HAYDEN, Idaho – City councilors in this northern Idaho town who passed a “feel-good resolution” in February to promote community standards are not feeling so good after finding out they might have inadvertently outlawed bellybuttons in public.
The resolution was originally aimed at adult magazines, but bridal publications, fitness magazines and midriffs also were targeted.
The backer of the resolution says she will use the city’s endorsement of the resolution when she approaches Hayden businesses to ask them if they want to be known as “family-friendly.”
“In public and in the community, I would hope we could be covered,” said new resident Amber Facer, who heads the local chapter of a Utah-based organization called Citizens for Youth and Families. “No bellybuttons, no cleavage. I’ve taught my children that their bodies are special.
“As a parent, my job is saying, ‘Look, I don’t want my little girl to see tummies shown.’”
So what Councilwoman Nancy Taylor called a “feel-good resolution” is now causing some discomfort.
“I don’t want someone coming to Honeysuckle Beach this summer crying foul because there are people there wearing bathing suits,” Taylor said at a council meeting Tuesday.
Facer asked the council on Valentine’s Day to approve the loosely worded resolution, which “strongly encourages all businesses, schools and public institutions in the city of Hayden to adopt child-appropriate standards.”
It also promoted a community standard to encourage a “wholesome environment for children and families.”
But after finding out Facer’s definition of community standards, Councilwoman Jeri DeLange on Tuesday brought the resolution back, and the council voted unanimously to have city administrator Jay Townsend and city attorney Nancy Stricklin take another look at the wording.
“When it was originally brought before us, we all thought it was a good idea,” DeLange said Wednesday. “We just didn’t realize that the people involved would want it more restrictive.”
DeLange said she expects a reworded resolution to be brought before the council March 14 for another vote.
“When I think about who decides what constitutes a wholesome environment, that becomes scary,” Taylor said. “That’s not the place of this council. We either need to broaden it or we need to reword it so the burden of those standards is on businesses and families, not the government.”
Councilman Chris Beck led the motion to send the resolution back for further study, but he said he is now rethinking how he looks at magazine displays.
“My original intent was to make a statement that we support a wholesome environment,” Beck said. “But I went to a store today, and there was a magazine there with a picture of a model in a skimpy bikini. And I never would have thought about that before. If this resolution makes people think about their own standards now, then that’s a good thing.”
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