Healey OKs Nantucket law that would allow women to go topless on beaches

By Web staff

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    NANTUCKET, Massachusetts (WBZ) — It’s official – women will be able to go topless on beaches all across the island.

Nantucket voters approved Article 71 at the town meeting in May, changing the island’s bylaws to allow any person to be topless on public and private beaches. However, before becoming law, the measure had to be approved by Attorney General Maura Healey before it could become law.

Healey approved the law Tuesday. The attorney general acknowledged in the decision that she received many letters challenging the measure, but said her decision had to be based on whether Article 71 conflicted with state law. She said it did not.

“The town has the authority to choose what activities it will allow on town beaches, and we must approve any by-law reflecting such choice unless the by-law proposes a clear conflict with the Constitution or laws of the Commonwealth, which Article 71 does not,” the decision said.

Dorothy Stover proposed the “Gender Equality on Beaches” bylaw amendment, which read, “In order to promote equality for all persons, any person shall be allowed to be topless on any public or private beach within the Town of Nantucket.”

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