Women around the US were taking off their tops on Sunday to mark GoTopless Day, a day that seeks to promote gender equality and a woman’s right to bare her breasts in public.

GoTopless Day is celebrated annually on the Sunday closest to Women’s Equality Day, which marks the day American women earned the right to vote.

A few dozen women and some men went topless on Sunday afternoon as they walked down Broadway in New York City. The march was led by women carrying a banner, followed by others in a convertible – with the top down. A pair of giant inflatable breasts brought up the rear. Onlookers gawked and took photos.

The event was one of several planned across the globe. In the US, gatherings were planned in New Hampshire, Denver, Los Angeles and more.

Nadine Gray, president of GoTopless, said she hoped the events would take away the shock and awe of seeing female breasts.

“In New York City, we are really celebrating our right to be freely topless without getting a ticket or going to jail for it,” she said. “In other places, it will be more like a protest because the discrimination is still happening.

“This push for women to go topless in the 21st century is as strong as women wanting to vote in the 20th century. It may be sensual, but it’s not illegal to be sensual. This is not Saudi Arabia.”

A marcher harnesses the power of the pun. Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

It has been legal to be bare-breasted in New York since 1992. The legality of women going topless varies by state. Kia Sinclair is an event organizer for GoTopless Day at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire.

“It’s in hopes to show people that it can be normal, that it’s really not a big deal and it’s not about getting attention or protesting,” she said.

Sinclair was part of a group of women who last year helped beat back an effort to criminalize toplessness in New Hampshire.