San Franciscans letting it all hang out...

Breasts Not Bombs1
Originally uploaded by audreytmv.

From San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, July 1, 2005

Baring their anti-war feelings
Fighting in Iraq is indecent, not their nakedness, they say
Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writer

A dozen anti-war activists from Mendocino County took their tops off at high noon in San Francisco's Union Square shopping district Thursday, using what they said was their best weapon to get the public's attention.

Within seconds, a motorized cable car packed with tourists stopped in front of Macy's so the out-of-towners could get a better look.

"Whoa, get out your cameras and cover your children's eyes," said the driver.

"Remember, folks, this is San Francisco," he said. "We let it all hang out here."

Members of the Breasts Not Bombs contingent, which included seven women, three men and two young girls, said the war in Iraq is indecent, not their nakedness.

"Boobies never hurt anyone," said Sherry Glaser, size 40DDD.

After more than two years of opposition to the war, protesters are having a hard time grabbing headlines, said Sheba Love, size 40D.

"We're kinda at our wits' end, so it's come to this," Love said. "But it blows me away that all we have to do is bare our skin and we can cause such a snit."

The au naturel protest drew more of a snicker than a snit. They smiled for a crowd of about 50 tourists who took out digital cameras and cell phones to make instant souvenirs.

"Hey! Explain this to me!" said an agog visitor from Florida, approaching San Francisco police Sgt. Carl T., who was assigned to keep an eye on the crowd and who really has only a letter for a last name.

"It's not illegal," the sergeant told the woman.

"All right!" she said, giving him a high-five.

Technically, the sergeant explained, nudity can be considered misdemeanor indecent exposure if the person in their birthday suit has an intention to titillate. Because the protest is political, not sensual or lewd, it really doesn't count, he said.

And it doesn't fall into the category of public nuisance, because it lacks an annoying quality, like the guy who was doing naked yoga at Fisherman's Wharf near a children's school bus stop, he said.

Many San Franciscans eating their lunch in the Union Square park shook their heads and kept on eating or reading.

"God, I hate this city!" said one, rushing away.

Breasts Not Bombs2
Originally uploaded by audreytmv.

Several tourists said the protest irked them not because of the adults, but because Glaser's 9-year-old daughter and the girl's 10-year-old friend, were also bare-chested. The girls brought their half-naked dolls to the protest, too.

"I took a picture but made sure the girls weren't in the frame," said Matt Bigos of Boston, in town for his brother's wedding.

"You can't put that kind of picture on your computer these days ... you'll get busted. I really don't think it's right they have little girls without shirts."

Breasts Not Bombs said they are trying to make people uncomfortable to get their anti-war message across and to also desensitize people to nudity. The group was formed a year ago, after two of Glaser's friends were made to don their shirts after dancing topless at a Mendocino Park Fourth of July party. That sparked a conversation about indecency and cultural shock values.

"We felt breasts are not indecent, but war, and our political leadership, was," said Margaret Howe, who has never had her bust measured.

The group has taken its nude anti-war message to a handful of Mendocino locales and to the offices of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat newspaper. So far, only one official complaint has been filed with police against their group. Union Square was their largest and busiest venue yet. They've even aired a music video on Free Speech TV, with clips from their various demonstrations and set to the tune "I Wanna Be Naked."

Although they are not the same activists who strip nude and form peace symbols or spell out NO WAR with their bodies, they said they share the same message.

"I think what they are doing is great!" said Lindsay Clark, who was selling hot dogs and soft pretzels on the sidewalk outside the entrance to Macy's.

"There are a lot of ignorant people around here who could stand to see this," she said.

Rene Palacios, whose job is to wear a bright red jacket and provide sidewalk "customer service" to Union Square tourists for the Gray Line Tours bus company, spent the lunch hour explaining to newcomers that these types of things happen frequently in San Francisco.

"This is exactly why San Francisco is a great place to be!" he said, laughing. "These unexpected things just happen in an instant, and you never see it coming."

The nipple display certainly surprised Chuck Pollock, who has been panhandling around Union Square for the last decade. But he got into the spirit, lifting his T-shirt for passers-by to make them laugh and drop a few coins in his cup.

"I only see the news about once a month when I save enough to get a hotel room," he said. "What's going on? Is Bush still at war?" he asked.

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