“Penis” Costume Arrest in Fairhope Raises Concerns
By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
October 21, 2025
FAIRHOPE, Ala. Nationwide, “No King” protests were held over the weekend, resulting in dozens of arrests, though most events were peaceful. One of those arrests happened in Fairhope, after a woman dressed in a “Penis” costume refused to remove it when asked to do so by Fairhope police.
Lieutenant Shane Nolte of the Fairhope Police Department said that an officer asked the woman to remove the costume because it was provocative and obscene.
When the protestor, identified as Jeana Gamble, 61, refused and walked away from the officer after being told that she was under arrest, he was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.
Now, Gamble says that her First Amendment rights were violated and has hired an attorney.
“I was on a public street at a public protest, so I should have never been arrested for wearing the phallic costume,” she said.
Lieutenant Shane Nolte of the Fairhope Police Department defended the arrest, stating, “She crossed the line from freedom of expression to obscenity.”
Officers were called about a person wearing an obscene costume and they responded and asked the person to remove it. When she refused, she was arrested. Her court date is set for Nov. 5 at 3 p.m.
Some say the arrest raises constitutional concerns.
The protest organizers released a statement condemning the arrest, saying, “Ms. Gamble was peacefully expressing her point of view on Saturday. Her violent arrest for expressing herself in ways the police found rude is indefensible, morally and legally. Public officials must take seriously their duty to uphold the First Amendment. Their complete failure to do so in this situation runs against the free expression values that created the city of Fairhope and against the liberty guarantees enshrined in Alabama law and the United States Constitution.”
Copyright 2025 Blue RAM Media. All rights reserved.
