IS IT LEGAL TO BE TOPLESS HERE?
It’s “Go Topless Day” on August 25th, the day before “Women’s Equality Day” in the United States, and I‘ve been wondering how many ladies in my hometown of Kelowna will ditch their shirts in celebration. Not many is my guess.
I’ve long been fascinated with our continent’s puritanical views on nudity, and the double standard we have when it comes to seeing the chest of a woman in comparison to a man. But isn’t our reaction to the former due to a societal conditioning of what’s acceptable and what’s not?
“We’re all bare-naked under our clothes,” my dad used to say whenever I groaned, after catching an unexpected glimpse of him in the buff when I was a teen.
My father was what I like to describe as a “nude in peep’s clothing,” only wearing them to appease the rest of us who didn’t want to see his dangly bits on display. If he’d been on his own, and the temperature was suitable, I’m sure he would have lived quite comfortably with nothing on but his birthday suit.
As accommodating as he was to his prudish family, he still managed to get in some naked time on occasion, taking skinny dips in the pool when our friends weren’t around, and relaxing at the nude beach in Vancouver.
I can’t remember if he took our family to Wreck Beach frequently or just a couple of times – and I’m not going to ask him because he’ll suspect that I’m writing about his nudist tendencies again – but I remember how shocked my little brother and I were to see all the naked bodies walking around.
After our initial discomfort, though, it didn’t even faze us later in the day.
Similarly, I was initially shocked when I went to my high school friend’s house and encountered her mother and aunt sunbathing topless in the backyard. At first I didn’t know what to do with my eyeballs, but after some time, it was no big deal.
“Breasts should be a big deal,” one of my male friends protested when I told him that story. “When I was in Europe I saw them all over the beaches and they became a bore. Who would want that?”
I understood his point, but to me, I think it should be an individual’s choice. Wherever a man can be topless, I think a woman should be able to go topless as well, if that’s what she wants to do.
The idea behind the Go Topless movement is to promote gender equality. Events on its special day are planned all over the U.S., and other countries as well, encouraging women to bare their chests in public, and suggesting men cover theirs up with bras or bikinis to highlight the double standard.
It was once a criminal act for a woman’s nipples to be seen in public. Now, in most states, with the exception of Utah, Indiana and Tennessee, it’s either perfectly legal, or the laws are ambiguous like they are in most of the provinces in Canada.
Curious to know what would happen if I walked the streets topless in Kelowna, I went to City Hall and asked. Mayor Walter Gray said people might call the police, thinking it’s illegal, but it’s not.
It was just the answer I was hoping for. Not because I have any desire or intention of baring my breasts in public. I don’t. But I do appreciate knowing that I could legally do it if I wanted to. In some countries women would be stoned to death for such a “crime.” I am eternally grateful to be living here, and not there.
I am also extremely proud of the continued efforts that men and women make towards gender equality – and human equality too.
To see my “revealing” interview with the mayor of Kelowna, click below.
UPDATE: Melody Anne Kaiser is inviting gender equality supporters, male and female, to a Go Topless Day in Kelowna at Mushroom Beach on Sunday, August 25th. It is the beach beside City Park but on the left side of the bridge… the one when you go under the walking path and through the walking tunnel that goes under the bridge from City Park.
She will be there at 2pm, but welcomes people to come at their own convenience. She said next year she’ll plan ahead and get these ridiculous nipple covers, since it’s really the nipple that’s the bit problem in our society. At other “Go Topless Day” events, men will cover up their chests with bras, bikinis or nipple covers and women will bare their chests to highlight the double standard. This can be done today, but it’s not necessary.
Going Topless for Equality? | Bread and Roses
Mar 06, 2014 @ 14:20:22
[…] explained on her blog, “On a Brighter Note,” that going topless “should be an individual’s […]
Oct 13, 2013 @ 09:27:29
She can dress it up (or not) all she wants but really what most see is a woman with exhibitionist tendencies going through a mid life crisis.
Aug 29, 2013 @ 17:51:02
You are definitely doing the right thing as well as GoTopless.org and other nudists organizations. YNA (Young Naturists America) has been doing a great job getting younger people into nudism as well which I think will also have a good effect on the topfree movement all over. I’ve been a nudist for over 20 years and I long for the day where beaches, no matter where you go in the US, either have clothing optional sections or accept toplessness everywhere. It’s just the way it should be.
lire [Insolite] Canada: un entretien Topless avec Le maire de Kelowna | itlaia
Aug 28, 2013 @ 01:01:15
[…] Sur son blog, Lori Welbourne a précisé qu’elle avait effectué cette mise en scène pour mettre en avant le «Go Topless Day» («la journée sans haut»), qui a eu lieu dimanche. «Ce mouvement vise à promouvoir l’égalité entre les sexes», explique-t-elle. «Des manifestations sont organisées à-travers les Etats-Unis et les pays qui y participent, invitant les femmes à tomber le haut en public, et les hommes à porter soutiens-gorges ou haut de bikinis pour mettre en avant le deux poids deux mesures». Source […]
Aug 27, 2013 @ 13:21:50
What’s up with the censorship if there is nothing wrong at all?
Aug 27, 2013 @ 09:57:15
If the point that you are trying to prove is that it is okay to for a woman to be topless,why are the breasts blurred out in the video and in the pictures. This is proving exactly the opposite point – that it is not okay to display a woman’s breasts. Defeats the purpose of this exercise …
Aug 27, 2013 @ 10:25:15
Answer is obvious: It was blurred so that the video won’t be removed or censored.
Aug 27, 2013 @ 13:31:22
Worse than that elsewhere on YouTube, I’m thinking it was just hypocrisy
Aug 27, 2013 @ 05:28:36
Climp Jones – You are one of the reasons why women won’t walk around topless or naked you need to stfu and get lost.
Oct 13, 2013 @ 09:32:54
You need to take your Midol and chill out.
Aug 26, 2013 @ 22:28:14
Change requires causing people to think, to realize that the things that they commonly accept as normal are not always what they would choose for them to be when they realize they have a choice. The world is a better place because of people like Lori Welbourne.
Hypocrisy Surpreme: Don't Look, but I Demand to Go Topless in Public.. - WMASAW : WMASAW
Aug 26, 2013 @ 19:13:56
[…] journalist Lori Welbourne was interviewing Walter Gray, Mayor of Kelowna, about whether it was legal to go topless in public. Welbourne took a pro-topless position with the […]
Aug 26, 2013 @ 18:32:26
Good idea, but if you believe in it was censor the video??
Aug 26, 2013 @ 18:05:25
Lori I enjoyed your chat with the mayor and your column. Topless in a restaurant in Alberta is against health regulations no shirt no shoes no service. In Canada our society is very conservative. I have watched Naked News, there is a segment they do called Naked In The Streets. Ii have noticed the only topless woman is the anchor doing the segment. As a fifty something male I think most women are shy about going topless in public. I also see nothing wrong with a lady wanting to remove her top on a hot day. Also some ladies would like a tanned top uninterrupted by tan lines. As a society I think we have a long way to go before most women feel comfortable going topless in the park.
Aug 26, 2013 @ 14:32:07
So, if you feel this way, why censor the video?
Aug 26, 2013 @ 14:00:51
Dear Lori, I was shocked by the censorship.
Just as you give something with one hand, you take it away with the other.
This well-constituted heterosexual male finds what he sees of you truly beautiful and delicious.
Be well.
Aug 26, 2013 @ 12:47:31
very arousing. Not only should women go topless in public they should also go bottomless.
Oct 12, 2013 @ 08:35:42
I second that,take it all off for us guys if you want(you’ll get no protest from us) but leave the high heels on of course!:)
Aug 25, 2013 @ 04:51:20
Dear Lori. Greetings from Europe! I accidentally found news about your “topless interview”. I must say I am strongly against idea that women should be allowed to walk around topless. Women and men should have equal rights, I agree, but women and men are NOT the same and certain rules should be applied with common sense. Women have breasts and because of that you must be properly covered in public. Yes, women must be (much!) more covered from men in public but that is not discrimination, that`s just common sense. At the end 2 question about your topless interview: 1. if you think it`s ok for women to walk around topless, why did you hide (mask) your breasts in video? 2.If you think it`s ok for women to walk around topless, how come that you have tan lines on your back, why don`t you sunbathe topless then? Yes, in Europe women can be topless on many beaches but nowhere outside of them – and I am very glad to see that many local beaches started to forbid topless women. Women can be topless on nude beach and that`s it, nowhere else. Cheers!
Aug 23, 2013 @ 16:03:58
I have felt alone in advocating for women’s equal topless rights at Kelowna beaches for the past five years. I bring a print-out of the section on equality from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms so that when I’m approached by critical prudes or people who think it’s illegal (including police officers), I am able to point to our constitution and explain that it states individuals are to be held equally before and under the law regardless of sex.
While I was topless at the beach this year on Canada day, a police officer tried to tell me that I had to put my top on or he’d have to write me a ticket for indecent exposure. I whip out my little equality flyer and point to the constitution. He states, “You don’t have to show me that, I know the law.” I say, “Ok, then you should know that applying the law differently to a woman when she is doing nothing different than the men around her is in violation of our constitution. I’m confused how you could write me a ticket for doing nothing different than my male friends here. I’m minding my own business and enjoying the sun. I’m not harassing anyone by shoving my boobs in people’s faces. Why would you write me a ticket? He responds, “Well it’s a city bylaw that says you’re not allowed to be topless.” I let him know that bylaws aren’t more authoritative than federal and provincial laws, and that since this issue has been taken to the Supreme Court of Canada on numerous occasions across the provinces, I know that in the eyes of the Supreme Court of Canada I’m not doing anything wrong. He said, “I’ve been doing this job for 20 years.” I go, “I really respect that officer, but I would hope that as an officer of the law, you’d endeavour to protect our constitution and go after people who are actually breaking the law rather than someone who is exercising an equal right that’s been stigmatized. Plus, It’s Canada Day! We should celebrate the rights we share together!” He starts laughing at that point and tells me that if I lie down, he’ll walk away and pretend like he didn’t see me. I told him I shouldn’t have to lie down, since I’m not doing anything wrong. He eventually told me to have a nice day and left.
A few years ago just before the last City Council Election, I asked the candidates one by one whether they supported women’s equal topless rights while they were at the Okanagan College tabling and answering questions. It was entertaining watching their faces turn a little frightened as they tried to give an answer that wouldn’t lose my vote. Confusion and conflicted emotions over whether they’d support my equal right to be topless. But interestingly, as soon as I gave my little shpeal/explanation of why it should be a non-issue considering our constitution’s position on protecting people’s equal rights and freedoms, they each expressed a shift to being a strong supporter. I hope that this continues to become less and less of an issue here in the Okanagan and throughout our country as well.
Aug 26, 2013 @ 18:09:30
Melody if you hadn’t stood up for yourself he would have won the day. You are a very determined lady. Hope other ladies will find their voice like you have. I respect you very much.
Aug 22, 2013 @ 23:33:50
Well Lori,
As Michelle Edstrom’s soon to be ex husband, I see her beauty as an external manifestation of an inner being. Which means beauty is far more than just the skin. The skin is the largest organ (for most of us anyway) on our body, yet it is just an outer expression of the beast within. Therefore, the beast is covered there is no nudity. Yeah, that is strange. Be proud of who you are, as each of us is an individual only limited by our own restrictive beliefs about ourselves and others! Puritans begone, women! men! tops off with pride!
Love Your Columns, Figured it was about time to say so!
Aug 26, 2013 @ 12:47:54
does she swallow?