Scores of nonprofits have used calendars with nearly nude, average people as fundraisers for the last decade. But for one Long Island town, it decided a similar calendar started by some of its employees was too much.
It all started in North Yorkshire, England, when a group of middle-aged women decided to pose nearly nude for a calendar to raise funds for a leukemia unit at a local hospital.
It even inspired a 2003 film, Calendar Girls, starring Helen Mirren who went on to play Queen Elizabeth II.
So you have to wonder why now, after these calendars have practically become old hat, the town of Long Beach, NY, had such a problem with a similar calendar made to raise money for volunteer firefighters.
Long Beach officials have banned the calendar featuring nude women using city firefighting equipment to cover themselves.
Long Beach City Manager Charles Theofan said the firefighters behind the pin-up calendar “failed to consider the sensitivities of the community” according to various press reports.
One firefighter offered the counter-argument that the calendar doesn’t interfere with the firefighters’ daily duties.
Among the strategically placed items to keep the women on the calendar partially covered: suspenders and an oxygen tank.
