Women protest topless in Berlin for expanded right to bare breasts
Dozens of women cycled topless through central Berlin to protest regulations that prevent women from removing their tops in public
[July 10, 2021: dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur]
Dozens of women cycled topless through central Berlin on Saturday to protest regulations that prevent women from removing their tops in public parks unless they are in specially designated areas.
The event, held under the banner "No nipple is free until all nipples are free," was hastily organised after a French mother, Gabrielle Lebreton, was removed from a Berlin water park by police last month after she refused to stop sunbathing without her shirt on. Hundreds of men and women turning out for the topless demonstration.
Park attendants had asked the woman, who lives in Berlin, to put a top on or leave the park, according to media reports. She was sunning herself near a children's paddling pool.
The park attendants said the area was not designated for nudism. The woman's refusal to put a top on led to a police operation and triggered a debate, particularly on social media.
A nationwide movement calling for "Equal Breasts for All" is now demanding woman have the right to go topless in places where men do so too.
Their call is about "normalizing" breasts rather than sexualizing them, they said online.
Attendees at the bicycle demonstration carried signs reading "boobs have no gender" or "My body my choice."
Alongside cycling topless, the protesters also wore colourful and playful costumes. Men joined the demonstration too, some wearing tops, others without - and some wearing bras or inflatable plastic breasts.
The movement plans to continue its protest on July 14 in Schrevenpark in the northern city of Kiel.
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