Pools - Has anything changed?

[hwytoaster]

A couple of videos I watched today have got me really wondering if things have changed in the last 20 years or so since I was a kid. I'm talking about public pools and water parks. Are they still total gender nazis that force everyone with breasts to wear women's clothing or else you have to leave? I see that there are men's swim shirts out there, and I wonder if pools and parks will accept that? Because I have a lot of horrible memories as a kid of being taken to water parks and pools all over the place, Florida, Connecticut, North & South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia... and they were all very very strict in that females have to wear women's clothing, you can NOT wear men's. I would try to get in with a t-shirt and a pair of my cousin's trunks over the girls bathing suit and I'd always be pulled aside and forced to expose my body, which I didn't want to, because females are just NOT allowed to wear men's clothing damn it!!!! So, yeah, I was just wondering that in this day and age, do they have the right to blatantly discriminate and restrict you to the clothing that they feel corresponds with what's between your legs? With all the advancement that has been made for LGBT issues, even if it's not so much on the "T" part, still, would I be allowed to wear trunks and a mens swim tee or tank? Because the problem always was, was that NO SHIRTS are allowed what so ever, so if you have a chest to hide, then you're FORCED to wear a women's bathing suit. Would I be within my rights to demand that I be allowed to dress as male? I'm really not the confrontational type, but I've just been avoiding pools & all parks all together in my adult life because I don't want the grief of being told to wear women's clothing. 

[Nygeel]

Depends on where and what rides. Wearing a t-shirt on some rides could be harmful to you (water slides specifically).

[Crypt77]

I recently went to a waterpark here in Southern California this summer (a few weeks ago?). I wore my binder underneath my rash guard and boardshorts as I usually do when I either go swimming at a pool or to the beach.

What I noticed is that on certain rides where t-shirts can be harmful, they allowed me to wear my rash guard, however the ladies and gents who were wearing either a tank-top or t-shirt was forced to either take it off or not go on the ride at all. There were some kids going on the ride in their rash guards too.

When I was a kid, I have always worn a rash guard over my swim suit (my mom never understood why, I always wore a one piece which covered up everything) and a pair of shorts. I have never had issues at public water places but then maybe it's just because I live in Southern California. The only time I was forced to not wear board shorts and a rash guard was when I was training to become a jr. lifeguard and was on the local swim team.

[Dyllon]

I work as a pool lifeguard in the UK here we have to be understanding that some people may be uncomfortable revealing their upper body whether male or female. we have different religions that do not allow women to reveal their body. 
We just ask that they do not wear really loose fitting clothing. if they are not in clothing designed for swimming such as rash vests or swim burkas they are told they cannot use the slides or go into the deep end of our wave pool.

[hwytoaster]

You have a much better policy in the UK then. You think it would be that simple everywhere. How hard is it to realize that different people have different needs? But I'm not really adventurous enough for some crazy, high powered water slide. I'd just like to be able to go to a pool or a wave pool and not be made to wear a women's bathing suit.

[JohnAlex]

That's real interesting.  I didn't know any of that.  I don't go swimming that often.  sometimes to a public pool, and I've never had a problem wearing male swim shorts and a compression shirt.  So I didn't even know that there was a problem, anywhere.  that sucks.

[Wil Najera]

board shorts and rash guard. *thumbs up*

[jmaxley]

This is why I've been avoiding the public pool and go to the beach instead.  The public pool is pretty strict about no clothes that aren't designed for swimming.  But at the beach I can wear what I want and nobody cares.

[Veronica Morph]

you can always wear the body suit or shirts, and tell  to any little annoying guy who dares to tell you anything to fck the hell off and say as per dr prescrption you need to avoid sunlight on the body area. period., ...but i dont think you will have a problem  anywhere, go ahead and dress like a lifesaver with a light surfer body shirt. and enjoy.

[tekla]

I've noticed more and more women wearing board shorts and some sort of athletic top/tops - like a sports bra under an NBA shirt.  Lots of the older Latinas like to wear that look and a lot of the SRJC girls do it too.