A few months back I picked up a curious flyer. It read in bold letters" “Uncovering the Cover Up.” Gotopless.org was organizing topless protests in 10 U.S. cities. How could I not attend?

Their core gripe is that men can go shirtless anywhere and everywhere, while women cannot. Clearly it violates our 14th Amendment right of equality, as women have been arrested, fined and humiliated for daring to go topless in public. Everyone needs a cause, right?

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The protest in Venice Beach, Calif. attracted about 100 people. I would guess about half were women and, of those, maybe 25 were topless. In addition to the organizers, I did see a handful of reporters (I declined) doing their stories without a top! To avoid being hauled off by nearby police, all topless women wore pasties over their nipples. The brilliance was that the pasties were in the shape of… nipples! So they still looked topless, however, everyone had the same bright, enlarged nipples.

After interviews and photos by a swarm of press, the “march” began down the boardwalk. They carried banners and well-made signs and spoke through megaphones. I heard things like, “Breasts are not indecent!” and “Show your breasts” and “Do not objectify these women!” If I squinted, it felt a tiny bit like women’s liberation must have back in the day. But the crowd was admittedly small and very distracting with all those pasties.

I agree that women should be allowed to go topless. I’m sure it would be an adjustment initially, however, in the long term, we’d all find something else to worry about. They timed this protest to build awareness before their big press effort on the steps of the Democratic Convention on August 26. This marks the calendar day Congress declared “Women’s Equality Day” back in 1970. I am curious to see if they get some prime-time coverage and some remarks from our esteemed nominee.