L.A. Women Want Right to Go Topless

Los Angeles area women seeking the right to go topless will protest this Sunday in the name of torso equality.

According to LAist, men may go shirtless in public, but it remains illegal for women. In contrast, it is legal for women in the state of New York to be topless because of a 1992 court decision. But an LAPD spokesperson said that women going topless in the jurisdiction would constitute “indecent exposure.”

“Organizers of a protest at Venice Beach this weekend don't see it that way,” reported LAist. “'The 14th amendment guarantees equal protection under law and properly interpreted it guarantees women the right to be top-free where men are allowed to be topfree,' they say. Unfortunately, some jurisdictions do not recognize that right, and there is a less stringent test in the courts (called intermediate scrutiny) for gender based differential treatment than for e.g., racial classifications (which are analyzed under what's called strict scrutiny).”

The protest, which begins at 2 p.m. on Ocean Front Walk and Navy Street, was planned to coordinate with Women Equality Day celebrated on August 26.