Activists paraded shirtless through the streets of New York on Saturday, flashing their chests to celebrate the 10th annual GoTopless Day Parade.
Walking to the beat of drums in a carnival-style atmosphere, dozens of men and women embarked on one-mile (1.6-kilometer) march from Columbus Circle to Bryant Park for the event, which this year falls on Women’s Equality Day.
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Participants of all shapes and sizes held up placards proclaiming “Equal Topless Rights For All” and “War Is Obscene, Not My Nipples, Meditate 4 Peace Topless.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” said Rebecca Barwick, 35, who traveled up from Virginia and works in the federal government.
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“It’s important to send a message. These are our bodies. They should not be policed any other way than men’s. Men walk around like this all the time, so why is it such a big deal?”
It is already legal for women to bare their breasts in public in New York, America’s fourth most populous state.