Ocean City, MD ban on topless women at the beach is back in court

[Davin]

Advocates for allowing women to go topless at a popular Maryland beach destination urged an appeals court Wednesday to reject Ocean City’s “morality code” and declare its ban on bare-chested women unconstitutional.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is reviewing a decision from last spring that upheld the town’s law barring women, but not men, from going topless at the beach to protect “public sensibilities.”

Ocean City's ban on bare breasts back in court - The Washington Post

[Mosquito_Bait]

There would be no legal grounds for requiring women to cover their breasts while men are allowed to expose their breasts if the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution were ratified.

ARTICLE —
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Sec. 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

In theory, the amendment reached the 38 state threshold for ratification when Virginia ratified it last year; however, some states that ratified it subsequently revoked their ratification, and the original legislation that sent the amendment to the states for ratification included a deadline that expired in 1979.