Story highlights City Council passes emergency ordinance prohibiting public nudity

A female blogger who advocates topless equality raised the issue, and confusion remains

(CNN) A family-friendly seaside Maryland town on Saturday ended any confusion about whether it is now welcoming topless female sunbathers.

The City Council of Ocean City unanimously passed an emergency ordinance prohibiting public nudity -- which states "there is no constitutional right for an individual to appear in public nude or in a state of nudity."

"Whatever personal right one has to be nude or in a state of nudity that right becomes subject to government interest and regulation when one seeks to exercise it in public," says the ordinance, which will remain in place until the state attorney general delivers an opinion on the matter.

Violators of the ordinance could face a fine of up to $1,000.

The ordinance also says that the "equal protection clause does not demand that things that are different in fact be treated the same in law, nor that a government pretend there are no physiological differences between men and women."

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