A defense attorney for a Washington state lawmaker has filed a motion to dismiss a case involving indecent exposure charges against his client, transgender Stevenson city councilor Lucy Lauser. Lauser, who is actively involved with Antifa networks, is accused of unlawfully exposing his “breasts” during an anti-Trump protest in July. Lauser is a man who identifies as a woman.
Skamania District Court Judge Ronald H. Reynier presided over oral arguments on Monday concerning the Knapstad motion to dismiss, which mandates that the prosecution and defense agree on all facts of the case in order for it to be prosecuted.
“My client was protesting the current presidential administration’s Executive Order, which basically put in place that under federal law that there are two genders, and that…every person is the gender that they were assigned at birth,” defense attorney Brian Pruett told the judge, according to Upliftlocal. “That’s highly offensive to my client, and as a result, on the Fourth of July…[she] chose to protest in a way that clearly addresses that issue.”
Lauser’s legal troubles stem from a July 4, 2025, protest outside the Skamania County Courthouse in downtown Stevenson, a small community of about 1,500 residents. During the demonstration, Lauser exposed his breasts by removing his shirt. He had painted one arm red, taped his mouth and nipples in black, and inscribed “woman, life, freedom” across his chest. The topless display was intended to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting sex change procedures for minors and barring men from competing on women’s sports teams, which Lauser has publicly decried as dehumanizing.
Skamania County deputy prosecuting attorney Elise Howard argued to the judge that the councilor’s conduct was against the law, and referred to Lauser with female pronouns during the proceedings.
“Because Ms. Lauser’s protest was non-verbal and the message was unlikely to be understood by those who viewed her conduct…it can be analyzed as mere conduct and not protected speech and is thus easily found to be obscene,” Howard wrote in a court filing, asking the judge to “find that there is at least a possibility that a reasonable juror” could make the same judgment.
“The law,” she added, “is ambiguous, and when there is an ambiguity such as that, it’s our duty to prosecute and bring that question before the court.”
Shortly after his arrest, Lauser told reporters, “I couldn’t think of a better method of protesting the president calling me a man than taking off my shirt and getting arrested for it.”
Hellbound and Down 