Bruce Lawson ✅ ♫ ♿ ✌️♂️✊May 22, 2025
At the weekend, a group of trans women protested topless at the Scottish Parliament about the recent Supreme Court ruling that the Equality Act defines women as "biological women". The police couldn't arrest them, because to arrest them for showing their breasts would be to define them as women (it's not illegal for men to be topless). And, of course, the right-wing press that reported on it censored their breasts, thereby making their point for them.
Show threadKen M SweeneyMay 22, 2025
@brucelawson hold on. It illegal for women to be topless in Scotland?
Show threadBruce Lawson ✅ ♫ ♿ ✌️♂️✊May 22, 2025
@TheComfortableSpotPodcast Dunno; I think it could be considered "indecent exposure", which is against the law. One protester said “If the Supreme Court can see these woman legally as men, then they’ll have zero issue with them going tops off.” https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/05/17/scottish-parliament-holyrood-trans-protest-supreme-court/
Topless trans protest outside Holyrood a ‘public act of grief, resistance and solidarity’

Trans women staged a topless protest outside of the Scottish parliament to condemn the UK Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of 'sex'.

PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news
Show threadKen M Sweeney
@brucelawson it's bonkers that women topless is considered indecent but men aren't. Yet another example of inequality.
May 22, 2025 at 2:24pmMastodon for Android
Show threaddoboprobodyneMay 22, 2025

@TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson
@jebantyk

I am told, by wiser people than I, that in #England & #Wales, the #crime of indecent exposure requires an "indecent" component. Merely walking about as your Deity/mother nature made you is not - in and of itself - a criminal act. One's accuser must explain to the judge's satisfaction why your exposure was indecent (maybe you needlessly jiggled something about, for example).

They went on to tell me that this is not the case in #Scotland, where one may be detained simply for rambling naked. They did not know whether or not one would successfully be prosecuted in the Scottish #court, but they thought it probable. It was not their area of expertise.

I did thank them for their advice, and put my clothes back on ;)

#law #lawfare #UK #God #nudity #art #policing #police #courts #rambling

Show threadKen M SweeneyMay 22, 2025
@doboprobodyne @brucelawson @[email protected] I would be fine with whatever legislation is in place as long as it applies in the same way to everyone. Women don't have a choice in how their brests grow but they shouldn't be treated as if this part of their body is obscene.
Show threadcompost_funeralMay 22, 2025
@doboprobodyne @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson @jebantyk I went and found the Scotland-specific legal guide written up by British Naturism, it seems that they could have been fully in the buff and there would not have been anything inherently illegal about it. If they swore at someone who told them to put a top on though, it might be! Police sometimes detain naked ramblers anyway, but this is in spite of the law. https://www.bn.org.uk/files/file/739-legal-guides-public-place-naturism//
Legal Guides - Public Place Naturism

There are three legal guides; one for Scotland, one for England and Wales and one for Northern Ireland. Please ensure that you download the correct version. Here in the UK we are lucky enough to have a legal system that we believe can be relied upon to maintain order and to support us in times of...

British Naturism
Show threaddoboprobodyneMay 22, 2025

@compost_funeral @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson @jebantyk

I am much obliged; thank you!

Show threaddoboprobodyneMay 22, 2025

@compost_funeral @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson @jebantyk

Further, I must caution readers to great care in how they interpret this thoughtful and excellently written guidance. I note this 2011 article on the re-arrest of the Naked Rambler in Scotland: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-14649394

Being convicted of a crime, however egregiously wrongful the conviction, can be terribly inconvenient.

At any rate; the manner of protest of these ladies is tremendously elegant.

#law #lawfare #nudity #crime #police #policing

'Naked rambler' Steven Gough jailed again

Naked Rambler Stephen Gough has been jailed for another 657 days after enjoying less than 60 seconds of freedom.

BBC News
Show threadKen M SweeneyMay 22, 2025
@doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @brucelawson @[email protected] the enforcement of these norms is less about the act itself (a woman being topless) and more about controlling public reaction—especially from men. This essentially punishes women for the potential inability of others to behave appropriately, which is deeply problematic from a gender equality and human rights perspective.
Show threadKen M SweeneyMay 22, 2025
@doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @brucelawson
This kind of logic reinforces several troubling ideas:
1. That women's bodies are inherently sexual, even when they're not being presented in a sexual way.
2. That men cannot or will not control themselves, which is insulting to men and infantilisng.
3. That public space is implicitly male by default, and women must modify their behavior to avoid provoking a reaction.
Show threadKen M SweeneyMay 22, 2025
@doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @brucelawson
Laws and social norms based on this kind of thinking contribute to a broader culture of victim-blaming and control over women's autonomy. Instead of teaching and expecting men (and everyone) to behave with respect and self-control, society too often shifts the burden onto women to avoid being seen or "provocative."
Show threaddog and the plateMay 22, 2025
@TheComfortableSpotPodcast @doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @brucelawson that men are heterosexual
Show threadKen M SweeneyMay 23, 2025
@livinghell @doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @brucelawson excellent point.
Show threadPeter BrownAug 29, 2025
@doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson regardless of the merits or otherwise of his behaviour, I would consider the behaviour of the police in hanging about outside the prison waiting to re-arrest him as being harassment.
Surely he should be allowed to go free in the hope that he will rehabilitate .
I don’t think this is particularly good use of prison accommodation or police time
Show threaddoboprobodyneAug 30, 2025

@peterbrown @compost_funeral @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson

I concur. I would say it is a damning indictment of the system on many levels. I regret the cost of it to all concerned. At the risk of sounding silly, but I say it because it is the benchmark I try to use for myself, I do not think the actions of the police are driven by love.

Show threadHighlandLawyerMay 22, 2025
@doboprobodyne @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson @[email protected]
"Rambling naked" will be a reference to the (in)famous naked rambler. Exposing ones genitals in public "in a sexual manner" is an offence, but merely being naked (with no sexual intent) is not.
However prudish PFs took objection to the Naked Rambler's expeditions, arrested him for breach of the peace, then when he attended court he was ordered to dress; he refused, so was done for contempt of court
Show threaddoboprobodyneMay 22, 2025

@HighlandLawyer @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson

Thank you! I did wonder. I should say the court is probably deserving of contempt, if it cannot stomach the human form, although I'm sure the court would disagree.

#law #lawfare #nudity #police #policing

Show threadRejZoRMay 22, 2025
@TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson Especially men with breasts bigger than most women... Or massive belly they flaunt around so proudly. That's pretty indecent yet just allowed.
Show threadCairo BragaMay 22, 2025
@rejzor @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson there's no need to be fatphobic to make a point in this matter, tho.