Report: East Village topless advocate now living and spreading her message in Philadelphia

[Second Avenue and East 11th Street last summer; reader submitted]

East Village topless advocate Moira Johnston made international headlines last summer for walking around, well, topless. She was raising awareness that it's OK and perfectly legal for women to be topless in the city. (She has a website titled Topless Moira, which has not been updated since last summer.)

Despite the return of spring-summer (sprummer), people have said that they haven't seen Johnston in the neighborhood — topless or otherwise.

Cassandra Garrison at Metro has an update today:

Now, as warm weather returns to the east coast, Johnston, 30, is spreading her message in Philadelphia, but scaling it back a notch by covering her nipples with a pair of pasties. She was spotted in Philly’s Rittenhouse Square yesterday, according to New Jersey 101.5. Apparently, she is a native of the City of Brotherly love. Johnston also said her mom is a breast cancer survivor who supports her nude endeavors.

Meanwhile, International Go-Topless Day is Sunday, Aug. 25.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] There is a woman who has been walking around the East Village topless (NSFW)

Shocking revelations: People like looking at photos of topless women on the Internet (NSFW)

So long summer...

[Photo by @MeredithBlake]

Summer isn't officially over... just ceremoniously with the arrival of Labor Day Weekend. (Don't worry — according to The Wall Street Journal, you can still wear white jeans past Labor Day.)

So The Summer of Bees™ prediction didn't really pan out.

Anyway, so long Moira ... Katie ... crusties ... storm clouds ... fake human kidney ... (these were all among the most popular EVG posts based on traffic or pageviews or whatever)...

And I've had better summers. You?

Topless advocate Moira Johnston still making headlines this summer

[Second Avenue and East 11th Street; reader submitted]

Via Gothamist yesterday, we've learned more about East Village topless advocate Moira Johnston ... who we first wrote about back on May 18... as you probably know, she has been raising awareness that it's OK and perfectly legal for women to be topless in the city....

The Daily Beast featured Johnston in a post this past weekend... (Probably NSFW)

According to the article, her advocacy campaign started in January ... after a yoga studio banished her for taking off her top in class. "Some of the other yogis complained to the owners about her bare breasts, but Johnston thought it unfair that men be allowed to go topless in Downward Dog while women are forced to keep their mammaries in their Lululemon tanks."

Since then, she has filed legal complaints against 13 yoga studios.

Meanwhile, you've likely seen her walk around the neighborhood ... she told The Daily Beast that she has received mostly positive comments from passersby ... except for "the man who told her he’d just gotten out of prison and was going to hurt her."

"I considered carrying mace [after that encounter], but that's absolutely not a common occurrence," Johnston says, adding that she's never been groped or assaulted. "Most people are fairly respectful, at least in terms of my physical space."

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] There is a woman who has been walking around the East Village topless

Shocking revelations: People like looking at photos of topless women on the Internet