Tempers flare at Boobs on Bikes (+pics, video)

Tempers flared as marchers raising awareness of links between pornography and sexual violence faced off with people watching Boobs on Bikes in Auckland.

“It makes objects out of women - it degrades them and we’re sick of people like Steve Crow trampling over the values of our country,” said one protester.

The protest organised by Auckland Women's Centre and Stop Demand Foundation began about half an hour before the Boobs on Bikes parade and had about forty protesters.

Among those in the demonstration were four councillors from Auckland City Council, including Cathy Casey whose legal bid to stop the parade was rejected yesterday.

Ms Casey had threatened to lie in front of the parade to stop it but today she did not go through with her threat.

Stop Demand founder Denise Ritchie said the demonstrators had been well received, apart from several sections of Queen St heckling the group.

"It was an excellent opportunity to get our message out there.

"In a perverse way Steve Crow has provided us with a wonderful platform."

Spectators watching the topless women on motorcycles heading down Queen Street booed the second protest, yelling at the demonstrators “You can’t stop it!”

Objects were also thrown at members of the protest; one participant reported being hit with an L&P bottle.

Other spectators tried to grab a banner off two people protesting against the parade.

Boobs on Bikes organiser Steve Crow said it was great to see people protesting.

“It’s nice to see a few protesters exercising their right to free speech,” he said.

The only other tension during the controversial hour long parade was when eggs were thrown from a building on lower Queen St at Mr Crow, with one egg narrowly missing one of four policemen.

Mr Crow, in a black Bentley convertible, led the parade and had instructed the topless women beforehand to keep the jiggling to a minimum and to not do anything that would be deemed offensive.

The parade featured about 30 women baring their breasts to crowds lining the footpaths.

Thousands of people left their office buildings to witness the spectacle. A strong police presence was also evident.

The huge crowd, at times lined six deep, cheered and and snapped the topless women on cellphones and cameras.

There were also few hecklers among the crowd.

One man shouted at Mr Crow, asking him if he was a pervert.

Mr Crow replied he was not a pervert, he was comfortable with who he was and what he did, and it was the man on the sidewalk who was the pervert.

Auckland police were unable to give a crowd estimate but spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty quoted the officer in charge as saying there were "plenty more people than last year."

She said there were no arrests and the crowd was orderly.

While the crowd was predominantly male from all age groups and professions, many women also watched the parade.

One woman, in her 50s, who did not want to be named said she was a tourist from Canada.

"We've got nothing like this at home."

The woman said she was taking photos of the parade to show friends and family in Canada because "no one will believe me".

Five policemen at the front of the parade at times struggled to contain the crowd which spilled on to the road from the sidewalks.

Virtually every possible viewing space was taken up with construction workers watching from building sites and office workers looking out of windows.

Dave from Auckland said it was the first time he’d been to the event.

“I've never been to it before. It’s a good event for Auckland city, a bit of money will be spent here today because of it.”

Mark from Auckland was also a first time attendee.

“It was good, never seen it before. I liked the boobs best, there wasn't enough of them though! It shouldn't be criticised, there's no harm in it as long as there are no children around.”

A house painter who decided to take the day off to experience the parade said it was awesome.

“I wish it was only halfway through. I'm not disappointed, we'll wait for it to come back around the street.”

Some spectators said the parade could have been a little larger.

“I was expecting it to be a bit bigger. It's got way too much publicity for what it is. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I thought there would have been heaps more too it.” Auckland resident Greg said.

Kevin from Auckland echoed the sentiment.

“It was pretty small though, I was expecting it to be a bit bigger. The bikes were pretty good actually, maybe even better than the women,” he said.

- With NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News