DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Liz Book, a 43 year-old mother from Ormond Beach, Florida has received written permission from Daytona Beach city officials to bare her breasts in public on Sunday in a protest that will take place in a city parking lot.The agreement requires Book to screen in the area around the designated parking lot, and she had to agree not to encourage topless acts outside of the screened area.
Book was arrested last year for exposing her breasts in public. He decided to fight the charges on First Amendment grounds and retained the services of First Amendment attorney Larry Walters, who is well known to the adult entertainment industry. According to Walters, Book’s arrest was inappropriate because the city’s nudity ordinance contains exceptions for constitutionally protected nudity.
“This was a large city government trying to shut down political speech with their police force,” Walters said. “It was appalling that they arrested this lady in the middle of her protest.”
Daytona Beach City Commissioner Darlene Yordon warned that too much nudity at special events could turn the city into a den of crime.
“It’s there to set community standards and God knows Daytona needs to raise the bar,” said Yordon. “Because of the street parties we have here, there’s been the appearance that we’ve promoted lawlessness. . .and nudity promotes lawlessness.”
According to city attorney Greg McDole, the “unsuspecting public” needs to be protected from bare female breasts.
“Nudity, you know, topless conduct, has always been prohibited in Florida,” McDole said. “You need to try to protect the unsuspecting public.”
But some people believe simple nudity should not be a crime, especially when the same standards aren’t applied to men.
“They’re making mere nudity a criminal offense, where before it was the lewd and lascivious behavior that was the crime,” said Shirley Mason, an activist who has argued that anti-nudity laws cost women everything from jobs to basic parental rights. Book herself was once blocked from participating in a school function for her daughter because she had been arrested over public nudity back in 1998.
“This is an awakening that needs to happen,” Book said. “I don’t see where a breast has ever hurt anyone.”
