Woman Stages Topless AIDS Protest On T.O. Streets
Posted August 15, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Delegates have seen Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and rock stars ranging from Alicia Keys to the Bare Naked Ladies.
But it was a different kind of bare naked lady that had many buzzing on Front and John Sts. Tuesday.
A university student was protesting on behalf of small investors with AIDS who allege they’ve been victimized by the investment industry. But along with a picket sign, she made a dramatic statement by removing her top and standing bare chested on the streets, as curious passers-by gawked.
It’s not against the law for women to go topless in Toronto, although it’s a privilege very few take advantage of.
Most weren’t impressed by the attention getting stunt.
“The naked woman, I don’t get,” shrugs Bev Smith, who hosts a talk show in the U.S. “Unless you have a sign that says “AIDS left me with nothing,” then I would understand.”
Still, she appeared to reconsider after a moment’s thought. “If it draws attention as it has with you all today, then it’s a good thing.”
But Gbolahan Olubowale, an AIDS Conference delegate from Nigeria, begged to differ. “It’s freedom of expression,” he argues. “And they are doing it in a creative way. You can see all the people, the attention that is being focused on what is going on.”
The protest organizer claims fraud against investors hurts the economy, and that could be one reason that Canada hasn’t lived up to a promise to supply cheap AIDS drugs to Africa.
