Gold Coast bikini ban: G-string critic Ian Grace doubles down on support for improved clothing standards

Community activist Ian Grace has stood by his controversial call to ban skimpy bikini bottoms arguing men would be “lambasted” for wearing equally revealing outfits.

Community activist Ian Grace has stood by his controversial call to ban skimpy bikini bottoms off the beach after it became a national talking point.

Mr Grace, the founder and president of the Youth Music Venture, wrote to Mayor Tom Tate pushing for low-cut two-piece swimwear to be covered up, arguing there was a time and place.

Speaking on Monday after sparking a cracking debate, Mr Grace said the reaction to his comments had ranged from supportive to threatening.

“I’ve had interviews out of my yin-yang from Sydney to Perth as it has gone country wide,” he said.

The future of skimpy swimwear is up for debate. ( AAP image / Mark Scott )

“There’s been a lot of support but there’s also been a difference of opinion with others and I think we should respect both sides.

“We should be able to voice our opinion without starting to get bitter and twisted.

“If men (only wore skimpy swimwear), they would be lambasted for it.”

Mr Grace, a finalist in the 2023 Gold Coast Australian of the Year Local Hero category and 2022 Gold Coast Volunteer of the Year, detailed his concerns in a letter to Mr Tate, In his correspondence, he insisted he was not a prude but “I don’t need to be asked by my grandchildren ‘Grandad, why can I see that lady’s bottom?.”

Ian Grace. Picture: Jerad Williams

He argued:

* “While any man would enjoy ‘the view’, I believe women are very much demeaning and cheapening themselves, portraying themselves as sex objects, then decrying it when men see them that way.

* Supermarkets should carry signs requesting that beachwear was “appropriately covered”:

“Women are actually demeaning and cheapening themselves with the focus on the 4 B’s – boobs, bums, Botox and bare flesh,” he said.

“I’ve seen young women walking along the main street in Palm Beach, a long way from the beach, almost totally naked.

“I have observed on a couple of occasions, a young lady walking along the footpath on the main road, where the thong and bra string were basically skin colour – from behind she looked totally naked initially

“What is the point and what is the message she was trying to convey?”

Mr Grace argues this look isn’t appropriate off the beach.

Mr Grace’s proposal has attracted plenty of comments from Bulletin readers who were split over its value.

One reader argued there “was a time and place for bare bums” but not in public.

Mr Tate on Monday ruled out introducing any kind of ban on swimwear at all, citing the harassment of Sydney model, Ann Ferguson in the 1950s when she wore a design by pioneering bikini designer Paula Stafford on Gold Coast beaches.

He said he did not see any drama with bikinis and described them as being intrinsically linked to the city and its historic close ties with beach culture dating back more than 70 years.

“My attitude is fashion/culture is really the domain of the fairer sex, which means don’t get in the way,” he said.

“The Gold Coast, more than any other city, has a beach culture and back in the day … when Paula Stafford came up with bikinis the state government was trying to get in there and arrest the ladies wearing bikinis.

“We’re not banning them.”