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Courtesy of Montana Legistature State Rep. David 'Doc' Moore of Montana.

It was all a joke.

Thats the message from a Montana House representative who said he was making a wisecrack when a reporter asked about his efforts to expand a state decency law.

Yoga pants should be illegal in public anyway, Republican David Moore told an Associated Press reporter, whose story appeared in the Billings Gazette and was picked up by publications as disparate as Fox News and Jezebel.

The decency law, which was couched in language that was vague and even bizarre when it made its way into the judiciary committee, was unanimously tabled on Wednesday evening, the Gazette reported. But that didnt save Moore from a media lashing.

Theres a man in Montana imbued with more power than he should have, said Jezebels Kate Dries. It was a sentiment that echoed across the internet.

They just need to stop trying to legislate what women wear, Marian Bradley, past president of the National Organization for Women in Montana and the current north-west regional director, told the Guardian. And they need to be mindful of the fact that we are in control of what we wear.

Moores bill, while deeply flawed, would have also repealed a draconian law already on the books in Montana that provides for three-time indecent exposure offenders to be thrown in prison for life, be fined $10,000 or both. Moores bill would have reduced that penalty to five years or $5,000.

Stories on his yoga pants remark also obscured the nuanced voting history of the Montanan he is the only Republican in the state to be endorsed by the National Association to Repeal Abortion Laws (Naral) and is carrying the state houses annual attempt to repeal the death penalty.

Montana has earned a reputation for meddling it was the subject of recent mockery when legislators attempted to issue a strict, one-page dress code that seemed to focus on womens necklines and skirt-lengths.

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Republican in Montana yoga pants obscenity uproar explains: it was a joke