Everyone, regardless of gender, will be allowed to be topless on the beach in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Travel+Leisure reports that a gender equality amendment, set to apply to all beaches on Nantucket Island, is awaiting implementation after receiving approval from the attorney general. The ordinance gained traction when Nantucket residents voted in favor of the gender equality amendment at their annual town meeting last May.
The draft amendment was written based on the idea that “to promote equality for all, everyone is permitted to go topless on all public and private beaches on Nantucket Island.” On June 6, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey officially endorsed and formalized the amendment.
Healey explained in a letter, “This approval does not reflect any policy stance, such as agreement or disagreement leading to the passage of the ordinance.” She emphasized that it was “solely an approval or disapproval based on the consistency with state law, and it did not evaluate any matters or validity associated with the ordinance.”
The attorney general’s office further stated that the Nantucket ordinance does not conflict with two Massachusetts laws containing the provision that “breast exposure is permissible in certain situations.”
Nantucket Island released a statement asking “all residents and visitors to adhere to the newly amended ordinance” and “everyone to patiently respect this ordinance that is being applied for the first time on a Massachusetts island.”
They further clarified that the new ordinance pertains to the beach area and does not extend to other areas such as the parking lot.
Massachusetts State Representative Dylan Fernandes voiced his approval on X (formerly Twitter), affirming that “this is a victory for gender equality.”
While nude beaches have long existed in Massachusetts, Nantucket is the first to formalize it through an ordinance. The impact of this ordinance approval on the island’s beaches will only be accurately confirmed next summer.
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