'They Are Breasts; They're Not a Big Deal'

Jacob Sullum | August 21, 2008

The annual Boobs on Bikes parade in Auckland, New Zealand, went off without a hitch this week despite attempts to block the event by local politicians and conservative activists. On Tuesday a judge rejected the Auckland District Council's request for an injunction against the topless processional, organized by porn promoter Steve Crow. The council argued that the event violated a law against offensive parades. The judge questioned the validity of the law and the offensiveness of the parade, noting that last year it attacted some 100,000 onlookers, presumably not all of them protesters. Now a group called Family First is lobbying for an explicit ban on topless parades, saying "the current law is far too liberal and vague." Crow begs to differ:

It is topless people, men and women, in a public place, which is perfectly legal under our Bill of Rights and under New Zealand law. Mr McCoskrie [director of Family First] keeps harping on that it is pornography. They are breasts; they're not a big deal.

What say you? McCoskrie raises an interesting point when he notes that police stopped three topless women from walking through Hamilton on Monday, the day before 30 topless women rode through Auckland with impunity. Are breasts offensive only in small numbers?

I discussed the economics of toplessness in a recent post about sex discrimination in Las Vegas.

[Thanks to El Destiny for the tip.]