Woman Plans Topless Protest on Bike Week
Tue Mar 2, 5:46 PM ET Add Strange News - AP to My Yahoo!
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Liz Book believes exposed breasts are a part of motorcycle culture, so she
plans to lead a protest of topless women on the last day of Bike Week.
Book hopes to lead 1,000 "top-free" women and men along a half-mile of Main Street at noon Sunday.
"I never want to see another girl handcuffed and crying in the street because she yanked her top,"
said Book, 42. "Exposed breasts have been a part of the biker lifestyle for more than 50 years."
City officials and police are taking a wait-and-see approach, in part because the city's ordinance
allows nudity when it is part of a political protest.
"It all depends on their behavior," said Al Tolley, Daytona Beach police spokesman. "The complexion
of any protest can change, and it can turn into a lewd act in a heartbeat."
Kevin Kilian, a vice president of The Chamber-Daytona Beach and Halifax Area, said his group also is
opposed to Book's planned protest.
"We as a community make a lot of concessions for our visitors," Kilian said. "It shouldn't be too
much to ask that they respect the laws while they're here."
The city's nudity ordinance resulted in fines of $253 each for 59 women who exposed their breasts
during last year's Bike Week, which attracts tens of thousands of bikers each year from around the
nation, according to police records.
Book herself was arrested in 1998 when she bared her breasts inside the Full Moon Saloon bar.