Women Allowed Topless In Pools In Germany For Gender Equality
www.forbes.com
In the name of equality, toplessness for women in public pools has been authorized in a German city.
The city of Göttingen in Lower Saxony, central Germany, will be the first in the country to allow the practice of female topless swimming in its indoor and outdoor pools, thanks to a measure aimed at increasing gender equality.
The initiative permitting swimmers to bathe 'oben-ohne' (topless) took effect on May 1 as a test limited to weekends and set to expire at the end of August.
“With this decision, the city becomes a forerunner in the country concerning the debate on equal treatment between the sexes,” write L’Essentiel, “by permitting women to show their bare torso in aquatic leisure establishments such as swimming pools.”
The ‘gender row’ happened when a transgender swimmer was asked to cover up at a local pool. “The swimmer protested, however, saying they identified as male. Despite the assertion, the pool authority expelled the individual, who was subsequently banned from the premises,” DW reports
According to the German news site Spiegel, this is what happened: “A swimming pool in Göttingen threw a person out because they bathed topless. But the person does not see herself as a woman. And now there is a new rule.”
www.forbes.com
In the name of equality, toplessness for women in public pools has been authorized in a German city.
The city of Göttingen in Lower Saxony, central Germany, will be the first in the country to allow the practice of female topless swimming in its indoor and outdoor pools, thanks to a measure aimed at increasing gender equality.
The initiative permitting swimmers to bathe 'oben-ohne' (topless) took effect on May 1 as a test limited to weekends and set to expire at the end of August.
“With this decision, the city becomes a forerunner in the country concerning the debate on equal treatment between the sexes,” write L’Essentiel, “by permitting women to show their bare torso in aquatic leisure establishments such as swimming pools.”
The gender-identity-and-equality debate
A ‘gender identity row’ last year seems to be at the root of the temporary regulation by the city’s sports committee recommending that “all swimmers at indoor and outdoor pools should be allowed to swim topless at weekends.”The ‘gender row’ happened when a transgender swimmer was asked to cover up at a local pool. “The swimmer protested, however, saying they identified as male. Despite the assertion, the pool authority expelled the individual, who was subsequently banned from the premises,” DW reports
According to the German news site Spiegel, this is what happened: “A swimming pool in Göttingen threw a person out because they bathed topless. But the person does not see herself as a woman. And now there is a new rule.”
