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N.J. Beach Town Repeals 30-Year Speedo Ban
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By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer
CAPE MAY, N.J. - Come on in, Speedo wearers, the
water's fine: Your skimpy little swimsuits are legal
now. For more than 30 years, this quaint little
Victorian-themed resort at the southern tip of New
Jersey said no to "skintight, formfitting or bikini
type" bathing attire on males over the age of 12.
For an ocean resort that once required men and women
to swim at different times of day, wearing heavy
woolen, cover-everything swimsuits, it made sense to
modernize.
"It's a beach town, for God's sake," said Police Chief
Diane Sorantino. The town also agreed to lift a rule
that stopped bare-chested men from strolling along the
beachfront promenade.
Not that everyone's cheering. It's often the older
guys — the ones with beer guts, or wrinkly skin, or
unsightly tufts of hair — who wear the tiny swimsuits.
"The people you want to see in the Speedos, you
don't," said Maggie Creighton, 19, who works in a
downtown lingerie store.
Locals who share the beaches with tourists said that
despite the ban, the itsy bitsy suits have been a
common sight in summer, even though most surf shops
and beachwear retailers here don't sell them.
"A lot of people do come in and say `Do you carry
Speedos?' said Becky Fitzgerald, sales clerk at
Della's General Store. "It's the 40- to 50-year-old
group who ask. And it's funny, their bodies aren't the
shape for Speedos."
The swimsuit ban was enacted in the 1960s in response
to complaints about gay men who wore the suits on the
beach, according to former mayor Robert Elwell, who
writes a Cape May history column for a local
newspaper.
But the ban was rarely if ever enforced, according to
the city, which voted to amend its beach regulations
last week.
City Administrator Luciano Corea Jr. said the skimpy
swimsuit ban was largely unknown. There was no push to
eliminate it, but doing so made sense, he said.
"We had no complaints, and we've never issued a
summons for it, to my knowledge," said Corea.
"Technically, we could've left it on the books. It was
never enforced anyway."
Vince Grimm, executive director of GABLES of Cape May
County, a gay advocacy organization, said the ban was
outdated and holds no particular significance for
gays.
"We're no different than anyone else. If they (the
suits) are in style, we wear them," said Grimm.
Charlotte Beheler, owner of Sports `n Stuff, which
sells Speedos for $25.95, said they're not among her
top sellers.
She doesn't expect any big boom in sales this summer —
or an explosion of skin on the beaches. Neither does
Speedo, which says the men's brief-style suits make up
only 1 percent of the Los Angeles-based company's
sales.
"I could see that people may buy more, but I don't
think it'll be a huge dramatic change," said Speedo
marketing manager Lesley Benko.
Still, some people will be watching the beaches this
year just to see who's wearing what.
"I haven't been to the beach in years, but now I'm
thinking I'll go down there this year," said Joann
Quinn, of North Cape May. "The beach ought to be
interesting this year."
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