The Breast Freedom Parades were a response to the fallout from "the naked guy". Basically nudity was outlawed in Berkeley and some residents started an annual protest. This started in the early 90s (I want to say 93 but I didn't actually look it up) and they had at least 10 of them. Unfortunately they were less interesting than you might think from a gawker's perspective since there never seemed to be any UC Berkeley students there, except perhaps a reporter from the Daily Cal. So guys hoping to see a lot of naked co-eds were very sad.

By 2000 in addition to being posted around town word had gotten out on the Internet and the gawker level was much higher at this one than at the couple I'd gone to in the mid 90s when I worked in Berkeley and these folks were a regular sight. Many of them left long before the event was over - I know I did this year since the whole thing was becoming very dawn out.

The basic pattern is that they would meet at People's Park and get in some chanting and then the organizers would disrobe and encourage others to as well. Then they would stay in the park a bit longer and then march around Berkeley. Unfortunately this year the staying in the park went on, and on, and on, and frankly watching other people chant and form tunnels and take turns running through it holds limited interest. I have no idea if or when they actually marched this year.

Note that this whole thing eventually morphed into the "Breasts not Bombs" protest in Berkeley - same folks, same process, different name.

I'm not entirely sure what the order of these is so I'm just going to do the best I can.

Gawkers. These rather fashionable folks were there for quite a while but never joined the group.

Protesters. Probably the bare butts were a tipoff.

Gawkers. Note the camera and the gal brought as protective cover.

Protester.

Student journalist.

Gawker. Three cameras!

Protester, and the only one that appeared to be college aged.

Gawkers.

Gawkers including one up in a tree.

Protester. Yeah, there was one of her before. Did I mention she was the only one under the age of 40?

Fashionable gawkers again. I hope she got that mole on her arm looked at.

Protesters. From right to left it's gal, transgender, guy, gal, gal, guy, guy talking to the journalist. The gal/guy ratio was kind of odd for a breast freedom parade.

This was the tunnel. Note the gawkers have thinned by now.

And that's really it - I think it had been an hour already and I had better things to do.

 



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