Why should a PICTURE of a nude body offend anyone?
Personally, I can’t stand the sight of an obesity human being…why aren’t they thrown off airplanes, kicked out of restaurants, or kept out of the sight of children or families.
Within reasonabale limits it is not up to you or I to decide what should or should not offend somebody else. Being polite means being concerned for how others feel. If the t-shirt makes somebody feel uncomfortable then you can either change it or be a rude asshole. This isn’t rocket science although I think we would need to see the t-shirt to say how reasonable the complaint actually was.
Living in a free country means you can do a lot of things. What it does not mean is, “Hurray, I can do whatever the hell I want!” country. That’s the fallacy.
Exactly. That’s the fallacy that has turned a lot of Canadians and Americans into self absorbed, obnoxious, arrogant pin heads.
I didn’t realize the mild-mannered Canucks were so bad. Geez, I might be losing my perspective 
Fair argument but it’s difficult to define what’s obscene and what’s not, it’s mostly a very subjective matter. As already mentioned some people do not even consider it offensive to their kids.
I am also certain that you can’t please everyone, some people take offense at much more harmless things than a T-Shirt with a picture of bare breasts.
I however do respect if an entity, like e.g. an airline, a shop etc., sets and enforces such rules - even I don’t agree with their reasoning.
True, but then obviously this rules differ from airline to airline and travellers also meet at the airport (gate etc.), even a person wearing such a T-Shirt in the city, shopping mall etc. would expose it to all walks of life.
Given that there is only a short time where people see the T-Shirt on an airplane (i.e. it’s not jumping into anyones face during the entire flight) then I would see this as less problematic.
For the airline to request them to change or turn-over the T-Shirt was valid if they have such a rule and I do not consider this as an infringement of free speech.
Wearing a t-shirt is hardly this ‘I can do whatever the hell I want’ attitude, now is it?
Putting a bumper sticker on your car isn’t a '‘I can do whatever the hell I want’ attitude, now is it?
Putting up Christmas lights in front of your duplex, is that a part of this ‘I can do whatever the hell I want’ attitude?
The list goes on and on, but the truth of the matter is that for all it’s ‘freedoms’ the U.S. has some of the most restrictive laws on the books (it’s illegal to knowingly serve gays alcohol in the state of Virginia). Of course you can argue that building codes, zoning restrictions, etc. are needed to protect the public but when you have to get a permit to put up a flag pole or an antenna I think that’s a bit much. When children are required by law to wear helmets when riding a bicycle on the sidewalk (which in most places is also illegal) I think that’s too much. When the law requires that a family of four - mother, father, two teenage children can not rent a two bedroom apartment but must rent at least a three bedroom apartment because the kids are above a certain age, that’s a bit too much. When it’s illegal for a child to help out at the family grocery store on a school night, that’s a little too much.
You gotta watch 'em. They used to be mild-mannered, but I hear tell they got 'em one of them rock-and-roll groups now. Called the Barenaked Ladies, believe it or not.
By the way, what was the topic? Oh yeah, as several people have pointed out, the First Amendment applies to governmental actors (including state actors, through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment–long, weird story). Or was that the topic?