"I was a twenty-one-year-old college student when I first visited Riis, following friends I met out in Brooklyn while home in New Jersey for the summer. Barely out of baby gay range, I was excited to see it for myself after hearing the hype. My swimsuit, patterned with shells and seahorses, hit my leg mid-thigh — defiantly shorter than the board shorts I’d seen on most men, sometimes, inexplicably, with underwear below. Arriving at Riis, though, I quickly learned there were more options than I’d ever considered: g-string bikinis, super high-cut swim briefs, jock straps, or nothing at all. Many swam with their breasts out, enjoying the legal toplessness that New York has had on the books since ’92 (a right challenged by antagonistic, less body-positive attitudes around the city and state). Proximity to other people who were free made it seem more possible for me to free myself."⁠ ⁠ Kyle Carrero Lopez (@kylecarrerolopez) on Jacob Riis Beach, featuring photos by Asafe Periera (@a.soft.gay). Read (and see!) more at the link in bio.