Brennan said he then calmly took off all of his clothes — a convenient way to show the TSA that he wasn’t carrying any explosives…. “I also was aware of the irony of taking off my clothes to protect my privacy,” Brennan said…. Brennan said that he told the screeners he was doing so in protest. Brennan said he wanted to show the TSA “that ‘I know my rights. That you have these machines that can see us naked.’ …. They’re getting as close to seeing us naked as they can. And we are upping the ante.”
By now, most of America is probably familiar with John Brennan, the Portland man would took all of his clothes at a TSA checkpoint at Portland International Airport. In an instant, Brennan became the pudgy expression of the frustration most American travelers have felt as they endured the multifaceted TSA silliness and invasion of privacy that passes for security kabuki.
Brennan was fortunate enough to do his “Sir Godiva” routine in Portland, where nudity as a form of protest is considered protected speech. Portland is, after all, home to the largest iteration of the World Naked Bike Ride (something which I’ve respectfully passed on participating in). Nudity in general, and as a form of protest in particular, has a long and storied history in Puddletown, and the judge in Brennan’s case viewed his protest was just another example of protected speech. Brennan was acquitted of indecent exposure after the judge determined that the city of Portland was trying to punish what precedent has defined as protected free speech.
In 1985, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in City of Portland v. Gatewood that appearing nude in public can be a protected form of expression — if it’s done in political protest. The court said each act of nudity should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
In November 2008, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Jerome LaBarre used that opinion to clear a Northeast Portland nude bicyclist of an indecent exposure charge, also under the same city ordinance with which Brennan is now charged. Michael “Bobby” Hammond, then 20, stripped off all his clothes and went for a two-minute ride through the Alberta Arts District — he said to make clear that nothing was powering his mode of transportation but his own unadulterated body.
Perhaps protests like Brennan’s would be less controversial (and perhaps impactful) if we as a culture could see our way clear to losing our fear of the human body. Nudity is only as dangerous/offensive/prurient as we choose to allow it to be. Portland, like any other city, has a laundry list of problems. Thankfully, using nudity as a means of protest isn’t seen as gratuitously sexual and offensive. No doubt few would choose to see John Brennan naked, but at least here it’s seen as protest and not perversion.
Subtle difference, no?
Brennan’s argument that the TSA is close to seeing us naked is well-stated and sadly all too accurate…but that’s a discussion best left for another day. For now, I’ll just celebrate Brennan for having the cojones (no pun intended) to do what so many travelers have undoubtedly considered at one time or another.
America 1, TSA 0.
