Go Topless Day, Sunday, August 25, 2024

Haven’t yet been able to make this, a couple of years ago
I tried but it was way too cold on that day.

Those of you who read my posts know that I am in favor
of clothing-optional, and NH law covers genitals and anus,
but does not require breasts covered.
Occasionally, from what I understand, some women do
go topless at the Hampton Beach State Beach.
I’ve been to the beach only three times, but I have never
made it on this particular day.

Liberty people could meet down there as a group.
Last time I heard, Hampton Beach (village), which is
across the street from the beach and can provide lunch
and other things, with many small nice shops and
restaurants, did not have an ordinance with regard to
toplessness. I’m not sure what the restaurant policies
are… but once I did walk into a fast-food place in bare
feet and no top, and after asking I found out that
“no shirt, no shoes, no service” didn’t apply there.

Anyhow, it might be fun to go down as a liberty contingent.

I love the idea. If you promote it on Matrix a bit and get others to go I might add it to my calendar and come out. We definitely need to push the nudity issue at the porcupine freedom festival. Some folks haven’t quite figured out that it’s a libertarian event yet…

I’m not on Matrix, or any other media. But please, I just suggested it, if you can get the word out to others, and pass it on, so to speak, and they do too, we could get a real conspiracy going!

A thought…suppose we do get a reasonable number of liberty people
interested in this, and get organized. Suppose we have cars with
3-5 people each, leaving from all parts of New Hampshire. They
could go topless (both men and women) on the trip to Hampton
Beach.
We would have to check the ordinances in each town/city/township/
interstate rules. We would also have to check freeway rest stop rules and
regulations, if that is the route these groups of people would take.
Perhaps there could be points along the way that vehicles coming
from farther away would meet vehicles coming from closer to the
coast, and meet up to caravan to the coast.
Well, you see where this could go. From far away it might be
necessary to stop for gas, or a break, or getting food from a
drive-thru. This caravan would eventually end up at Hampton
Beach.

I’m sure we could find other little details to add for greater or lesser effect.
It will take some planning. I have heard of Matrix, from many people here.
I guess I’ll finally take that plunge and sign on.

Below are some online articles I can find for GoTopless Day specifically,
and a few others about nudity in NH in general. Some of these have links
to other pages that do not appear in the list below.
I did a DuckDuckGo search for “go topless hampton beach 2024”, and
all of those links are below. A search for “free nipple hampton beach”
produces many many more sites. After a while I restricted the search
to the past year.

The first article at the top is the Code of Ordinances, the second is the official page of Hampton Beach State Park.
Note that I am seeing two different ways of calculating the day each year,
one source says the Sunday nearest August 26, the other the Saturday nearest August 26.
GoTopless has a Facebook page, but I’m not on Facebook. If someone could check there,
that would be great.

I am going by the date given at

which is a Sunday.

https://hamptonnh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7490/Town-of-Hampton-Code-of-Ordinances-04-23-2024
https://www.nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails/south-beach-hampton-beach-state-park

2015
https://www.reddit.com/r/newhampshire/comments/3hbbuf/hamptonnorth_hampton_patch_free_the_nipple/?rdt=52614

July 1, 2015

July 31, 2015

August 2, 2015

August 3, 2015

August 4, 2015

August 12, 2015

August 14, 2015

August 18, 2015

August 19, 2015

August 20, 2015

August 23, 2015

Rain puts damper on New Hampshire topless beach protestBBAQZ8S50no4DAG1I1AQfeSDMgDBkCOgX3VTu5fe_Juet6iDqgqkg

August 23, 2015

August 24, 2015

August 25, 2015

2016

August 26, 2016

August 26, 2016

August 29, 2016

June 4,2017
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46111-d220147-r490374942-Hampton_Beach_State_Park-Hampton_New_Hampshire.html

June 14, 2017
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46111-d220147-r493056242-Hampton_Beach_State_Park-Hampton_New_Hampshire.html

August 2, 2017

August 17, 2017

August 7, 2018

August 26, 2017

August 27, 2017

January 13, 2018

August 27, 2018

October 11, 2018
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46111-d220147-r624083244-Hampton_Beach_State_Park-Hampton_New_Hampshire.html

February 8, 2019

March 21, 2019
https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/legally-weird/still-no-going-topless-in-new-hampshire/

June 11, 2019

August 22, 2019

September 20, 2019

January 13, 2020

February 1, 2018

February 9, 2019

August 9, 2019

August 22, 2019

August 25, 2019

December 11, 2019

January 13, 2020

January 14, 2020

August 12, 2020
https://www.unionleader.com/nh/lifestyles/women-go-topless-to-send-message-of-equality-at-hampton-beach/image_08a5f67f-a1ae-52d6-8e8b-8f0b1e1b8fa2.html

July 31, 2021
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46111-d220147-r800895025-Hampton_Beach_State_Park-Hampton_New_Hampshire.html

August 10, 2021

August 18, 2021

October 5, 2021

August 15, 2022

August 26, 2023

February 4, 2024

May 13, 2024

Facebook

[GoTopless Day 2023]

Naturist New Hampshire
https://www.natnh.com/
Naked and Chill
http://www.naturistdirectory.com/USA/New-Hampshire

Okay, I’m into Matrix, but from there… HOW DO I FIND Y’ALL???

In other words, how do I promote it on Matrix.

Discussion on Matrix: https://matrix.to/#/#gotoplessday:matrix.org
This is a public room, anyone can join.

I am new to Matrix, just a day, so please bear with me as to the formats and protocols.
That should not be taken to imply that discussion on forum.shiresociety.com will cease,
or is unwelcome.

Statement of Purpose

New Hampshire is uniquely situated to take up the cause of breast freedom. The lack of prohibition under state law and the concentration of liberty advocates present this unique opportunity.

Some activism, such as Topless Tuesdays in Keene, have made preliminary attempts have been to bring the rights of women (and men) to public attention, but have taken the form of isolated incursions into the broader community.

The lack of knowledge on the part of both the general public and many in the liberty community with respect to breast freedom is troubling. Within the state, unless otherwise prohibited by local regulation, breast freedom is permitted, and yet, ignorance of the law and public pressure on women to cover up in public continues. Many women feel threatened, and isolated in their desires and beliefs.

It is the purpose of the event under consideration to promote the right of women to choose to bare their breasts in public or not, as they desire, in everyday life, their day-to-day activities, wherever it is not prohibited, without fear that they will be exiles in their own communities, and to find safety in the company of those with whom they share a lifestyle.

Why now?

Others around the world have chosen to celebrate breast freedom together on GoTopless Day. Free-the-Nipple has been closely associated with this event. In New Hampshire Hampton Beach has been the center of interest.

In other parts of the US and abroad GoTopless Day has been celebrated off the beaches as well, such as in downtown New York City. Events take place wherever there is enough interest to gather people together. It is in this spirit, of bringing top-freedom into our daily lives, that this topic has been created.

Scope

The widest scope of this event would be the gathering of topless men and women in parks, at beaches, movie houses / theaters, any public venue that people might inhabit in their daily lives that does not prohibit top-freedom. It should involve groups of people, to help relieve anxiety that one or two people together might cause. In other words, gatherings of persons of like mind, and who trust each other.

More specifically, the original idea was to support GoTopless Day at Hampton Beach State Park.

A few days ago I joined FB again. I’ve been off for a few years. I do not intend to have a personal page, and will just try to use the FB groups.
There are several Free the Nipple groups… among them the group Free the Nipple in New Hampshire. I have applied to join.

Also see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvIAktbs_KY&list=RDzvIAktbs_KY&start_radio=1&rv=zvIAktbs_KY&t=18&t=7
Mix - Free the Nipple

I just realized that Free the Nipple in NH is associated with Kia Sinclair,
who was one of the three women arrested at the Laconia beach a few
years ago.
I have been unable (so far) to confirm the date of GoTopless Day at
Hampton Beach. If anyone here knows Kia, would you ask her for
confirmation of the date (Sunday, August 25, 2024).
…and hey, ask her to get in touch with the liberty community at either this forum
or the the Matrix address above. (It can’t hurt to ask)

The plan

  1. Determine interest
  2. Promote
  3. Find persons able and willing to take the lead locally
  4. Reach out to potential participants
  5. Research local ordinances / regulations / etc
  6. Draw up schedules of activities for local participation
  7. Coordinate activities statewide
  8. Record and report on the days activities
  9. Do follow-up analysis of the days activities
  10. Begin planning for next year
  11. Plan for continuing activities throughout the year, including political/government action

As usual, suggestions will be welcome, for discussion and implementation
Expansion of each of these points follows

As usual, suggestions will be welcome, for discussion and implementation

Expansion of each of these points follows

  1. Determine interest

This is being done as we speak. There appears that there is sufficient interst to proceed. Point 2 will be espeically useful in continuing to arouse interest.

  1. Promote

Find ways to get the message out to the entire liberty community who might be interested.

This is currently being done through forum.shiresociety.com and Matrix public room https://matrix.to/#/#gotoplessday:matrix.org

Additional possibilities are:

an article at Free Keene,

promoting at forkfest,

liberty community calendars,

announcements on various FB groups.

Any others?

  1. Find persons able and willing to take the lead locally

This might be the most difficult. It is essential, though, that there be a way to communicate between those of us here and those not connected to the various communication platforms on which these plans are being discussed.

This person also has more knowledge of the local scene and people, and will be able to check on local legal conditions, and on possible venues for activities.

  1. Reach out to potential participants

Try to find out from people what sort of activities they might be interested in taking part in. Do they like picnics in the park? Do they frequent local entertainment arcades? Are there other local social activities that they could attend barechested? Etc.

Much of this would be handled by the local coordinators of Point 3. But it would be good to have a place for discussing various options that others around the state might be interested in. In other words, brainstorming ideas for possible top-freedom activity.

It is also possible that persons living in areas that prohibit top-freedom could go to a neighboring town where such activities are taking place, but they would have to first be aware that such activities are taking place.

  1. Research local ordinances / regulations / etc

Most towns / cities / etc will have their ordinances on line. I have found a few places that do not. Again, local coordinators would need to go to the local town hall to investigate local ordinances. A database of these regulations could be kept for future use.

Also, it would be necessary to know which local businesses might have policies requiring, for instance, shirt and shoes.

All local ordinances / regulations should be followed. It should not be the intention to cause “affront or alarm” as the statute says, even though legally exposed breasts are not included in the RSA. Private businesses should be respected regarding the policies and philosophies of the owner of such business.

  1. Draw up schedules of activities for local participation

Once points 4 and 5 have been fulfilled, the local participants can decide what kinds of activities might be pertinent. It might be something like meeting for a picnic at a local swimming hole, followed later by a movie at the local theater, or just walking around town shopping at various retail outlets. It could be that 20 people would meet for the picnic and swimming, then break into ever-changing smaller groups of 3-5 people as they shop in local shops. Other combinations of activities are, of course, possible, depending entirely on the wishes / interests of the local participants.

  1. Coordinate activities statewide

It might be that similar activities are planned for different towns. It might be that the participants in the different towns could get together to do the same thing. One town might have a large lake or park that could accommodate many many participants, from different towns. Maybe it would be a musical concert, attended Woodstock style, i.e. with many of the concert-goers being topless. That kind of meetup could be used to meet others from neighboring towns of similar lifestyles / philosophies / interests.

  1. Record and report on the days activities

This could be anything from live netcasts, to pictures and videos. These could later be posted either to individual web pages, or even in places like appropriate FB pages and forum.shiresociety.com. Reports could follow on how well things went, good and bad.

  1. Do follow-up analysis of the days activities

  2. Begin planning for next year

  3. Plan for continuing activities throughout the year, including political/government action

These three are all related. It is to get an idea of exactly where in NH top-freedom is accepted, where it is not, under what circumstances it might be a problem, what kind of legal actions might be warranted or desired, etc.

Encouraging those who might want to continue top-freedom in their daily lives even after this single GoTopless Day, through networking and finding others to feel safe with in public would be a huge step forward.

Wherever warranted, legal difficulties could be worked on to make things better for advocates of top-freedom.

The previous posted date for the 2024 GoTopless Day is incorrect. It should be Saturday, August 24, 2024 according to the official website of [GoTopless.org]

https://gotopless.org/new-site/new-news/

and the page to which that reference points:

GoTopless Day at Hampton Beach

In the past, GoTopless Day activities have remained in a single locale, often with permits allowing a parade or march along a certain route, or taking place in a specific such as a park. I would like to take this one step further.

Going to work, school, or a day at the beach or other recreational destination are normal everyday activities. For that reason, they should be considered times when we might want to be top-free. So I would like to add to the list of activities for GoTopless Day the top-free travel needed to get to and from the other activities. This means setting out from home (or wherever) top-free, and staying top-free from the time you get into the car until you return home.

In New Hampshire the best known GoTopless Day event has been at Hampton Beach State Park.

With that in mind, I would like to propose that one state-wide activity that day be the trip to Hampton Beach from all points within NH.

It will be a bit more complicated than the other strictly local activities. We will have to know the legal environment (ordinances and the like) for all towns along the travel route. We might want to plan the route to include only those towns and cities that do not prohibit toplessness. For example, people might want to avoid traveling through Nashua and Manchester because these two cities prohibit toplessness (at least they did… I haven’t checked the ordinances recently). Also, state information centers and rest stops along the interstates are likely have regs that MIGHT prohibit toplessness.

I suggest that we complete a database of such things, both for this year and for later use. We would also want to keep an eye out for any local ordinance changes in the future.

One aspect of these activities is to meetup with other liberty people who share a philosophy about and interest in toplessness, get to know one another, perhaps exchange contact information for future get- togethers. It also can provide a safe environment for those who are a little shy about this whole bit about taking off their tops in public. In this way the principles of liberty can be strengthened in a core group from around the state, and create more solidarity.

Those wishing to make this trip, and stay a while at Hampton Beach will find that the village doesn’t prohibit toplessness, although some places like eateries might have their own rules.

For the City of Manchester

City of Manchester

§ 130.06 INDECENT EXPOSURE WHILE SWIMMING.

No person shall, within the view of any dwelling house or of any public road or street, in the daytime, bathe or swim in such a manner whereby he exposes his person indecently.

('71 Code, § 17-17) (Ord. passed 9-7-54)

Statutory reference:
Indecent exposure, see R.S.A. 645:1

Cross reference:
Citation penalties, see § 38.06

§ 130.11 NUDITY IN PLACES SELLING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.

(A) Purpose and intent. It is declared to be the purpose and intent of this section to protect the public health, safety, welfare and morals of the community, to promote the stability of property values, and impose restrictions upon those activities which pander to gross sexuality in a manner that would detract from the neighborhood, adversely affect the property values, increase crime and violence, and be repugnant to the morals of the community. In recognition of the protections afforded to citizens under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, it is not the intent of this section to inhibit freedom of speech or the press, but rather to deter those of low morals from imposing their lack of morals upon the rest of the community; and further recognizing that those parts of a community, which become centers of loose moral conduct, frequently become places of rowdiness, criminality, and indecent behavior. It is further the belief that just as advertising is designed to stimulate one’s appetite for desiring goods or a service, an over-abundance of preoccupation with sexual displays or material arouses the appetites of those so preoccupied and encourages violations of the criminal statutes involving sexual offenses and is contrary to the health, safety and welfare of the community.

(B) Prohibition. No person shall appear in a state of nudity in any place that sells or offers to sell alcoholic beverages within the city.

© Definition. For the purpose of this section, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

NUDITY. The showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than fully opaque covering, the showing of the female breast with less than fully opaque covering or any part of the nipples, or the showing of the male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.

(Ord. passed 12-3-96) Penalty, see § 130.99

§ 130.12 EXOTIC/UNUSUAL ENTERTAINMENT IN PLACES SELLING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.

(A) Purpose and intent. It is declared to be the purpose and intent of this section to protect the public health, safety, welfare and morals of the community, to promote the stability of property values, and impose restrictions upon those activities which pander to gross sexuality in a manner that would detract from the neighborhood, adversely affect the property values, increase crime and violence, and be repugnant to the morals of the community. In recognition of the protections afforded to citizens under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, it is not the intent of this section to inhibit freedom of speech or the press, but rather to deter those of low morals from imposing their lack of morals upon the rest of the community; and further recognizing that those parts of a community, which become centers of loose moral conduct, frequently become places of rowdiness, criminality, and indecent behavior. It is further the belief that, just as advertising is designed to stimulate one’s appetite for desiring goods or a service, an over-abundance of preoccupation with sexual displays or material arouses the appetites of those so preoccupied and encourages violations of the criminal statutes involving sexual offenses and is contrary to the health, safety and welfare of the community.

(B)Prohibition.

(1) It shall be unlawful for any business entity that sells alcoholic beverages to the general public to offer or allow exotic/unusual entertainment without first having received written approval from the Chief of Police or his designee.

(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to engage or participate in any exotic/unusual entertainment in any location where alcoholic beverages are served to the general public unless that business entity has first received written approval from the Chief of Police or his designee.

© Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

BUSINESS ENTITY. Any and all persons, natural and artificial, including any individual, firm, corporation or association serving alcohol to the general public pursuant to a license issued by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission.

EXOTIC/UNUSUAL ENTERTAINMENT. This shall mean and include but not be limited to male and female exotic dances, contests involving audience participation such as swimsuit contests, wet tee shirt contests, hot legs contests, best body contests, hard body contests, tattoo contests, and toga parties.

(Ord. passed 12-3-96) Penalty, see § 130.99

Laconia
Code of Ordinances
Part II. GENERAL LEGISLATION
Chapter 180. Public Indecency
Article I. Indecent Exposure
A. From and after the effective date of this article, it shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally, in a public place:
(1)
Engage in sexual intercourse;
(2)
Engage in deviate sexual conduct;
(3) Appear in a state of nudity; or
(4) Fondle the person’s genitals or the genitals of another person.
(5) Urinate, defecate or masturbate in a public place which can be viewed by any person.

  • For the purpose of this article, the following words shall be defined as follows:NUDITY The showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple. PUBLIC PLACE
    A. Any public street, way, alley, parking area, park, common, beach or other property or public institution of the City.
    B. Any outdoor location, whether publicly or privately owned, which is visible to the public at the time the prohibited conduct occurs.C. Any area within any theater, hall, restaurant, food service establishment, shopping mall, business, place of public accommodation or other private property which is generally frequented by the public.

Either no mention of the word “breast” in the ordinances, or mentioned only in reference to “adult oriented businesses” for the following cities in NH (note that I found no reference to public indecency or indecent exposure for Nashua – I thought sure I had seen that at one time):

Concord, Dover, Rochester, Keene, Lebanon, Claremont, Somersworth, and Franklin,