No More Shirtless British Guys?

Britain's Daily Mail reports that authorities around England are considering laws that would ban men from removing their shirts in certain public places. Calling the behavior "anti-social," the police are hoping to use the new authority these laws would provide to force men such as these....





....to go back inside and spare the public from involuntary regurgitation. Nicholas Bennett, the former government minister who is leading the charge to enact these laws, says that such displays of flabbiness hurt businesses and sometimes result in aggressive behavior. Said Bennett: "It is an unfortunate thing, but those men who like best to bare their stomachs are the ones who have too much stomach." Read the full article here.

At press time of this blog post, rumors were circulating that an alternate law was being considered that would give discretionary authority to the gay population rather than police as to whether or not a man could remove his shirt. If approved, this measure would allow licensed gay men to require a man to put his shirt back on (or in serious cases, just to go home). But it would also allow the "torso inspector" to perform random, unannounced inspections of men on the street and have them remove their shirts when appropriate as part of citywide "beautification projects."

Click below to see examples of some of the promotional literature that argues for the merits of allowing (or even encouraging) certain acts of shirtlessness, so long as it is overseen by qualified licensed professionals...