Hoboken City Council Strikes Crossdressing Ban

The Hoboken City Council unanimously voted to amend a municipal law that bans crossdressing during their Sept. 2 meeting.

Previously, the “indecent exposure” clause of Hoboken Code Chapter 145 prohibited wearing clothes “not belonging to [a person’s] sex.”

But not anymore.

“The city has reviewed the prohibitions on personal attire and finds them to be offensive to the personal rights of members of society to choose their own attire without government interference,” the ordinance states.

The new law reads:

“No person in this city shall appear in any street or public place in a state of nudity, or in an indecent or lewd attire, or shall make any indecent exposure of his or her person or be guilty of any lewd or indecent act or behavior, or shall exhibit or offer to sell any indecent or lewd book, picture or thing or shall exhibit or perform any indecent, immoral or lewd play or other representation.”

Council President Ravinder Singh Bhalla said that the old ordinance was “outdated” and could be construed as offensive to transgender residents or residents who felt that their freedoms were constricted.

“I didn’t feel that there should be a connection between the way you dress and what your sex is,” Bhalla said, crediting the ordinance’s co-sponsors, David Mello and Michael Russo.

File photo via flickr

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