There’s a demo in Waterloo, Ontario on Saturday. Maybe a big one. Maybe not. The organizers have no idea how many will show up. They’re hoping for 400 supporters.
What is pretty certain is that more than a few guys whose idea of a demo is a fella with a big smile fiddling with a kitchen gadget on an overnight shopping channel will make damn sure they’re there.
Why?
At least two of the demonstrators (and likely more) will be topless.
Again.
The “Bare With Us” demonstration stems from events that took place last Friday when the Mohamed sisters, Tameera, Nadia and Alysha, a Juno nominated blues and jazz singer who performs under the name of Alysha Brilla, decided to go for a late evening bicycle ride. It was a hot and muggy summer night, so they decided they did not need tops.
Everything went fine until, not unsurprisingly, they got stopped by a couple of cops in an SUV, who told them they had to put their shirts back on.
Apparently unbeknownst to the two officers, women in Ontario have had the right to go topless in public since 1996–five years after a Guelph University student named Gwen Jacobs was charged for committing an indecent act when she walked home shirtless on a hot day.
And maybe the cops should have known something else. You don’t mess with the Mohamed sisters. They are bright, peace- loving, personable and–most important–women of principle.
One other thing: they don’t like getting hassled and told they are breaking the law when they are fully aware they are doing nothing of the kind.
Over the past week, the grating events of Friday night morphed into Saturday’s “Bare With Us” demo in Waterloo, an event that Alysha Brilla says is all about choice.
Ms. Brilla, who has chosen not to go topless at the demonstration (though her two sisters will), joined RCI by phone from Waterloo to talk about what happened last Friday night, what Saturday’s demo is about, and why it’s important.
Listen
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.