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Nantucket votes to allow topless women on town beaches

A view of Madaket Beach on April 25, 2020 in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Maddie Meyer
/
Getty Images North America
A view of Madaket Beach on April 25, 2020 in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Residents of Nantucket approved a measure allowing women to go topless at all town beaches.

The Gender Equality on Beaches bylaw amendment passed following debate at the annual town meeting Tuesday.

In part, the amendment reads, "In order to promote equality for all persons, any person shall be allowed to be topless on any public or private beach within the Town of Nantucket.”

Resident Dorothy Stover is a seventh-generation Nantucketer behind the effort. She said she was originally inspired to act several years ago after reading a comic strip.

"I saw this comic strip that had a male and a woman that had the same exact body and they were both topless," Stover said. "The man said to the woman, 'Look at you, you're so indecent, how dare you?' And she replied back, 'Look at me? look at you!' They had the same body, yet only one is allowed to be topless."

While Stover said she personally knows people against the measure, the overwhelming reaction she had to its proposal was positive.

She said securing the freedom for both genders helps normalize bodies of all shapes and sizes, and fosters an environment of acceptance.

Under current state law, only men can go topless in public.

Though the amendment was greenlit by residents, it still needs approval from the state's attorney general.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.