Lawmaker Says “No Apology” On Stripper Remarks
He says it was a joke. If it was it wasn't a good joke. As someone who has attempted a lot of jokes I know sometimes what you've said comes back to haunt you. Such is the case for Representative Kenny Havard who represents the St. Francisville area.
If you're not familiar with Havard's "joke" it was in the form of an official addendum to a House Bill that would raise the minimum age of dancers in adult clubs from 18 to 21 years of age. Havard added to the amendment. That dancers must also be between 21 and 28 years of age and must weigh less than 160 pounds.
This verbiage angered many members of the House of Representatives, especially the female members but Havard is not backing down. According to a report by the Louisiana Radio Network.
I’m not going to apologize just because the media or some special interest group wants me to apologize for being politically incorrect.
Havard said in true political fashion that his addendum did not single out females in particular.
I didn’t say anything about women. This was a totally neutral amendment. The Chippendales can’t strip if they’re over 160 pounds.
House Speaker Taylor Barras of New Iberia said on the House floor about what Mr. Havard's addendum and his subsequent remarks defending that addendum.
In my opinion it warrants an apology to the speaker’s chair and all of you as members, in particularly to our female members. I will leave that up to Representative Havard to determine.
Mr. Havard had asked House Members and elected state officials to be respectful. Only time will tell if this faux pas was in fact a poorly thought out joke or whether Mr. Havard has no respect for women and his colleagues.