Free the nipple: Going topless in public is legalized in six states including Utah and Colorado
- Fort Collins, Colorado, decided not to appeal after spending more than $300K
- City worried women would ‘parade in front of schools’ if allowed to be topless
- In February the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld federal judge’s conclusion
- Said the law amounted to ‘unconstitutional discrimination’ due to stereotypes
- Decision effects Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma
Going topless has been effectively legalized in six states after a town decided it was not worth anymore money to fight an appeal.
Fort Collins in Colorado had already spent $300,000 defending the law and trying to stop women from taking their tops off in public.
They had been appealing a decision, which was upheld by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in February, that the law amounted to unconstitutional discrimination.
As the Appeals court covers Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, women in these states can now effectively bare all without breaking the law, reports NBC News.
The decision is a win for the Free The Nipple campaign which wants wants equality for women.
Fort Collins in Colorado has decided to stop fighting an appeal to ban women being able to go topless. The decision effectively means women in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma can bare all without breaking the law (file picture)
Previously a federal court judge had concluded the ban was based on ‘negative stereotypes depicting women’s breasts, but not men’s breasts, as sex objects’.
The Appeals court dismissed Fort Collins’ worry that ending the ban on going topless would mean women would ‘parade in front of elementary schools or swimming topless in the public pool.’
They said there had been no ‘harmful fallout’ in Boulder and Denver, where women are allowed to take their tops off.
The ‘prohibition on public exposure of breasts by women and girls over 10 years old’ will be gone from the city code of Fort Collins as of this week.
Campaigners Brit Hoagland and Samantha Six sued Fort Collins for the right to decide if they wanted to go topless, reports Kgun9.
Ms Hoagland said: ‘Addressing small parts of inequality can make a big difference in how people are treated, and I thought free the nipple was just one small step closer to how it should be.’
Fort Collins officials had worried ending the topless ban would mean women would ‘parade in front of elementary schools or swimming topless in the public pool’ (file picture of the city)
Attorney Andy McNulty said: ‘The idea that women’s bodies are purely sexual is something that, it was perpetuated by this law.
‘By getting rid of this law, we are saying women and their bodies are more than just a sexual object. They’re human beings just like men.’
Tyler Marr, a Fort Collins government spokesman, said: ‘The money was just better spent on other city priorities’.
Toplessness is set to be debated again is the US after three women who went topless at a lakeside beach in New Hampshire decided to challenge the rule.
The US Supreme court is expected to announce later this year whether it will hear the case.