It all began with one seventh-generation resident of a popular Massachusetts beach destination, but soon it’ll be possible for anyone, regardless of gender, to go topless at all beaches in Nantucket.
Dorothy Stover proposed the bylaw amendment to the town back in February, aptly naming the measure: “Gender Equality on Beaches”. And on Tuesday, during the town’s annual two-day meeting, residents voted 347-242 in support of its passing.
Ms Stover, a sex educator in the town, began in a post on her personal Instagram account by first acknowledging that “top freedom was a community effort”.
“Eighty-five years ago, it was illegal for men to be topless on the beach. They fought for almost 20 years for top freedom at beaches with similar objections to today,” she wrote, noting that then, much like in 2022, people who described their aversions to that measure passing used words like “immoral”, “disgusting”, “obscene” and “not family-friendly”.
The bylaw, introduced on the second day of the town’s annual meeting, took responses from residents for 30 minutes, with people providing accounts both for and against the measure.
“I don’t need to vote in favour of going topless at the Jetties to prove that we are equal in this world,” said one woman who emphasised that it was a person’s “actions” and “behaviours” that determined their equal status to another gender, NBC4 reported.
“When it comes down to the real nitty-gritty on it as to what is and what is not fair, I don’t think it’s fair. I can do it, they can’t. I don’t get it,” a man attending the vote commented.
Ultimately, it would be residents who aligned with that man’s remarks that ended up getting the measure passed.
“Thank you Nantucket for continuing to be at the forefront of equality. We are indeed a community that strives to uphold the constitution of freedom and equality for all,” the bill’s author, Ms Stover wrote after Tuesday’s vote.
The bill still needs to go before the state attorney general to be signed into law.
State law in Massachusetts allows men to go topless in public, while women engaging in the same act can face a penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $300.
