Woman stripped to bikini to protest transgender policy at Davis school meeting
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Activist Beth Bourne disrupted a school board meeting by stripping to a bikini.
- The board declared a recess twice after Bourne removed clothing during her remarks.
- The Davis Joint Unified School District policy allows transgender students to choose restrooms by gender identity, Bourne said.
The Davis Joint Unified School District meeting Thursday took a detour from expected decorum when an activist stripped down to a bikini to protest transgender policies.
Beth Bourne availed herself of the allotted 3 minutes of public comment to express her disagreement with school district’s middle school locker room policies and emphasized her point by stripping down to two-piece swimsuit.
“I am just going to give you an idea what that looks like, when I undress,” Bourne said. She pulled off her striped top to reveal what Bourne called her bikini.
Transgender students pick which bathroom to use based on their self-identity when middle school students change their clothes for physical education class, Bourne said. She is the Yolo County chapter chair for nonprofit Moms for Liberty, focused on parental rights, according to its website.
Trustee Elizabeth Moon looked to her fellow board members, shaking her head, while the trustees appeared to speak with one another, according to a video of the meeting. Bourne continued and leaned down to pull off her pants while discussing children using bathrooms.
“No, you cannot,” Moon said as Bourne stripped off her pants, to reveal a dark-colored bikini bottom.
“Excuse, me this ... this is allowed,” Bourne said. But Board Vice President Hiram Jackson slammed his gavel and called for a recess.
“I’m going to finish my comments,” Bourne said. “Or, you are violating my First Amendment right. I am putting on my PE uniform.”
The board trustees left the room and returned about 10 minutes later to resume the meeting, with Bourne back at the podium to give her public comment.
“You are welcome to finish your public comment,” Jackson said. “If you disrupt the meeting again, I will just ... I will gavel it in recess, and you will be asked to leave.”
“May I ask what I did to disrupt the meeting?” Bourne asked, while wearing her shirt and jeans.
“You can start your public comment,” Jackson responded.
Bourne said she wasn’t sure if removing her clothes led to Jackson declaring a disruption and asked if she was allowed to wear her bathing suit. Receiving no answer, Bourne began speaking again and promptly removed her shirt.
Trustee Lea Darrah shook her head and the trustees got up from their seats to leave again.
“I’m sorry this is a bathing suit top,” Bourne said, while throwing her hands up in exasperation.
When the trustees returned about 30 minutes later, Bourne was no longer at the podium, according to a video of the meeting. Jackson began the meeting by asking for a motion to approve the consent agenda.
What does California law say?
The Davis Joint Unified School District trustees appeared to pause the meeting over Bourne’s disruptive behavior.
Under California law, a person can disrupt a public meeting by “engaging in behavior that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union Northern California branch. The state’s Brown Act, which guides how government meetings function, lists what constitutes disruptive behavior.
A spokesperson with the Davis Joint Unified School District and the trustees did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Darrah referred a request for an interview to Johnson.
Bourne, on social media, questioned why it was disruptive behavior to change clothes during a meeting.
“They scurry away like roaches,” Bourne said on X, of the trustees while posting videos of the meeting.
This story was originally published September 19, 2025 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Woman stripped to bikini to protest transgender policy at Davis school meeting."
