After a young woman in Quebec City was harassed by a number of police officers for sitting on a topless blanket and doing macrame while smoking a cigarette on a sunny day, a topless demonstration took place in Montreal on Sunday.
Organizer Alice Lacroix was among those topless at the Liberez les Seins protest at Tam Tams in Mont-Royal Park at noon.
“It’s not just about changing people’s minds and changing the way people look at women’s breasts, (but) it’s a protest about all gender equality,” she told CTV News.
Eloise Pake Poisson wrote a long Facebook post that went viral after being attacked by Quebec police (SPVQ) in late May, who responded after a citizen complained that he was topless.
Poisson said in her post that she asked the first cop if he had asked several topless men in the park to hide. The cop said he did not do so, according to Poisson, and left only to return with more police officers.
“Five more police officers are arriving as reinforcements,” she wrote. “The five of them were moving on me. My heart was beating fast, but I kept my tits up and my eyes piercing. I was scared, but I felt strong.”
There is no law in the Canadian Penal Code against a woman topless in a park, and the statutes of Quebec City are essentially the same.
Although Poisson was not fined, Lacroix was worried about the whole event.
“What happened to Eloise was very problematic for the police,” she said. “There can’t be five cops around a woman doing something that’s perfectly legal, but what we also need to remember is that someone called the police. They didn’t just see her. They called and they cried. “
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