A Republican lawmaker on Wednesday proposed that a bill raising the minimum age for dancers at strip clubs also allow the state of Louisiana to regulate strippers’ weight.
State Rep. Kenneth Havard was discussing the bill, which would raise the minimum age for exotic dancers from 18 to 21, when he also threw out there that he’d like the dancers to remain under 160 pounds, according to The Huffington Post. Havard also suggested the maximum age for a stripper under the law should be 28.
Some of Havard’s female colleagues quickly criticized his comments.
“I can’t even believe the behavior,” state Rep. Julie Stokes told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I hear derogatory comments about women, I see women get treated differently than men.”
Havard quickly withdrew his amendment, calling it a “poke at over regulating everything.”
“It was aimed at both men and women. I can’t strip either. I’m a little overweight,” Havard told the Times-Picayune.
He did not immediately respond Thursday morning to TPM’s request for comment.
The bill raising the minimum age for exotic dancers, which was intended to curb human trafficking, passed the state’s House by a vote of 96 to 0.
