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| Topless Sunbathing in California? |
| Friday, January 28, 2005 |
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
January 28, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - "A bill encouraging women and girls to go topless at California beaches and parks could be introduced this week in the California Legislature," a conservative group is warning.
The Campaign for Children and Families is lobbying against the "drop your top" proposal -- even before the legislation is introduced.
As the Los Angeles Times recently reported, a lawyer's group is pressing for a "topless sunbathing" bill at the request of a female attorney who insists that it is sex discrimination to allow men, but not women, to go topless in public.
"At some point, men's breasts became liberated and women's didn't," the Los Angeles Times quoted Liana Johnsson as saying. "This is the only thing left that men are legally allowed to do and, for women, they have to register as a sex offender. The real issue is there should be equal protection under the law," Johnsson told the newspaper.
Johnsson and other proponents of the "drop your top" measure say unless topless sunbathing is legalized, women convicted of doing so would fall into the same "sex offender" category as rapists and child molesters under a December court ruling that expanded the scope of Megan's Law.
But the California-based Campaign for Children and Families says that's ridiculous. "The California Attorney General's office has said that topless sunbathing is not considered to be of a lewd nature," and therefore it would not be labeled a sex offense, CCF said.
"This 'drop your top' proposal is so wrong-headed it's embarrassing," said Randy Thomasson, CCF president, in a press release.
"We already have too many sexual assaults in society. If the state encourages women to show their breasts to men and boys at public beaches and parks, inappropriate treatment of women and girls will only worsen."
There are good reasons for modesty laws, Thomasson said -- "to protect the innocence of women and girls and to promote a decent society supportive of children and families."
Thomasson said he would not be surprised to "see this crazy bill introduced by a Democrat politician and supported by many Democrat colleagues" -- and he is urging Californians to "call your state legislators right away to flood them with opposition."
Allowing nude sunbathing at public parks and beaches will ruin family outings and promote a terrible role model for children," he concluded.
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posted by J.R. @ 11:19:00 AM   |
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