Some on the island of Nantucket are dreading this summer.
It’s not global warming or Kevin Spacey making a return visit that has them fretting, it’s topless bathing. It kicks off, or comes off, in a few short months.
“I don’t want the season to begin,” said Nantucket resident Beth Barry, who said she’s not alone in that sentiment. “It’s like having a free strip club. So many people didn’t vote for it.”
But the majority did. As the Herald reported last May, Nantucket Town Meeting members passed the topless bylaw 327 to 242. Then-Attorney General Maura Healey backed the legality of the bylaw in December before changing over to the governor’s office.
Healey’s AG office stated: “We approve the Town’s vote authorizing any person to go topless on any public or private beach in Nantucket because we discern no conflict” with the constitution.
Alas, John Adams did not see this one coming when he penned the Massachusetts Constitution.
Barry, who said she’s not a prude but wants the Town Meeting vote re-taken so everyone can chime in — especially, as was the case for her, voting remotely if they are off-island.
“This drastically changes our community. How can it be every beach?” she told the Herald. “I wasn’t able to vote from Boston.” She’d be OK with a few beaches going topless for all, but every beach seems excessive, she stressed.
The AG’s office this past December did suggest further clarifying the bylaw so it has “a more definite scope.”
The town on its website has said there would be an adjustment period. “We ask everyone to be patient and respectful as the island adapts to this first-of-its-kind bylaw in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” the post stated, the Associated Press reported in December.
As of Saturday, the “Rules & Regulations” section of the island’s town website did not get down to the bare facts about topless swimming and sunbathing. The island does have plenty of rules on fire pits, beach bonfires, noise, smoking drinking … but nothing easily found going sans tops.
The bylaw, as approved, allows anyone, regardless of gender, to go topless on Nantucket’s beaches.
It was suggested to the Boston Herald that authorities and island inhabitants take into consideration a few key risk factors, including potential social media posts of young women in the nude that could go viral turning this tranquil oasis into an ogling destination.
Or, what about any sex offenders? There are three sex offenders listed as residing or working on Nantucket, according to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry. This includes Level 3 offenders, considered the most likely to re-offend. The Herald was asked if town officials have a plan to monitor their actions.
Still, The Gender Equality on Beaches bylaw was passed “allowing the space for all bodies to be topless,” supporters say. So it is clear that this summer will be bottoms only on Nantucket.
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