12/99

The next day, the boys took us to Huntington Beach, where we were going to go roller blading. Nicki and I had gone there before with my brother, and had seen other women skating there thong bikinis, but we hadn't seen any women topfree.

One of our friends told us that he'd wear his thong at Huntington if we wore our thongs too, so Nicki and I didn't even discuss if baring buns was appropriate. There were a lot more gawkers at Huntington beach than there had been at Laguna beach, and they all seemed rude. Even without taking off our tops, Nicki and I got a lot of verbal abuse from some of these rude guys.

Once Nicki took of her bikini bra, the verbal abuse got even worse. Guys we made cat-calls or lewd comments about Nicki's body. Even some of the women complained about Nicki's openness. This was the first time she had ever had a bad reaction to going topfree, and it upset her so much that she put her top on about five minutes after she had taken it off. The rest of the trip, she was down about the trip to Huntington beach, and didn't feel comfortable going topfree again until after we got back to Ohio.

--Traci, Ohio

11/98

While not exactly a trip report, a reader of Topfree! has submitted the following email discussion with a member of the Huntington Beach Police Department regarding topfreedom:

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Can you tell me what the local laws are regarding women going topless at the beach? I checked the city ordinances on line, and found an ordinance prohibiting dressing and undressing at the beach [1], but found no ordinance that prohibits simply being topless. Is there one? More to the point, if a woman were to go topless at the beach, how would the police department respond? Arrest her, give her a citation, talk to her, or let her be? Thank you for your response.
--Ji
[1] 9.20.010 Dressing in Public Places. No person shall dress or undress for the purpose of putting on or taking off a bathing garment in or upon any public street, alley or other public place, or underneath any pier or wharf in the city, or upon any public beach, or within any public toilet, or within a vehicle other than a house trailer, motorhome or camper designed for living purposes. ****************************************************************************
You are correct. There is no HBMC law (that I know of) restricting you from walking topless on the beach. However there is a California Penal Code (314 P.C.) which regulates indecent exposure. What is required is there to be a victim (or complainant) who is not a police officer to report the indecency and to prosecute (a citizen's arrest). To answer your question, if a call of a topless woman goes out, we will respond. (Don't be surprised if more than one officer arrives. Hee Hee.) 9 times out of ten, we just talk to the woman and they comply with our request. However, if we get further complaints, we will make an arrest. In most cases, this is just a citation.
--Officer G. Kim, HBPD ****************************************************************************
Officer, Thank you for your letter. May I have your permission to post it on Usenet (a public area of the internet)? (I will not post it without your permission.) The California Penal Code to which you refer forbids "willfully and lewdly" exposing one's "private parts." The California Supreme Court has defined "lewd" to mean done for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire. Mere nudity, with or without a complainant, does not qualify. (A male UC Berkeley student by the name of Andrew Martinez spent several years going around Berkeley completely nude, and city officials were powerless to do anything about it, despite numerous complaints, because he was breaking no law. I believe that Berkeley has since passed an ordinance to prohibit such activity.) Courts have also defined "private parts" to mean the genitals and anus, but not breasts. The statute does not apply to a woman enjoying a topless day at the beach.
--Ji
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Ji, No problem posting the thread on the internet. People have very valid questions regarding issues such as these and I hope to address questions like yours in the form of bulletin board postings on our web site (soon as I figure out how to do it). I answer the department's email at home and I don't have any legal resources with me. You could be right. I go back to work Friday and I'll research the issue for you if it's not too busy.
--Officer G. Kim, HBPD ****************************************************************************
Ji, Officer Flynn got back too me and advised that there is no law (state or municipal) that governs the exposure of the areola in Huntington Beach. It took so long because Officer Flynn was the only officer to remember such a municipal code around 5 years ago. He was correct but the code has since been removed from the book.
--Officer G. Kim, Huntington Beach Police Department