Can Women Go Topless in Texas?

“Can females go topless on Texas beaches”?

After the fiasco of Go Topless Jeep Weekend last weekend at Crystal Beach, videos have gone viral on the internet of numerous female attendees being topless and others lifting up their tops to expose their ****.  The behavior raised the question “can females go topless on Texas beaches”? With the weather getting progressively hotter outside and men and women alike are hitting the beaches, lakes, and pools as an effort to cool off, can women go topless?

Technically, women can go topless in Texas. Texas is one of 36 “top freedom in effect” states. This, however, does not mean that there are no repercussions for women going topless in Texas as they can be arrested for disorderly conduct for doing so (normally a charge associated with behavior). Typically, it would be wrong for a woman to only be arrested for disorderly conduct for being topless; but when combined with other charges the disorderly conduct charge for going topless carries far greater weight than alone.

Austin is the only city in Texas where a woman can walk the streets of downtown topless without fear of breaking the law. Hippie Hollow, of Lake Travis, is Texas’ only official nude beach.  McFaddin beach in Galveston County is an “unofficial nude beach”, where going topless is allowed since it is secluded, and the local police will only enforce conduct law if a complaint is made.  Full nudity, however, is illegal.  It is also “rumored” that many north South Padre Beaches are nudist friendly.

So, can women go topless in Texas? Yes, unless a municipality ordinance restricts it.