Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Here We Go Again

Brattleboro Selectboard members have agreed to reconsider a nudity ban after two PETA demonstrators disrobed earlier this month in the downtown area. The issue was raised by a resident who told the Board that many in the town do not understand why there has been no action taken, and that the issue should be put to a public vote. If the Board decides not to put the ordinance to a vote, residents can still collect signatures of 20% of the town's residents to add the issue to the town warrant.

This is a prime example of lawmakers reacting to the needs of the very few. The only reason that public nudity is an issue at all in the town is because people insist on bringing it up over and over again, and it attracts national attention. Aside from the initial incidents in the summer of 2006 when a few teenagers decided to hang around a parking lot in the nude, there have been virtually no incidents involving local Vermont residents. The PETA protesters as well as two other people who went nude earlier this year were all from out of state. If any locals are getting naked in Brattleboro, it's not being reported.

It's nearly November, the leaves are falling, and people are bundling up with layers of clothing, not peeling them off. Give it a break, Brattleboro, you are beginning to sound like a broken record.

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