HAMPTON — Female supporters of the Free the Nipple campaign are planning to sit topless on Hampton Beach next month in an effort to change public perception of women’s breasts. While police are saying it's perfectly legal, at least one Hampton Beach official strongly objects.

Heidi Lilley, 54, of Gilford, and Kia Sinclair, 23, of Danbury, are using Facebook to mobilize women to gather at the beach for the topless sit-in on Aug. 23, they said. Free the Nipple first gained traction in 2014 with the premier of a globally supported film with the same name. The campaign’s main Facebook page has more than 52,000 likes. It is billed as an equality movement to empower women and fight oppression.

“Really it’s us exercising our right to go topless,” Sinclair said. “We want to encourage as many women (and men) to come and support us, whether that is in Hampton specifically or anywhere in New Hampshire.”

John Kane, Hampton Beach Village District marketing director, said he is “absolutely against it.” He said the district has “spent generations and millions of dollars along with the state and the town” to make Hampton Beach a “family destination.” A Free the Nipple event will set those efforts back, he said.

“Hampton Beach is a family resort, and we try our best to keep it that way,” Kane said. “I don’t want to have a mother having to block her 4-year-old son’s eyes from (topless Free the Nipple supporters) trying to make a point that doesn’t matter. There’s many beaches where, if they want to prove something, they can do so. Let them go there.”

To Sinclair and Lilley, their cause does matter. Sinclair said she’s found that many women support the cause but won’t be vocal for fear of criticism, as well as crass comments — fears Sinclair herself admits to having.

“I understand completely how they feel because this is my fear,” Sinclair said. “All I can say is that if they want to do this they have to be brave. It will never be normalized, the nipple will never be de-sexualized or de-criminalized unless we fight for our rights.”

The law is on their side.

In New Hampshire, state law prohibits the public exposure of genitals but not breasts, Hampton Town Manager Fred Welch said. He was informed of the law by Police Chief Richard Sawyer and former Police Chief Jamie Sullivan, he said.

Sinclair and Lilley believe the female nipple is unfairly sexualized in American culture. Just 80 years ago, the male nipple was viewed similarly, they said. In the 1930s, men pushed for the right to remove their shirts in public, they said, and now women are pushing for what they consider gender equality.

“In the 1930s, men were required to wear shirts,” Lilley said. “They fought for the freedom to (go shirtless). This is 2015. Women are fighting for the same right.”

Lilley said women are fighting “for a number of reasons.” For one, there’s a desire to comfortably go topless in public without their bodies being viewed sexually.

Lilley said she’s been a nudist for 10 years. She said she’s gone to nudist camps and beaches and taken various photos nude.

“It’s my own preference,” Lilley said.

For Sinclair, the fight is about more than just tanning at the beach without a top. She said she became conscious of the inequality when her first son was born last summer. She felt ostracized by strangers and friends, who felt uncomfortable with her breastfeeding near them.

“Honestly, for me, I don’t really want to necessarily take my shirt off,” Sinclair said. “I discovered this whole world I didn’t know existed where women are told to cover up when they’re breastfeeding. Even in my private atmosphere, a lot of people aren’t comfortable with it … like you’re doing something wrong.”

Sinclair said she became involved with the movement when she found the movie “Free the Nipple” on Netflix. She began connecting with people, including Lilley, on social media, leading her to organize the Hampton Beach topless event.

Sinclair and Lilley said they hope to turn their sit-in into a much bigger event next summer, possibly in the form of a march down Ocean Boulevard.

Local officials had mixed reactions to the idea of topless women at Hampton Beach.

Selectman Rick Griffin compared the topless beach sit-in to a man he recalled roughly 10 years ago who began wearing a thong at Hampton Beach. People complained at first, he said, but eventually they stopped.

“He paraded around every day and it upset a lot of people, but in the end it wasn’t a big deal,” Griffin said. “Maybe this will be the same.”

Welch said, “There will be people who feel (offended), and there are people who think it’s a wonderful thing. It’s not a big deal. Some people will make it a big deal, but it’s not.”