Is it true that it’s legal for women to go topless in New York? I heard there was a legal battle a long time ago, and the courts decided that if men could be topless, when could be too. If so, where are all the topless women?
QP
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: They legally can, if they avoid lewd behavior and it’s not for commercial purposes. (The intent might be a little fuzzy in many cases.) I suspect that most women are uncomfortable going topless in public, hence the reason you don’t see many.
This goes back to a New York Court of Appeals opinion of July 7, 1992:
80 N.Y.2d 875 or 600 N.E.2d 232
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Ramona SANTORELLI and Mary Lou Schloss, Appellants, et al., Defendants.
The majority opinion and concurrence can be found at Cornell’s FindLaw site:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/I92_0160.htm
A summary from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle on March 22, 2006:
“In June 1986, seven women at Cobbs Hill Park [in Rochester] removed their shirts to protest a state law prohibiting public breast-baring. They were arrested for indecent exposure. City Court Judge Herman J. Walz dismissed the charges six months later, ruling that the protesters were exercising their right to freedom of speech. But he didn’t concede their main argument — that the breast-baring law was unconstitutional.
“Topfree 7 leaders Mary Lou Schloss and Ramona Santorelli waged a six-year court battle that ended with victory in 1992. The Court of Appeals gave women the right to appear topless in public if they avoided lewd behavior or exposure for commercial purposes.”
If you look at the opinion, it refers to the legal statute below, saying its context was to prohibit such behavior for commercial purposes, and is therefore not applicable in cases such as mentioned above. Also, the opinion touches on the issue of treating women and men differently.
NY Penal Laws
§ 245.01. Exposure of a person
“A person is guilty of exposure if he appears in a public place in such a manner that the private or intimate parts of his body are unclothed or exposed. For purposes of this section, the private or intimate parts of a female person shall include that portion of the breast which is below the top of the areola. This section shall not apply to the breastfeeding of infants or to any person entertaining or performing in a play, exhibition, show or entertainment.”