Women Can Now Go Legally Topless In Six States After Federal Ruling

Woman, Bikini Top, Tan Line
Photo credit (Photo by Getty Images)

Recently, two women in Ft. Collins, Colorado sued their city for the right to go topless in public.

This week, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the topless ban in Ft. Collins, opening up the door for women in Colorado, and the five other states it oversees, to go topless in public.

Ft. Collins decided not to appeal the decision, so along with Colorado, topless bans in Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma are no longer enforceable.  

Brit Hoagland and Samantha Six sued Ft. Collins, saying that being able to go shirtless in public is their right, and is a step towards gender equality.  

Hoagland said:

Everybody should be able to be comfortable on a hot day and if that means taking their shirt of so be it. No matter how you look, you should have the same freedom at the person next to you. And it’s also about equality. Addressing small parts of inequality can make a big difference in how people are treated on a day-to-day basis, and I thought free the nipple was just one small step closer to how it should be.

This measure does not affect the nation, however.  In 2017, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which rules over Chicago and parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, upheld Chicago's topless ban on women.  Which, believe it or not, means that two federal courts, on the same level, have two different rulings regarding very similar situations.

Via KUTV