Washington candidate defends posing for Playboy

There’s been plenty of talk the last few days about the Spokane-area state house candidate getting national attention for posing in Playboy Magazine nearly 20 years ago. And while she’d rather be discussing the issues, Amy Biviano tells The Dori Monson Show she’s not embarrassed or shying away from the controversy.

Biviano says as a 20-year-old college kid at Yale, it was “awfully flattering to be asked to pose” for Playboy’s “Women of the Ivy League” issue back in 1995.

“A big part of the reason for me to pose was the feminist dialogue that was going on on campus at the time, this big discussion of what it means to open up doors to women. And for me feminism should be about including all choices,” she says.

Biviano says she knew it would become an issue again later in life, but she didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

“It’s one of those things that was interesting to do. Once I graduated, I had much bigger things to think about like being a mom, being a wife, starting a career.”

The picture became an issue recently when a conservative blogger wrote an article criticizing Biviano, accusing her of “hypocrisy” for running as a 37-year-old wife, mother, small business woman and Sunday school teacher but not disclosing her past.

“Who says we haven’t grown since our college days? I think it would be uninformed to assume that we don’t evolve, we don’t grow as we get older,” she says.

Even Biviano’s opponent has criticized the reporting of the story and argued it shouldn’t have been brought up in what’s become a contentious race. But Biviano says the experience has actually made her stronger.

“I think I’ve gained personal strength from being publicly criticized, from having to publicly defend my stances and then moving on,” she says.

Biviano says she’s gotten plenty of support from her family, friends, supporters and strangers alike.

“My husband has been incredibly supportive the entire time. We were actually dating when the picture was taken so this was part of our story together.”

She’s also shown the picture to her two sons, now 12 and 14. And she says she’s discussed it with them in the past and again before deciding to run.

“As any responsible parent, I sat them down and asked if they were comfortable, and they both said ‘Mom, we’re proud of you. Of course,'” she says.