Women's bikinis will be half-off in Chicago next month. And we're not talking about sales.
In January, U.S.-based GoTopless.org organized a topless protest at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Up until recently, nudity was illegal except on designated beaches, but local councils considered bare breasts acceptable.
However, a Christian fundamentalist politician, Rev. Fred Nile, introduced legislation in the parliament of New South Wales that would prohibit women from going topless on all beaches.
In response, topless women gathered on the Bondi Beach in protest, arguing that women's breasts are not offensive and should be considered just as natural as men's chests.
Now that battle is moving to the 'States. In eight participating cities—including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami—topless women and men will gather and peacefully rally on Sunday, August 23, "to protest the gross inequality in the law and will demand that they be granted the fundamental right to be topless where men already enjoy that right according to the 14th amendment of the Constitution," according to the official website.
The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment states that "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws". The GoTopless.org Movement states that this Clause defends citizens from "gender-based differential treatment."
Therefore, if a man can go topless, so can a woman.
The protest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in front of the North Avenue Beach House.
"Top-free performances will be given by various artists to honor women's right to be top free [and] body painting will be available," according to the website. "The aim is to convey that the sight of a top free women [sic] in public is as natural as the sight of top free men."
For more information, visit http://gotopless.org/ (Not-Safe-for-Work Warning: As can be expected, the website features photos and video of women's bare breasts.)
Matt Bartosik, a "between blogs" blogger, fully endorses the liberation of women's breasts.
