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House advances indecent-exposure changes; debate highlights dignity language and transgender concerns
Summary
Lawmakers approved a committee recommendation on House Bill 446, which revises indecent-exposure statutes to add a dignity standard and creates a separate public-place provision. Debate centered on whether the proposal would unfairly affect transgender people using public locker rooms.
The Montana House’s committee of the whole recommended passage of House Bill 446, a measure to revise indecent-exposure law and add a statutory protection referencing human dignity.
Sponsor Representative Jay Hinkle said the bill updates statutes to address conduct that “violates their dignity” and to ensure that exposure of intimate parts in public places can be charged where current statutory language may not provide a clear remedy. “Indecent exposure can be a chargeable offense in public places,” Hinkle said in committee remarks, describing section 4 as patterned after Tennessee law.
Representative Staffman offered an amendment (HB446.002.001) that would keep the sponsor’s dignity language but remove a separate…
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