To strengthen gender equality, the German city of Goettingen on Thursday decided to ban women from 1. A first in the country.
The German city of Goettingen will be the first in the country to allow topless swimming in its pools, a measure aimed at increasing gender equality. This measure will be limited to weekends and must come into effect from May 1st to the end of August, the municipality announced on Thursday.
With this decision, the city becomes the forerunner in the country in the debate on gender equality to be able to show the bare chest in aquatic leisure facilities such as swimming pools. In Germany, most saunas are already mixed and force their customers to be naked for reasons of hygiene. This decision was justified after an incident that happened in one of the municipal swimming pools last autumn.
The debate is not over yet
An officer had asked a bather, whom he believed to be a woman, to cover his chest. However, that person refused, identifying himself as male, and was subsequently denied entry to the facility. This situation sparked lively debate within the community, which eventually this week announced the opening of shirtless swimming for all.
However, the debate on this topic is not closed. However, some in the city regret the decision to limit this opportunity to weekends only. The municipality justified itself with the fact that the school swimming lessons during the week should not be affected. The manager of a water sports center told a local newspaper that a compromise had to be found with “users from other cultures” who might find nudity bothersome.