Ocean City, Maryland leaders vote to ban topless sunbathing during 'emergency' session Saturday
Ocean City, Maryland (image courtesy sikeri via flickr)
OCEAN CITY, Maryland (Fox 32 News) - During an "emergency" council session Saturday, Ocean City, Maryland, leaders voted unanimously to ban topless sunbathing on the beach.
The vote came after an official letter was released which showed that Ocean City beach patrol members had been basically instructed not to bother women who were going topless.
Ocean City's new ordinance states "there is no constitutional right for an individual to appear in public nude or in a state of nudity... Whatever personal right one has to be nude or in a state of nudity, that right becomes subject to government interest and regulation when one seeks to exercise it in public."
Female breasts must be covered up, and any woman with a "less than fully opaque covering" could be fined up to $1,000.
The ordinance claims there are fundamental differences between men and women that governments can address.
"The equal protection clause does not demand that things that are different in fact be treated the same in law, nor that a government pretend there are no physiological differences between men and women," the ordinance reads.