Women To Go Topless In Boston To Protest Gender-Based MA Laws

BOSTON, MA — Crowds of women are set to march topless at Boston Common on Saturday to protest state laws that allow men — but not women — to go bare-chested in public.

The "Topfreedom" movement was born from two organizations called Equalititty and GoTopless, which was founded in 2007 by spiritual leader RAEL and argues that women "have the same constitutional right that men have" to step outside shirtless.

Saturday's event, officially called "March for Topless Equality," will take place between 1-3 p.m. and begin at "The Embrace" statue, according to GoTopless. Protesters will walk around the park to the Massachusetts State House, then back to the statue, moving through Tremont Street, Boylston Street, Charles Street, Beacon Street, and Park Street.

"All genders are encouraged to come topless," Katrina Brees, who co-organized the protest for Equalititty, wrote on Facebook last month.

Katrina added: "Even if you don't want to be topless, that's totally fine too ... This isn't about titties, it's about equalititty."

The celebrations for "GoTopless Day" vary depending on location, but tend to take place on the Saturday closest to Women's Equality Day, which is Aug. 26th, GoTopless explains on its website. Though the protest will fall on Aug. 17 in Boston, those in New York City, Asheville, and Switzerland will occur on Aug. 24.

Women's Equality Day commemorates the 1920 adoption of the 19th amendment where women "earned their right to vote on the basis of gender equality," GoTopless notes.

But there was — and still is — a long way to go before gender equality is achieved. A decade after women were given the right to vote, men began to break the expectation of modesty of both genders and "remove their shirts, exposing their bare chests" at public beaches, according to Equalititty.

"The popularity of a sexy, topless "Tarzan" film enticed men to reject modesty and civilized beach fashions," Equalititty said on its website. "Until this, both men and women wore beach outfits that often covered from knees to elbows ... After a series of high profile arrests, men received an exception from the ban on toplessness."

Topless laws vary between cities and states as do the punishments a woman can expect for public toplessness, according to Equalititty.

"Currently, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma as well as all counties and cities therein allow for full topless equality," Equalititty said. " ... Topless equality can be achieved at the city, state or federal level."

They added that it is "time to act."

"To achieve topless freedom we must communicate this desire for constitutional equality to our lawmakers and representatives," Equalititty said. "Call, email or visit with your representatives."