New Hampshire’s highest court will hear topless case

New Hampshire’s highest court will begin hearing the case of three women who are challenging a city ordinance that barred them from going topless at a beach. (Photo by Joe Gratz/Flickr, Public Domain)

CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire’s highest court will begin hearing the case of three women who are challenging a city ordinance that barred them from going topless at a beach.

Heidi Lilley, Kia Sinclair and Ginger Pierro are part of the Free the Nipple campaign. They were arrested in 2016 after they took off their tops at a beach in Laconia and refused to put them back on when beachgoers complained.

The women appealed to the state Supreme Court after a district court judge rejected their request to dismiss the case. Oral arguments are scheduled for Thursday.

The women say there’s no state law forbidding female toplessness and call the case gender-based discrimination because men don’t have to cover their nipples. Town ordinance supporters say it’s for the protection of children and families.