Yesterday was Go Topless Day, an annual activist event promoting the end of the rule that men can be shirtless, but women must cover their nipples. Unsurprisingly, the event was also attended by gawking men with cameras and angry Christians with signs about damnation.

The evangelicals arrived first, holding signs with messages like, "Ask Me Why You Deserve Hell," and, "Repent Or Perish." They were warning everyone nearby that soon, some topless women were going to arrive and on a Sunday, no less. Any time they weren't getting enough attention, they would claim that Robin Williams was roasting in Hell, and that would usually rile up some passerby enough to get into a heated argument either about how Jesus wasn't real, or about how Jesus was full of love.

Eventually, the police showed up to make sure no fights broke out. Occasionally, it did get pretty heated, especially between the protesters and other Christians who were upset about their interpretation of Jesus. Eventually, a man in tiny underpants and a T-shirt that said "Rabbis Suck" showed up to dance around and taunt them. At one point, a second Christian group arrived, but they had smaller signs and seemed intimidated by the larger ones and left. I spotted them later marching up and down the boardwalk, but they didn't seem too concerned with nipples, just redemption.

Meanwhile, a group of men with cameras was forming and waiting for the women to show up. It is not clear if they were there for work reasons, or personal ones.

After what seemed like forever (30 minutes), the Go Topless group actually arrived. A small number of women with tape on their nipples were joined by some of men with tape on their nipples. Some of the men wore bikini tops for solidarity, though one of these men was wearing his bikini top upside down. They sat in a circle on the sand, held hands and were mostly silent—their goal was a one-hour silent sit—except for occasional group singings of The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love."

With soft singing on one side and brimstone wailing on the other, one could look out at the sparkling ocean and bask in yet another beautiful day on Venice Beach.

At one point, the angry Hell guys started screaming at the group that they were "perverts." They also started shouting about UFOs. This is because Go Topless Day was founded by a spiritual group called the Raëlian Movement. The religion was started by a French race car driver and has very liberal views on sex. Raëlians believe that all life was created by an alien species called Elohim, and that Jesus and Buddha were actually Elohim, too. They're pro-GMO, anti-war, pro-sex and pro-feminism. They also practice something called "sensual meditation." It is not clear how many, if any, of yesterday's Go Topless participants were Raëlians.

The men with cameras bumped into each other trying to get shots of boobs with their zoom lenses. The police held anyone who got too angry at the protesters at bay. The Topless group sat and sang. This went on for about an hour. Then the Topless group stood up and the men flocked to get more photos, and then everyone dissipated. At no point was anyone actually fully nude.

Related:

Go Topless Day 2010

Go Topless Day 2011

Go Topless Day 2012

Go Topless Day 2013