Free the Peach: Protesters Demand G-String Freedom on the Gold Coast
The saying "sun's out, buns out," won't apply to the Gold Coast much longer if an anti-G-string activist has his way.
A throng of thongs showed up to support the "Free the Peach" movement in Australia this morning to "peachfully" protest a ban on wearing thongs off the beach.
Local businessman Ian Grace proposed the ban in a letter to the mayor, saying thongs make people uncomfortable, even in beach towns.
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Australia's 10 News First covered the protest in the video above, captioning it:
"Protestors on the Gold Coast have come together for a bikini-clad rally against talks of a potential ban on g-strings, instead showing their support of the 'Free the Peach' movement."
According to the report, Grace wants to ban the skimpy bottoms because they "risk sexualizing young children and even makes some grownups, like him, uncomfortable."
However, protesters say they have the right to bare their buns on and around the beach.
"It's giving everybody the freedom of choice of what they can wear on the beach. It's fighting for our right to feel comfortable enough in our own skin. We've been doing it for so many years, it feels like we're going back in time. And we're here to fight for it," said one pro-thong woman.
9News Australia spoke to Grace in the post below.
"Off the beach, cover-up. Male or female, I think that's pretty straightforward. Then you're seeing people for who they are, not what they're showing off," Grace says.
He added that men would never think to wear a skimpy bathing suit like a thong:
"If all of a sudden guys started walking around baring their bums the same way, we'd be lambasted, castigated, all those big words. But then again, blokes wouldn't do it. We just don't think about that. Why would I want to stick a thong up there and show my bare bum to everyone?"
History says the G-string was first worn by showgirls in the 1920s. By the 1930s, Chicago was home to some of the largest G-string manufacturers.
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