Edmonton’s topless pool guidelines still raising concerns

In June of 2022, the City of Edmonton changed its swimwear guidelines, letting anyone go topless at any city-owned swimming pools. While the change isn’t new, it still caught some off guard as it was shared on social media this week.

“Kids go there for swimming and they go there for fun. Not to see someone have their t**s hanging out kind of thing,” said an Edmontonian CityNews spoke to.

In a statement to CityNews on Wednesday, these new guidelines were updated after a series of meetings with many diverse focus groups and the city determined it can’t deny access to the pools for anyone wanting to go topless.

It also states that they understand some people may feel uncomfortable with the approach but it is a human rights issue and the city has an obligation to treat all individuals equally when using city facilities.

“If you go to any European beach or pool, these things aren’t issues because these are our bodies. And so we tend to have be a little bit more prudish here in Canada about body types. But the fact is, we need to celebrate all bodies. They all exist,” said Marni Panas, certified inclusion professional.

Panas says these changes are a step in the right direction that the city has taken.

“Why do male bodies, male-identified bodies, get the freedom to uncover and women’s bodies don’t? And so there’s a difference between nudity and being topless,” said Panas.

However, some Edmontonians believe the best move might be to find a compromise.

“Just have it at certain blocks of the time. Like certain times of the days on weekends. It’s the children I worry about,” said one Edmontonian.

Another saying, “Got to cover it for the kids sometimes. If they’re raised with the right upbringing it shouldn’t be a problem. Stop sexualizing everybody.”