Lubbock Texas Nurse-In for Breastfeeding Art

Comments

1. Mark Glen-Walker says:

   January 3, 2008 at 3:33 pm

   The idea of banning art is absurd on its own, but to reject a piece from a show without viewing it is completely ridiculous.

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2. Natalie says:

   January 3, 2008 at 10:44 pm

   I completely agree that the removal of the artwork was absurd. However, if the city has already apologized and is reviewing its policies, then what is the purpose of the nurse-in? It’s not clear from the ACLU letter what other goals they are hoping to accomplish with this protest. Just curious…

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3. Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor says:

   January 4, 2008 at 9:34 am

   I don’t know Natalie — too little too late? A disbelief that the policies will change? It wasn’t clear to me either.

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4. Vince says:

   January 6, 2008 at 1:55 pm

   Okay folks, once again, as I stated on another blog at another link, I’m Vince Gonzales, president of the Lubbock ACLU. I took it upon myself to organize this event. PRIOR to the Art Censorship ever being done, women started discussing the pervasive discrimination they are victimized by in this community when they breastfeed in public on the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s blog Woman to Woman. The unrest began in September. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the City of Lubbock banned the artwork, and in particular, that of a nursing mother and child. When the plan was hatched, it was BEFORE the City decided to uncensor the art. The ACLU did step in on behalf of the artist and the artwork, challenged the City and won. I sent out dozens of e-mails to various Mother’s rights organizations for help and advice. Most offices were closed during this period of time. I decided to set up a “list serve” for the woman on the blogs who stated they wanted to conduct a nurse-in. With little or no replies from the “lactivist” organizations for help (the few exceptions were Salem Hamilton with Birth Without Boundaries, US Breastfeeding Network, Mothers Acting Up), I decided to ask the State ACLU to step up. Again, due to the holidays, offices were closed. On January 1, I decided that the local chapter of the ACLU would sponsor the event with Birth Without Boundaries. By this time, the art work was not part of the picture, it was the discrimination and lack of teeth in the laws that exist. Linda Smith with US Breastfeeding Network put me intouch with folks to provide the language of Philadelphia’s city ordinance implementing fines for discrimination against nursing mothers and our focus started to move into a new area. With a new voice, the “nurse-in” did develop into a celebration of the City’s decision to allow the art (no one has seen it hanging in a city facility yet) and an opportunity of these 30-40 mothers to collectively nurse with no fear of recrimination and discrimination. It was a joyous and significant event, especially when the City of Lubbock called and asked how they can help. The situation is ripe for asking the City to pass a law similar to that of Philadelphia, making the City of Lubbock the second city in the nation to have a law like this. Additionally, the message is out, these moms will not allow themselves, or others, to be treated as second class citizens in Lubbock, Texas. We weren’t lactivists, we are moms and dads who stood up for the thing that was most precious to us…our children. Sorry if we did not line up with your agendas or political motivations. No harm was meant, we were just loving our kids and standing up for our right to do what is best for them! Vince Gonzales

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