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05-01-2005, 06:54 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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N.J. Town Repeals Anti-Gay Bikini Law
(Cape May, New Jersey) Come on in, Speedo wearers, the water's fine: Your skimpy swimsuits are actually legal now, for the first time in years.
For more than 30 years, this quaint little Victorian-themed resort at the southern tip of New Jersey said no to "skin tight, formfitting or bikini type" bathing attire on males over the age of 12. It was written that way in the beach regulations, the same code that banned men from walking bare-chested on the oceanfront promenade. The swimsuit ban, which dated to the 1960s, was enacted in response to complaints about gay men who wore the suits on the beach, according to former mayor Robert Elwell, who writes a Cape May history column for a local newspaper. But the ban was rarely if ever enforced, according to the city, which voted to amend its beach regulations last week, striking the skimpy suit ban as well as a requirement that men wear shirts on the promenade. For a resort that once required men and women to swim in the ocean at different times of day, wearing heavy woolen swimsuits that left everything to the imagination, it made sense to modernize. "It's a beach town, for God's sake," said Police Chief Diane Sorantino. City Administrator Luciano Corea Jr. said the skimpy swimsuit ban was largely unknown. There was no push to eliminate it, but doing so made sense, he said. "We had no complaints, and we've never issued a summons for it, to my knowledge," said Corea. "Technically, we could've left it on the books. It was never enforced anyway." Vince Grimm, executive director of GABLES of Cape May County, a gay advocacy organization, said the ban is outdated and that it holds no particular significance for gays. "We're no different than anyone else. If they (the suits) are in style, we wear them," said Grimm. Locals who share their beaches with tourists from the U.S., Canada and beyond say the skinny suits are still a common sight in summer, even though most surf shops and beachwear retailers here don't sell them. "A lot of people do come in and say `Do you carry Speedos?' said Becky Fitzgerald, sales clerk at Della's General Store. "It's the 40- to 50-year-old group who ask. And it's funny, their bodies aren't the shape for Speedos." Maggie Creighton, 19, who works in a downtown lingerie store, agreed. "The people you want to see in the Speedos, you don't," she said. Charlotte Beheler, owner of Sports `n Stuff, which sells Speedos for $25.95, said they're not one of her top sellers. She doesn't expect any big boom in sales this summer - or an explosion of skin on the beaches. Neither does Speedo, which says the men's brief-style suits make up only 1 percent of the Los Angeles-based company's sales. "I could see that people may buy more, but I don't think it'll be a huge dramatic change," said Speedo marketing manager Lesley Benko. Still, some will be watching the beaches this year just to see who's wearing what. "I haven't been to the beach in years, but now I'm thinking I'll go down there this year," said Joann Quinn, of North Cape May. "The beach ought to be interesting this year." by The Associated Press Visit 365Gay.com for more great articles. |
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