Strippers and pornstars parade down Queen St during the
Boobs on Bikes parade. Photo by NZPA.
Downtown Auckland came to a grinding halt today as tens
of thousands of people crowded the sidewalks to watch the
controversial Boobs on Bikes parade.
An estimated 100,000 packed the CBD as around 30 topless
women on motor bikes and two army tanks were driven along
Queen Street.
The parade, organised by porn king Steve Crow to promote his
erotica festival this weekend, had an almost carnival
atmosphere with the crowd cheering and clapping as near-naked
women went by.
The only tension during the 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.
A legal bid to stop the parade failed in the High Court in
Auckland yesterday.
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.
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 onto 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.
A separate march by about 50 opponents of the Boobs on Bikes
parade went off without incident.
Auckland Women's Centre and Stop Demand Foundation organised
the march to bring awareness of the links between pornography
and sexual violence.
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 told NZPA 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."
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