New Yorkers Go Topless In Name Of Equality

PA

Yesterday saw the celebration of GoTopless Day, a day where women promote gender equality and their right to bare their breasts in public by going topless.

As reported by The Guardian, the annual event is celebrated on the Sunday closest to Women’s Equality Day – the anniversary of when women won the right to vote in the U.S.

The day this year saw dozens of women and men in New York proudly walk the streets of the city topless to further spread their message.

Nadine Gray, president of GoTopless, argued that the reason for going topless is so that the shock factor is removed with time.

She said:

In New York City, we are really celebrating our right to be freely topless without getting a ticket or going to jail for it.

In other places, it will be more like a protest because the discrimination is still happening.

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Gray added:

This push for women to go topless in the 21st century is as strong as women wanting to vote in the 20th century. It may be sensual, but it’s not illegal to be sensual. This is not Saudi Arabia.

Coordinated events were also held in New Hampshire, Denver, Los Angeles, and in other international locations.

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In New York, marchers were led in a procession down Broadway, with a giant pair of inflatable breasts at the tail of the parade.

The legality of going topless varies from state to state, but in New York women have had the legal right to do so since 1992.

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Kia Sinclair, one of the GoTopless event organisers for Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, fought efforts to criminalize going topless in the state.

She said:

It’s in hopes to show people that it can be normal, that it’s really not a big deal and it’s not about getting attention or protesting.

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