Bruce Lawson ✅ (quiet time)May 22
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
@brucelawson hold on. It illegal for women to be topless in Scotland?
Show threadBruce Lawson ✅ (quiet time)May 22
@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 SweeneyMay 22
@brucelawson it's bonkers that women topless is considered indecent but men aren't. Yet another example of inequality.
Show threaddoboprobodyneMay 22

@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 threadcompost_funeralMay 22
@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

@compost_funeral @TheComfortableSpotPodcast @brucelawson @jebantyk

I am much obliged; thank you!

Show threaddoboprobodyneMay 22

@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
@doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @brucelawson @jebantyk@mastodon.cloud 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
@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 threadembracetheruinMay 22
@TheComfortableSpotPodcast @doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @brucelawson that men are heterosexual
Show threadKen M Sweeney
@livinghell @doboprobodyne @compost_funeral @brucelawson excellent point.
May 23 at 1:11pmMastodon for Android