Sisters cycling topless stopped by police, they say

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Sisters cycling topless stopped by police, they say
THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 04:52 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 05:12 PM EDT
KITCHENER, Ont. -- Three Ontario sisters who say they were cycling topless when a police officer told them to cover up are organizing a Bare With Us rally to help raise awareness about women's rights.
Alysha Brilla, a Juno-nominated musician and women's rights advocate, says the incident happened last Friday when she and her two sisters were riding their bicycles late in the evening down a quiet street in Kitchener Ont.
That's when she says a police officer in an SUV rolled down his window and told them they needed to put shirts on because it was the law.
But Brilla says that when she started filming the interaction on her cellphone, the officer said he had only wanted to check if the women had proper bells and lights on their bicycles.
The sisters are filing a formal complaint with the Waterloo Regional Police, but Brilla says she only wants an apology and to ensure officers are informed about Ontario women's rights to go topless in public.
The Waterloo Regional Police did not respond to a request for comment.
A similar incident in June garnered headlines after eight-year-old Marlee McLean was told by city staff in Guelph, Ont. to cover up while she was in a wading pool wearing only a swim bottom.
The Kitchener sisters say they hope the Bare With Us rally, scheduled for Saturday at noon in the Waterloo Town Square, will help educate the public on women's rights to be topless, but also broader issues such as women's pay inequity and safety.
Alysha Brilla poses on the red carpet during the 2015 Juno Awards in Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday, March 15, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power

Sisters cycling topless stopped by police, they say | Ontario | News | Toronto S
right to bare breasts. the greatest right of all. ;) :p
 
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Going topless is suddenly hot again
Postmedia Network
First posted: Wednesday, July 29, 2015 05:25 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 29, 2015 09:04 PM EDT
Nineteen years after Gwen Jacobs won the right to be topless in public, the issue is once again revealing itself in Canada.
Three sisters in Kitchener, Ont., are organizing a protest to trumpet their right after they say there were pulled over by a cop while cycling topless. And in B.C., a topless sunbather has issued a similar complaint after police approached her for baring too much.
Susan Rowbottom told CBC's Radio West she was sunbathing at her local beach when an RCMP officer approached her and told her to cover up.
"Hopefully this comes to the RCMP's attention that they can't enforce laws that don't exist," she told the station.
That's the thrust behind Saturday's protest in Kitchener.
Alysha Brilla, and her two sisters Tameera and Nadia Mohamed have named the event Bare With Us. They say a cop told them to cover up while riding their bikes down the street.
"One of the aims of the rally is to desensitize people to the female breast in a non-sexual context so that people can disassociate breasts from sexuality."
Kitchener police didn't comment on the sisters' complaint, but Toronto police say they're aware of the law and respect it.
Const. Jeniffer Sidhu said the force has no need to remind its officers "that toplessness is within the law."
The law was made clear years ago, after all.
Jacobs, a Guelph. Ont., woman arrested for being topless in 1991, took her case all the way to the Ontario Court of Appeal and won the right in 1996 for women to bare their breasts publicly.
In B.C., the provincial Supreme Court sided with Linda Meyer, who was charged with public nudity at a public pool. The court ruled she had the right to be topless, as long as it "did not offend criminal laws of nudity."
Sidhu said public nudity complaints are pretty rare.
-- with files from Zoe Demarco
Going topless is suddenly hot again | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

Topless rally in support of women's rights takes place in Waterloo, Ont.
The Canadian Press
First posted: Saturday, August 01, 2015 06:39 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, August 01, 2015 07:53 PM EDT
WATERLOO, Ont. -- A rally and march organized by three sisters who were stopped by a police officer for biking topless a week ago was held Saturday in Waterloo, Ont.
Dozens of topless women -- and men -- attended the trio's "Bare With Us" rally at Waterloo Town Square, meant to educate the public about women's right to be topless if they so choose.
Local media reports say people were waving placards, banners and sporting body paint with messages including "everyone has the right to NOT be harassed" and "Bare With Us! They're just boobs!"
Juno-nominated musician Alysha Brilla says she and her sisters were not wearing shirts while cycling in Kitchener, Ont., on July 24 when a male officer drove up beside them and told them to cover up because it is the law.
Brilla says told the officer he was wrong, adding that when she started filming the interaction on her cellphone, the officer said he had only wanted to check if the women had proper bells and lights on their bicycles.
Ontario women have had the right to go topless in public since 1996.
A similar incident in June garnered headlines after eight-year-old Marlee McLean was told by city staff in Guelph, Ont., to cover up while she was in a wading pool wearing only a swim bottom.
Topless rally in support of women's rights takes place in Waterloo, Ont. | Ontar
 
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