Berlin has introduced a new rule that allows women and nonbinary people to swim topless in the city’s public pools, following a complaint of discrimination by a female swimmer. The rule, which came into effect this week, aims to end the double standard that allowed men to swim bare-chested but not women.
The change was prompted by a case in December last year, when a woman was told by a pool employee to cover her chest or leave the pool. The woman filed a complaint with the Berlin Senate Department for Sports, which oversees the city’s public pools. The department then decided to revise its pool rules to make them more gender-neutral and inclusive.