NORTH VERNON, Ind. – A woman has created an event on Facebook to protest her alleged discrimination at the hands of the North Vernon City Pool.
The woman, Randi Lynn, said in the Facebook event description that “North Vernon City Pool is trying to discriminate against breastfeeding mothers.” The incident allegedly occurred on July 12. According to Lynn, she was told that she can’t breastfeed in or around the pool because of “bodily fluids.”
She claims this policy infringes on Indiana Code Title 16. Health § 16-35-6-1 which states, “Sec. 1. Notwithstanding any other law, a woman may breastfeed her child anywhere the woman has a right to be.”
“The pool violated those rights with me,” Lynn said in the Facebook post.
When asked to comment on the allegations, Chad Speer, director of North Vernon Parks & Recreation, said the woman was breastfeeding in the water and was asked to stop. According to Speer, the woman “was not happy that she was asked and she continued.” He said she wasn’t removed or asked to leave, but that she was asked to breastfeed outside of the water, to either the pool deck or some other location outside the water. He also said that she stayed until approximately 5 p.m.
The woman has called for breastfeeding mothers to participate in a nurse-in, which is a demonstration in which women gather in public to breastfeed their children, at the city pool in North Vernon on July 23.
This story is still developing. Further comments from Lynn and Speer are pending.