Weekend GoTopless Day Events Begin With Party, Carnival In West Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A party and "cosmic carnival" with discounted admission for topless attendees will be held in West Los Angeles Friday night to begin a weekend lobbying effort to for women to be allowed to go bare-breasted in public.
The carnival is being held in advance of Sunday's eighth annual topless march down Ocean Front Walk in Venice.
According to an online invitation, Friday night's event at an undisclosed location will feature comedians, stilt walkers, mermaids, a "boob juggler," hula hoopers, dancers and "topless alien angels." It will also feature vendors and begin with a 7 p.m. screening of the film "Free the Nipple."
People will be admitted free prior to 7 p.m., but after that time, admission will be $20 -- but only $15 "if topless or w/ pasties," according to the invitation.
On Sunday, a group of women -- joined by shirtless men -- will walk from the northern end of Ocean Front Walk to the center of the boardwalk at Windward Circle, for a rally to urge lawmakers to allow women to go topless.
Similar marches will be held in dozens of cities across the country as part of the eighth annual GoTopless Day, organizers said.
"We're working toward freeing women's nipples and obtaining equal gender topless rights that are enforced worldwide," according to Lara Terstenjak, head of the Los Angeles branch of GoTopless, the sponsor of the event.
Earlier this year, Venice Neighborhood Council approved a resolution in support of women going topless, but such a change would require action by the city and the county.
"The Venice Neighborhood Council's approval is a hopeful step forward after our eight years of activism on Venice Beach," Terstenjak said. "Now it's time for the city and county to follow up by making equal gender topless rights a priority."
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