A Kansas lawmaker came under fire from female legislators for issuing an 11-point code of conduct that included a guide to women on how they need to dress.
Three years ago, Kansas State Sen. Mitch Holmes created a rule on how women testifying before a state committee were allowed to dress. He wrote an 11-point guideline for the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, which included bans on low-cut necklines and miniskirts. The rules are finally coming back to haunt him, but why now?
“A particular reporter, one known for not joining in the pledge of allegiance, decided to make an issue of the committee rules I use,†Holmes said, defending himself in an email to KWCH. “It was one of those deals that is so ridiculous that I rolled my eyeballs in disbelief of the spin he used.”
Fellow state politicians don’t really seem to care about Holmes’ excuses, and they are using this opportunity to speak out against the dress code, and more specifically, the reason Holmes gave for having stricter rules for women than men. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Holmes explained that he considered requiring men to wear suits and ties when addressing his Senate committee, but decided not to because “males didn’t need supplemental instruction on how to look professional.â€
“Oh, for crying out loud, what century is this?” Sen. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat, said according to CNN. “There was no suggestion that men needed any help deciding what to put on in the morning.”
“An individual is an individual and I don’t judge what other people would choose to feel is appropriate,” Republican Rep. Peggy Mast said.
Senator Pat Pettey was offended and thought the dress code was sexist according to the Kansas City Star, and she joked about the rules to show how silly they were. “If somebody comes in a clown suit, that’s OK, but if they come in a skirt that someone has determined is too short, that’s not OK,†Pettey explained. “Maybe he should keep some smocks handy.â€
There’s currently an online petition to get Holmes to remove the dress code and it has almost 5,000 supporters.
“Per these new rules, any woman wearing a short skirt or lower cut top (measurements not specified) may be banned from testifying,” the petition states. “It’s time to stop telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies. If you find a woman’s attire too “distracting” to do your job, that reflects more poorly on your worth as a leader than hers as a person. We call on State Sen. Holmes to revise his rules promptly.”
In addition to telling women what to wear, Holmes also repeatedly tells women what to do with their bodies. He is against the public funding of abortions and of organizations that advocate or perform abortions. He also has a long history of voting to make it more difficult for women to get abortions.
Â
Image via Facebook