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Speakers urge gender-neutral ordinance language and ask city to consider codifying toplessness protections
Summary
Two residents asked the committee to revise ordinance language to use gender-neutral pronouns and to consider adopting language that explicitly permits public toplessness, citing Nantucket's beach exception as an example and arguing policy can shape public acceptance.
Speakers asked the committee to modernize ordinance language and to consider whether Northampton should explicitly permit public toplessness.
Ace Taylor, a Ward 3 resident, requested that city ordinances adopt gender-neutral language (they/them) instead of "he or she" or masculine defaults to increase inclusivity and clarity. Taylor said standardizing the gender-neutral pronoun would align ordinances with city values.
Taylor also raised the issue of public toplessness, saying Massachusetts legal precedent often restricts toplessness to men and that some municipalities (the speaker cited Nantucket) permit toplessness in certain public places such as beaches. "If we had this as an ordinance, I think we would move towards it being more publicly acceptable," Taylor said.
Councilors and staff said they would look into the current code; Councilor Garrick Perry said his understanding was that Northampton had historically allowed public toplessness but that the committee would check whether the status is codified.
No ordinance language changes were adopted at the forum; speakers were invited to submit model language for committee consideration.
