My name is Tammy Fallin. I am a breast cancer survivor. In 2022, I underwent a double mastectomy and made the empowering choice to remain flat through an aesthetic flat closure. I do not wear a bra because I do not have breasts. Yet, after an eight-hour drive to visit my son in Tennessee, I was denied entry—simply because I wasn’t wearing a bra. I was questioned, stared at, judged, and ultimately turned away. I explained that I had no breasts and nothing to place in a bra. Still, the officer told me I could not visit my son unless I wore one. This isn’t just humiliating. It’s discrimination. This policy—and others like it across the U.S.—fails to recognize and respect survivors of breast cancer and those who undergo preventive mastectomies. Being told we must wear a bra to be allowed in strips us of our dignity, our bodily autonomy, and our humanity. It sends the message that we are not enough unless we conform to a standard our bodies no longer meet. We are calling on correctional institutions nationwide to: Update visitation dress codes to include exceptions for individuals who have undergone mastectomies (preventive or due to cancer), including aesthetic flat closures.
Train staff on how to respectfully and privately handle such situations without public humiliation or bias.
Ensure no survivor is ever turned away from seeing a loved one because of how cancer has changed their body.
This is about basic decency. It’s about honoring the reality of survivorship. And it's about making sure no one else feels less than human for surviving. Stand with me. Sign and share this petition. Let’s turn this injustice into change.