SW Washington official arrested in topless trans rights protest: ‘My body is not obscene’

A

city councilor in rural southwest Washington

is charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure for stripping to the waist while demonstrating for trans rights on the

Fourth of July

.

City councilor Lucy Lauser of

Stevenson, Washington

was handcuffed and led off the Skamania County courthouse lawn during the one-woman protest — dividing constituents and spurring an ongoing recall campaign.

In an interview Tuesday, the 33-year-old councilor said she doesn’t believe her actions were illegal, noting that Washington law defines indecent exposure as an obscenity that is likely to cause “affront or alarm.”

“My body is not obscene,” said Lauser, who is transgender and co-founded

Skamania Pride

. “I expect my constitutional rights to be upheld.”

The arrest

was first reported by Uplift Local,

a digital journalism nonprofit covering the Columbia River Gorge.

Skamania County Sheriff

Summer Scheyer said Lauser previously received a warning after taking off her shirt during a

Transgender Day of Visibility

demonstration

on March 31.

During the second protest, Scheyer said she asked Lauser to put her shirt back on around 4 p.m. July 4, but authorized the arrest after the councilor refused.

Scheyer said she had received numerous complaints, including from families with children who had seen the naked display. The courthouse lawn faces Washington State Route 14, the main road through town, and is lined with shops and eateries.

While Lauser has cited several Washington court cases that say a woman’s bare chest is not inherently salacious, the sheriff argues that the broad-daylight protest and level of public concern required law enforcement action.

“People were mortified that their children were exposed to this,” Scheyer said. “I think the indecent exposure law is quite clear cut — and that if the public is saying this is obscene — then that law is on the books, and we enforce the law.”

A local resident, Kathleen J. Fitzgerald, now plans to collect signatures for a recall petition against Lauser, who won election with 328 votes in November 2023, and is running for mayor in the Aug. 5 primary.

Skamania County Judge Randall Krog

cleared

the legal language of the petition June 16, but Lauser has appealed the question to the Washington Supreme Court.

Lauser said doesn’t feel safe protesting further, but has no regrets for drawing attention to

anti-trans

rights

federal policies

from

President Donald Trump

, who has signed an

executive order blocking

hormone and

gender-affirming care

for children and teenagers and sough to ban

trans student athletes.

Both Washington and Oregon have

joined a lawsuit

challenging the ban.

“If the federal government passes a law that says it’s obscene for me to wear a skirt, will I be arrested for wearing my own clothing in public?” Lauser said. “I’m asking who has the guts to uphold the Constitution, even if it’s difficult or uncomfortable.”

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083,

zsparling@oregonian.com

or

@pdxzane

.

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