this bill was brought forward.
Griffin attended an event at Lakeview Park in Nampa, where Canyon County Pride was held in June. At the event, he noticed a 'woman who was topless exposing herself,' he said.
'Shocked by this, I went over and saw a local Nampa police officer and said, 'why hasn't this individual been asked to either number one, cover up or number two, leave?'' Griffin told the committee. 'And to my surprise, the officer said what that person's doing isn't illegal.'
That's because it is not illegal for a man with breast enhancements to walk around topless, the officer said, according to Griffin.
'Committee will likely hear testimony today that says this bill is targeting and even discriminating against a certain group of Idaho citizens or population,' Griffin said. 'I would argue it does not. This targets bad actors in our community that have found a loophole within Idaho code to take advantage and disrupt society. That's it. It's addressing out of date code for a modern time. We need to modernize our code to address issues of today's day and age.'
Canyon County Pride President Tom Wheeler previously told the Idaho Capital Sun that multiple people had attended the event 'nipple pasties,' which inspired a rule to require shirts this year.
Fifteen people testified to the committee, most of whom opposed the bill. This includes Nixon Mathews, an LGBTQ+ advocate, who said the bill is too broad and imposes extreme penalties on transgender Idahoans.
'I'm a trans man, and I have opted to have chest surgery, so my chest looks like a cis man's chest,' Mathews said. 'If I'm shirtless in my own yard and my neighbor sees me and they find me offensive, could they call the cops and arrest me at my own home? According to this bill, an existing Idaho statute, yes, they could.'
William Mitchell, an attorney with Legal Voice, opposed the bill, arguing it would affect men experiencing gynecomastia, a hormonal condition that causes enlarged breasts in males.
'What I'm trying to tell you is that gynecomastia can happen naturally throughout the life of a male,' Mitchell said. 'It can also be caused by poorly managed hormonal therapies related to low testosterone in younger men, or from abuse of non-prescription or non therapeutic use of testosterone or anabolic steroids. With that background, I hope you can see that this bill would cast among the widest of nets in our criminal code.'
Proponents of the bill, such as Idaho Freedom Foundation Director of Legislative Affairs Fred Birnbaum, said the bill would protect children.
'What this bill is about, is restoring decency and community standards of behavior,' Birnbaum said to the committee.
Nampa City Councilwoman Natalie Jangula also spoke in support of the bill. While she thanked the Canyon County Pride event organizers for complying with the city's requests, she said organizers cannot control the actions of everyone who attends.
'That is why we need laws, city codes, security and law enforcement,' Jangula said. '…Our police did not have adequate legislation in place to take appropriate action.'
The bill is now headed to the House floor in the coming days or weeks.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How Trump's ‘big beautiful bill' could wreck Utah's groundbreaking AI laws
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' budget package could derail the state's groundbreaking artificial intelligence laws unless it is changed. The 1,000-page bill that passed the House last month includes a 10-year prohibition on AI regulations. An updated Senate version removed the all-out ban but conditioned $500 million in AI infrastructure grants on states pausing enforcement of AI laws. Behind these provisions is a desire by some lawmakers to prevent a nationwide patchwork of AI regulations that hampers innovation amid competition with China. But Cox, and Utah's top tech policymakers, said the approach taken by Trump's bill interferes with the state's right to react to rapidly evolving technologies. 'Our hope is that the last version of this bill that passes, whatever that looks like, will allow for the smart type of regulation that we're doing in Utah, and prevent the bad kind of regulation that would stop AI from reaching its fullest potential,' Cox said Tuesday during a monthly PBS broadcast. Utah has been recognized around the world for having the 'first and smartest of the AI regulations that have been proposed,' according to Cox. These policies include bills that create a state-run AI policy lab, clarify consumer protection liability for AI and require AI disclosures in industries like finance and mental health. The governor said that multiple members of the U.S. House have told his team that they were not aware of the AI moratorium when they voted on the bill. Members of the White House and Senate have also said that they don't want the 'BBB bill' to eliminate Utah's law, Cox said. 'AI companies actually support what we're doing because they recognize that this is the right way to do AI regulation as opposed to just piecemeal,' Cox said. Cox agreed that 'a hodgepodge' of AI laws around the country would cause the U.S. to 'fall behind and we would lose this global race that is happening right now.' But he said a moratorium on AI policy shouldn't come at the expense of Utah's novel approach which doesn't actually tell AI companies how they can develop their models. Utah Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, said the problem goes beyond counterproductive policy. It targets the foundation of states rights that has allowed Utah to lead out on so many issues, according to Fiefia, a freshman lawmaker who previously worked at Google. 'States are laboratories for innovation when it comes to policy, and I believe that the federal government should not overreach on this process and allow it to work,' Fiefia said. 'We will not give over our control because the federal government believes that it's the right thing to do to win this race.' On Tuesday, Utah House legislative leadership, and 62 state senators and representatives, sent a letter authored by Fiefia to Utah's congressional delegation arguing that the moratorium hindered 'Utah's nationally recognized efforts to strike the right balance between innovation and consumer protection.' Not only would the moratorium harm state efforts to legislate guardrails, it would also hurt businesses that are using AI responsibly by allowing their competitors to engage in unethical behavior, according to Fiefia. States have shown they are more nimble than the federal government when they need to adapt to change, Fiefia said. And this is the approach Fiefia believes Utah has demonstrated in opening up legal pathways for innovation while updating the law for the threats posed by AI. 'Just because we want to move fast in this global arms race of AI doesn't mean we can't do so with a seat belt,' Fiefia said. 'I believe that we can both win this AI race, but also doing it in a thoughtful and meaningful way.' The AI moratorium faces procedural hurdles in addition to ideological pushback. Utah Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, pointed out that reconciliation bills are meant only to amend the annual budget and not make substantive policy shifts. Some senators have alleged that the AI moratorium does not comply with the 'Byrd Rule,' a procedural requirement that prohibits 'nonbudgetary' additions during the budget 'reconciliation' process. Cullimore, who was the sponsor behind most of Utah's AI legislation, was in Washington, D.C., last week, speaking with members of the House Commerce Committee, which oversaw the inclusion of the AI moratorium provisions. The intentions behind the moratorium, Cullimore said, were to prevent states from implementing what are called 'foundational regulations' that restrict the kind of technology AI companies can develop. Utah's laws do not do this, according to Cullimore, who also signed Fiefia's letter, but they would still be sidelined by the 'big beautiful bill' even if the moratorium is replaced by the conditioned federal funding. 'I think the drafting of the moratorium was so broad that it potentially encompassed all of that stuff,' he said. 'So I hope that that we can refine the text a little bit, and then if they want to put those conditions in on foundational regulation, I think that'd be appropriate.'
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chicago man accused of stealing $400K of fitness equipment, other goods
CHICAGO — A Chicago man was arrested last week for allegedly selling $400,000 worth of stolen fitness equipment and other goods. Isadore House, 57, is facing a Class 1 felony count of theft after he was taken into custody Friday. The investigation into House began in April after the Cook County Sheriff's Office learned of fitness equipment stolen in a cargo theft. The merchandise was allegedly being sold by House on Facebook Marketplace. Undercover officers then purchased multiple pieces of fitness equipment from him over the course of several weeks at a storefront in the 1800 block of West 87th Street in Chicago and at a storage unit in the 0-100 block of West 85th Street. String of armed robberies in Lakeview, Lincoln Park conducted by same group Officers conducted a search warrant at the locations of and approximately $400,000 in fitness equipment and other goods. House was arrested on Friday, according to police. He was released pending his next court date. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cramer: GOP has no ‘stomach' for Medicare changes in Trump megabill
Senate Republicans appear less likely to try to make changes to Medicare Advantage as part of their massive tax and spending bill, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Wednesday. Cramer raised the idea of targeting Medicare Advantage for additional savings last week after a closed-door caucus meeting, saying the program is ideal for reform because it is rife with waste, fraud and abuse. The House-passed bill would cut more than $800 billion from Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, but some GOP lawmakers argue that other mandatory spending programs, such as Medicare, should also be reviewed for 'waste' to further reduce the cost of the bill. But Medicare has long been considered a political third rail, and Cramer on Wednesday said he doesn't think Republicans want to try to go near it — even though Medicare Advantage changes have bipartisan support. 'I don't think there's a stomach for it. I think that the president doesn't want to touch Medicare,' Cramer said. When Republicans first floated the idea of Medicare changes last week, Senate Democrats jumped to open a new line of attack. Politically, it didn't matter that Republicans were discussing bipartisan legislation sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) that would save billions of dollars by reducing overpayments to private Medicare Advantage plans. The legislation would crack down on a practice called 'upcoding' through which insurers classify patients as sicker so the government will reimburse them at a higher rate. Cramer noted it's difficult for members to try to talk about the changes. 'To be honest, I'm the only one I know that talks about it,' Cramer said. 'I just don't know how we get to where we want to get without going after some of the bigger drivers of the debt and deficit.' Senate Republicans will be briefed by Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of the release of legislative text. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
