Ocean City, Maryland – Five women in Ocean City, Maryland, are petitioning the Supreme Court to review a ban that prevents them – but not men – from sunbathing topless.

The group of women is calling on the Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of a local law that bars them from sunbathing topless, The Daily Times reported.

It all started in 2017, when one of the filers, Chelsea Eline, told the police it was within her rights to go topless at the beach.

That same year, Ocean City had passed an ordinance banning only women from baring their upper bodies.

She and four other women sued the city in 2018, but the law was upheld by a federal judge in April 2020 and again by a federal appeals court August 2021.

In the latter decision, Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr., a Trump appointee, wrote, "The judicial legacy of justifying laws on the basis of the perceived moral sensibilities of the public is far from spotless. Some government action that we now rightly view as unconstitutional, if not immoral, has been justified on that basis.

"Even so, in this situation, protecting public sensibilities serves an important basis for government action," he continued.

Now the women are asking the Supreme Court to review whether "protecting traditional moral sensibilities" is enough of a reason to excuse what they consider gender-based discrimination.

The court has until January 7 to respond to the petition, which was filed on December 1.