Westword - DenverGoTopless Day Returns to Civic Center Park
“If we can inspire just one person to question our patriarchal norms in society and feel their freedom a bit more, that’s enough for me.”
By Jack Spiegel
July 28, 2024
DenverGoTopless Day returned to Civic Center Park Jack Spiegel
Denver's GoTopless march returned this Saturday to Civic Center Park, where about 100 people gathered to celebrate topless equality. The event, which was first held in 2013, brought out a diverse crowd of many genders and races, some of whom bared it all, while some stayed covered up.
This year's crowd was significantly smaller than the approximately 1,000 people who attended in 2017 and 2018, but that didn't dampen any spirits.
Law in Denver states that naked breasts are allowed to be shown in public, as long as they are not presented in a sexual context. But although the law is clear in what is allowed, that doesn't necessarily correlate to societal acceptance, says Heather Newhouse, a participant in the march.
"It's legal, but people don't exercise the right, and it doesn't become socially normalized until people actually stand up and exercise their rights," Newhouse says. She also feels that it isn't safe to go out topless on a typical day, when there is not an organized group, as she will oftentimes get weird looks or catcalled.
The perpetrators mostly, Newhouse says, are cisgendered men. But she doesn’t just close off those people. “There are also people who clearly don’t understand, and I think we nudge those edges for people to question themselves and question norms around sexuality,” Newhouse says.
Newhouse is a sex and consent educator, and her message Saturday was that female toplessness needs to be accepted in non-sexual contexts, just as it is for men.
Heather Newhouse and Jennie Burns soak up the sun on Broadway.
Along with Newhouse was Jennie Burns, who has organized other topless events in Boulder, including the Free the Nipple Bike Ride. Her desire to be at the march was simple.
“The first reason is to feel the sun on my breasts. I mean, it’s just really nice,” Burns said, laughing. “You never get to do that as a woman, so it’s a good opportunity for that.”
Burns is soft-spoken but wanted to make sure her voice, and the voice of the movement, is heard.
“If we can inspire just one person to question our patriarchal norms in society and feel their freedom a bit more, that’s enough for me,” Burns says.
After a few hours of hanging around in Bannock Meadow, the group went for a march around Civic Center Park, much to the elation of passing cars. They then stopped in front of the Capitol for a group photo.
The group gathered for a photo in front of the Colorado Capitol.
“If the only nudity you ever see is in a sexual context, then it conditions you to respond to any nudity sexually, regardless of context,” Matthew Wilson, organizer of this year’s march, says. “This event is not just titillation — it is actually normalizing topless equality, because even though nudity and sexuality can overlap, they are not the same thing.
When Wilson was in gym class in middle school, he always thought it was unfair when teams would be split by shirts and skins, because girls couldn’t go topless and would complain about being too hot. As he grew up, he only saw the continuance of that inequality.
From left: Jade Li, Todd Cheek, Ebram Hakim and Kiki Cali pose for a photo at Denver GoTopless 2024.
“A man can walk the street [shirtless] and he’d be fine. A woman does that? She’s automatically objectified,” Wilson says. “I don’t like seeing an [unequal] world and not doing anything about it.”
This year's march was a bit smaller than organizers expected, but they have some big plans for next year. Leadership is changing hands to 36-year-old Jinx Colorado.
"I think the first thing that we want to do is make it a 501(c)(3), and so that way we can get donations and we can have more sponsors," Jinx says. "In 2018, there was a band and a stage with dancers and games — I heard it was so much fun. That's what I want to get to."
