Yes, it’s legal for women to be topless in New York state and on Sunday, a group is looking to gather some er, support for that right.
GoTopless, a group that says it is “dedicated to attaining women’s rights to go bare-chested,” is organizing a march on Sunday through Midtown of topless women. According to the group, Sunday is International Go-Topless Day.
The group says it is petitioning the Obama administration to have that right recognized nationally.
“Any state or local law making it illegal for a woman to go topless is unconstitutional, but most people don’t know that,” said GoTopless President Nadine Gary. “That’s why we’re taking the issue of topless rights to the top by demanding the president’s attention to this issue.”
Gary is calling for women to join her at noon this Sunday, Aug. 26 in Bryant Park. From there the group will march to Times Square and back — ideally, topless, she says. The group has held similar marches in New York City in years past.
In 1992, a New York state court ruled that women can go topless the same way men can.
“People forget it wasn’t acceptable for men to bare their chests until 1933,” Gary said. “Even men’s bathing suits had to include a top. Clark Gable exposed his chest in the 1934 movie ‘It Happened One Night,’ and it caused a national scandal. Today, nobody thinks a thing of it when a man takes his shirt off. Now it’s women’s turn.”
