Supreme Court Won’t Consider Challenge to Topless Ban

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to a New Hampshire city ordinance banning women from appearing topless in public and acknowledged that the law treats men and women differently. A group with the motto “Free The Nipple” argued that topless bans are discriminatory and violate the Constitution by holding women to a different standard, as men are legally allowed to be shirtless in public. The legal dispute began in 2016 after three women—Ginger Pierro, Heidi Lilley, and Kia Sinclair—were arrested at a lakeside beach in Laconia, New Hampshire, for appearing topless in public. Their legal brief says that the bans furthers the “sexualized objectification of women.” The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld their convictions, saying the male and female sexes “are not fungible” and the public exposure of the female breast “almost invariably conveys sexual overtones.”