The World Naked Bike Ride is being called out for allowing children to attend after a Madison, Wisconsin, girl was photographed participating in the event.
According to Fox News, Dane County supervisor Jeff Weigand was outraged at the incident.
He said, “We need to protect our children.”
He called for more government action, adding, “Our fundamental role as a governmental entity is to punish evil and reward good. And when people don’t see that happening, they get frustrated. And I think that’s what we’re seeing all across the country.”
Weigand is a Christian and blamed “anti-God people” for taking things “so far.”
He compared the World Naked Bike Ride to the alleged sexualization of children and noted that “a lot of people are waking up.”
“They’re starting to realize that our governments are not always protecting our children, whether it be school boards or municipal governments or county governments or state legislatures,” he added.
But Madison police determined that the photo posted of the girl attending didn’t violate any laws. According to the Wisconsin State Journal police spokesperson Stephanie Fryer stated that a Special Victims Unit “looked at the state’s statutes on possession of child pornography and exposing a child to harmful material or narrations.”
She concluded, “Based on the image observed and city-sanctioned event status of the bike ride, it was determined at this time that neither statutes are applicable.”
The image in question was not of a sexual nature and the World Naked bike ride has been an annual event in the area for thirteen years.
The Wisconsin State Journal article also noted Madison World Naked Bike Ride organizer Peter Keating said, “It has always been our position that minors are perfectly welcome to participate as they please, as long as they are accompanied by parent or legal guardian.”
Correction [7/26/23, 7:47 a.m. ET]: Previously, this story inaccurately stated the Madison World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) website was taken down. IJR was reached out to by Madison WNBR, which directed to the Madison page on the main international WNBR website.
Additionally, the story previously cited Fox News for the event details that the WNBR “is a protest against oil dependence, anti-bike infrastructure, sexualization of bodies, and body dispowerment.” The Madison WNBR claimed to IJR the quote is a reflection of the Milwaukee WNBR. After further review and not being able to track down the quote outside of the article cited, IJR has pulled the quote from the article. Per the Madison website, “Oil independence and body acceptance are the big ideas, and we plan to embrace them across a good distance of the city.”