Cheyenne City Council Amends Indecent Exposure Law

An archaic law prohibiting Cheyenne residents from wearing indecent attire in public was stripped from the city books Monday night.

The Cheyenne City Council voted unanimously to amend a section of the city code dealing with indecent exposure.

"If you're exposing genitalia or things of that nature that's still illegal, that's classified as indecent exposure or a state of nudity," said Councilman Richard Johnson, who sponsored the ordinance. "If all parts are covered and it's just very risky then that's fine now."

Johnson says people's morals have changed over the years and what might have been considered indecent attire 150 years ago is now perfectly acceptable.

"This was actually put on the books in about 1874 and then revised in 1879," said Johnson. "If the founding fathers of Cheyenne were to walk into a bar on Halloween night in 2016, their idea of indecent attire would blow their minds."

Council members Bryan Cook, Dr. Mark Rinne and Annette Williams were absent from Monday night's meeting.