Nipples, and women, shouldn’t be treated like second-class citizens.
That’s the view of women who will march topless along the Venice Beach boardwalk Sunday as part of an annual call for gender equality.
Preparations are underway for the eighth annual GoTopless Day Pride Parade. On Aug. 21, organizers of the march will hold a “pre-rally party extravaganza” in West Los Angeles featuring a screening of the film, “Free the Nipple.”
“We’re working toward freeing women’s nipples and obtaining equal gender topless rights that are enforced worldwide,” according to Lara Terstenjak, head of the Los Angeles branch of GoTopless, the sponsor of the event.
Similar marches will be held in dozens of cities across the country as part of the eighth annual GoTopless Day, organizers said. Locate other GoTopless events by looking on the organization’s BoobMap.
GoTopless was founded in 2007 by Rael, the spiritual leader of the Raelian movement.
“As long as men are allowed to be topless in public, women should have the same constitutional right. Or else, men should have to wear something to hide their chests,” Rael said on the GoTopless website.
The annual Venice march will be held Aug. 23, with women — and men — going topless. The only catch? Both sexes must wear nipple covers while walking from the northern end of Ocean Front Walk to the center of the boardwalk at Windward Circle.
“Equality means all or none,” Terstenjak said. Female participants must wear the covers to comply with the law.
Terstenjak noted that the Venice Neighborhood Council recently approved a resolution in support of women going topless, but such a change would require action by the city and the county.
“The Venice Neighborhood Council’s approval is a hopeful step forward after our eight years of activism on Venice Beach,” Terstenjak said. “Now it’s time for the city and county to follow up by making equal gender topless rights a priority.”
— Staff reporter