Alliance Opposes Ohio Statehouse Shoe Rule

The Primalfoot Alliance, an organization that advocates worldwide for the barefoot lifestyle, stands in opposition of a rule requiring that visitors to the Ohio Statehouse wear "shoes or comparable footwear." The rule was approved 8-2 by a committee and will now go before the entire state legislature.

In December, we sent letters to each member of the Joint Commission for Agency Rule Review (JCARR) speaking on behalf of all barefooters in Ohio and beyond. We expressed our concern that requiring shoes of visitors takes away an individual's right to make health decisions about their own body and forces a biomechanical restriction on feet. Apparently those concerns fell on deaf ears.

The leadership of The Primalfoot Alliance will now be considering what actions this organization can take to have this rule repealed. Options include petitioning all supporters of barefoot living to send emails and letters to the legislature as a whole or petitioning the ACLU for assistance in defending barefooters' natural rights.

Many legal precedents beyond this single action have already been set against the barefoot movement. Now it is time for a sea change to begin that stops additional damage to the movement and reclaims rights for anyone who chooses to live without shoes. If we cannot do that, bare feet and our natural rights will continue to be blocked in irreperable ways.

More:

Columbus Dispatch: "Bare feet officially going bye-bye at Statehouse" 
Ahcuah: "Statehouse Shootdown" 

Corrected: Struck statement saying that the rule goes before the entire state legislature. Because it was not rejected it will automatically go into effect once filed.