DELCAMBRE, Louisiana (AP):

Overly saggy pants are obscene, a Louisiana town council declared in an ordinance passed unanimously this week.

The indecent exposure ordinance carries penalties of up to six months in jail and a US$500 fine for being caught in pants that show underwear or, as Mayor Carol Broussard puts it, "private parts". Broussard said he will sign the ordinance.

Low-hanging, baggy pants have become a fashion trend, mostly for young men in the hip-hop culture. Several residents said the ordinance targets blacks, but Broussard denied that the ordinance is racially motivated. "White people wear sagging pants too," he said.

Town attorney Ted Ayo said the ordinance expands on the existing state indecent exposure law by adding underwear to the list of forbidden exposures.

"This is a new ordinance that deals specifically with sagging pants," Ayo said. "It's about showing off your underwear in public."

Although Delcambre Councilman Albert Roy introduced the ordinance, he said a US$500 fine is outrageous: "I think it should be something like $25."

Police Chief James Broussard said he did not have a problem with one critic's pants, which hung below his waist but were covered by a long T-shirt.

"It's not like I'm showing my privates or anything like that," resident Adam George said. "It's my boxers."