In the capital’s pools, now everyone, regardless of their gender, has the right to swim topless, said on Thursday, March 9, the press secretary of the association of Berlin pools (Berliner Bäderbetriebe).
The background to this innovation is as follows: in December 2022, in one of the Berlin pools, a 33-year-old woman who was swimming in swimming trunks was asked to cover her chest. When she refused to do so, she was shown the door. The woman decided to write a complaint to the Berlin ombudsmen – to the human rights bureau (Ombudstelle). At the same time, she referred to the rules of conduct in the pool: they did not say anywhere that clothes should be different depending on the gender of the person, the dpa agency reports.
Prior to this, another woman tried to achieve satisfaction of her claims – and through the court. In 2021, she was asked to leave the territory of one of the outdoor pools in Berlin due to the fact that she was topless in a children’s playground related to the pool. The land court of the capital considered the arguments of that woman insufficient for the process. However, now, after the intervention of human rights activists, the basins have decided to make concessions.