Posted on Wed, Aug. 06, 2008

Editor's note: This story appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader on Sept. 9, 2007.

Hoisting babies wearing onesies with the words "breast is best" and "I eat at mom's," protesters against Applebee's breast-feeding policies spent two hours in front of the restaurant on Nicholasville Road yesterday. They carried signs, breast-fed their babies and garnered support from passersby in cars who honked or flashed thumbs-up signs.

The protest was in response to Brooke Ryan, 34, who in June was asked by the manager of the restaurant to cover up while breast-feeding her 7-month-old son. She said it was too hot to cover up with a blanket, and instead left to nurse her child in the car. The protest spread by word of mouth and the Internet over the past several weeks to at least 60 Applebee's in 30 states.

A 2006 Kentucky law prohibits any interference with breast-feeding mothers. Ryan did not attend the event due to "personal reasons." She said she still has no plans for legal action against Applebee's.

"You're just trying to do something natural and normal, but you're being treated like a second-class citizen," said Maren McGimsey of Nicholasville. "You have a country that sees breasts only for sexual purposes."

There were about 200 people, including mothers, fathers, children and babies, attending the Lexington protest. The Unitarian Universalist Church had several members show up, including the Rev. Cynthia Cain. The church advocates for justice and human rights issues, she said.

"It's not just about the mom's rights, it's about the baby's right to eat," Cain said. "Up until 100 years ago, that's how all children were fed."

In a statement through Alex Bressett, Applebee's corporate office's international guest relations manager, the company said, "Applebee's strives to provide a comfortable and enjoyable environment for all our guests. Our policies regarding breast-feeding are consistent with the laws of the states in which we operate."

Jeff Hebel of Keavy was standing with his wife, Kristina, and their baby Aloni, just over a year old. Hebel was wearing a T-shirt reading, "Why wouldn't I want to see more breasts in public?"

"Man has been doing this for thousands upon thousands of years," he said. "Ultimately it kind of makes you feel, why did this happen to begin with?"

Kristina Hebel said that although she hasn't been asked to cover up at a restaurant, people have given her a hard time when she breast-feeds her daughter.

She attended the protest to "normalize breast-feeding. People need to understand that it's normal, that's what we're supposed to do, that's what they (breasts) are for."

Katharine Riley of Wilmore sat under a blue umbrella and breast-fed her daughter, Abigail, 3 1/2 months. Riley said Abigail must be fed every two to three hours and her pediatrician advised breast-feeding for at least one year.

"This culture has sexualized women's bodies, and it's really hard to get over that," she said.

Raj Gaur and Adam Lindstrom are both University of Kentucky graduate students and were clutching "support breast-feeding" signs.

"Any reasonable man who has a child, and the child breast-feeds, is going to support breast-feeding," Lindstrom said. "Some men are just ingrained with the idea that any form of public nudity is abhorrent. It's mostly just cultural habit and inflexibility."