Topfree in Cancun
Our friend Rupe posted this link in Rixplace today (http://www.rixplace.com), about a topfree story by a non-nudist. The post is on a website of nude photograhy http://domai.com/news/2005/07july-01/, and is a rather interesting read. Here is how it starts:
Having been raised on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, in an area unspoiled by
tourists, I grew up taking it for granted that I could go topless with the
same freedom as a man.
When I went to college on the mainland that I found that I could not take
this for granted anymore. Fortunately I found in Sam a boyfriend, (now
husband) who feels as I do on this subject and most others too.
The episode about which I am writing concerns a trip that we took to Cancun,
Mexico. Besides Sam and myself, our party consisted of Sam's sister, Megan,
whom I was meeting for the first time, Katie, my housemate, and Katie's
boyfriend, Armand. Katie enjoyed being topless as much as I did, and at home
we always went topless in warm weather. Sam had told me that Megan was not
used to the idea of women going topless.
If you are interested, you can read the rest of the article on the website.
07.01.05 @ 09:47 AM cDT [link] [No Comments]
Book Wins in Florida
From Orlando Sentinel
Woman wins right to drop top
On Saturday, Elizabeth Book plans to doff her blouse next to 3 statues at the Peabody Auditorium.
By Jeff Libby
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 29, 2005
DAYTONA BEACH -- Elizabeth Book, the stay-at-home mom with a rose tattoo, has won the right to bare her breasts in her ongoing fight to go shirtless anywhere men can.
On Saturday at noon, the 40-something "top-free" revolutionary plans to demonstrate her right to protest by dropping her top at the Peabody Auditorium next to three statues of women nude from the waist up.
"I will be as top-free as the statues," Book said Monday in an e-mail to the nudists and naturists who have gathered to support her cause. "This is not over until Daytona is forced to recognize the unconstitutionality of their ordinances and statutes aimed at the American woman's breasts."
Daytona Beach says Book's victory in court June 21 was only temporary and probably will be appealed.
"She should probably save her exuberance for a time when all the appeals have ended,"
Assistant City Attorney Greg McDole said. "There are a number of appeals left and a number of years before this is a binding precedent."
Book's Orlando attorney Larry Walters said any appeal by the city would be "frivolous at this point."
Volusia County Judge David Beck ended more than a year of legal wrangling last week,
ruling that Book, of Ormond Beach, was within her rights when she bared her breasts as part of a political protest during Bike Week in March 2004.
The city's anti-nudity ordinance allows an exemption for nudity that is part of a political protest or other constitutionally protected issue, Beck said, throwing out her arrest and the fine or $253. The city passed the rule in 2002 to curb indecency at special events.
Book has argued that the law unfairly preys on young women who flash their breasts for the crowd. Women should be able to go without shirts wherever men can, Book says.
From the editor: The news story said that Book emailed nudists and naturists.... I can tell you that the CO Digest did not receive any email from Ms. Book, despite our attempts to contact her over these years (we finally gave up).
06.30.05 @ 09:05 AM cDT [link] [No Comments]
Ashcroft statue is back!
From Wire reports:
Ashcroft Gone, Justice Statues Disrobe
With barely a word about it, workers at the Justice Department Friday removed the blue drapes that have famously covered two scantily clad statues for the past 3 1/2 years.
Spirit of Justice, with her one breast exposed and her arms raised, and the bare-chested male Majesty of Law basked in the late afternoon light of Justice's ceremonial Great Hall.
The drapes, installed in 2002 at a cost of $8,000, allowed then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to speak in the Great Hall without fear of a breast showing up behind him in television or newspaper pictures. They also provoked jokes about and criticism of the deeply religious Ashcroft.
The 12-foot, 6-inch aluminum statues were installed shortly after the building opened in the 1930s.
With a change in leadership at Justice, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced the question: Would they stay or would they go?
He regularly deflected the question, saying he had weightier issues before him.
Paul R. Corts, the assistant attorney general for administration, recommended the drapes be removed and Gonzales signed off on it, spokesman Kevin Madden said, while refusing to allow The Associated Press to photograph the statues Friday.
In the past, snagging a photo of the attorney general in front of the statues has been somewhat of a sport for photographers.
When former Attorney General Edwin Meese released a report on pornography in the 1980s, photographers dived to the floor to capture the image of him raising the report in the air, with the partially nude female statue behind him.
The first attorney general to use the blue drapery was Republican Richard Thornburgh, attorney general under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He had the drapery put up only for a few occasions when he was appearing in the Great Hall, rather than permanently installed as it was under Ashcroft.
Most news conferences now are held in a state-of-the-art conference room, although the Great Hall still hosts speeches and other special events.
06.27.05 @ 09:10 AM cDT [link] [No Comments]