Topless sunbather at beach sparks debate about nudity

Kerry Justich
·Health and Wellness Staff Writer
Updated

A Minnesota woman is sparking debate about the state’s definition of nudity after being approached by police for sunbathing topless on a local beach.

Michelle Bennett told Minneapolis station WCCO that she had been minding her own business on the beaches of Duluth for about 20 minutes before a woman had approached her to tell her she was “making her children uncomfortable.”

However, it wasn’t the first time that Bennett had sunbathed on the beach without a top. In fact, she’s done it regularly without a problem, until this woman’s complaint.

The situation escalated when a police officer became the next to approach Bennett regarding her topless sunbathing routine.

“He heard that someone has been refusing to put a top on and that it wasn’t a nude beach,” Bennett told the outlet. “I pointed out to him that I wasn’t nude, I was topless.”

The two had a long discussion before Bennett ultimately decided to put her top back on. Still, the conversation brought the ambiguity of the law to the officer’s attention.

“They really couldn’t establish if I was breaking a law because of that ambiguous language,” Bennett said.

According to the state’s statutes on indecent exposure, a person is in violation when he or she “willfully and lewdly exposes the person's body, or the private parts thereof.”

Minnesota, however, is apparently one of just over a dozen states that have ambiguous laws regarding women going topless in public, according to Go Topless, which looks at equality through the lens of topless laws. Toplessness is permitted in many other states, including New York, North Carolina, Wyoming, Oregon and California.

The Duluth Police Department, which is responsible for the way that the law was enforced in this particular instance, didn’t immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, the department’s public information officer, Ingrid Hornibrook, told WCCO that the statute is up to interpretation.

“If there’s people that are around that are feeling uncomfortable with behavior that’s attached to a law stating that that behavior isn’t legal, then that’s a point to step in,” Hornibrook said.

When it comes to the state’s definition of nudity, Bennett pointed out the unfair nature of allowing men’s nipples to be exposed in public while taking issue against women’s. As for what’s legally deemed decent or not decent, however, is where the issue of this particular instance lies.

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