Kimber Lee says the sun is brighter, the water is warmer and the beach is cleaner back home in Seaside, Fla.
But the beaches are more suitable in Manhattan Beach, where she was visiting this week.
That’s because on Southern California’s public beaches the 21-year-old can wear her favorite swimsuit. If she wears it on Florida’s state beaches, she risks ending up in the slammer instead of the surf.
Lee wears thong bikinis, a “swimsuit” that does little, if nothing, to cover the buttocks. Florida officials last month banned thong bikinis on state beaches, saying the suits violate obscenity laws. Some Florida cities have arrested thong-wearers on municipal beaches.
The ban on thongs–worn, incidentally, by both men and women–has triggered a debate that has extended far beyond Florida’s 780 miles of beach. Newspaper columnists coast to coast have begun to debate the issue. The subject also has been aired for radio and television talk show audiences.
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https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-13-me-311-story.html