Some 250 vocal men, women and children gathered in Nathan Phillips Square yesterday to ``express their aversion'' to a court ruling allowing women to appear topless in public.

``Toplessness is not about the fight for equality. A woman fights for equality with her intelligence. This is degrading to all women,'' said speaker Roxanne James, a Scarborough businesswoman.

She told the placard-waving crowd that her children can't get into a restricted movie, but they are being exposed to sexually explicit scenes in their own neighborhoods.

``Where are the laws protecting your family? In all this chaos, what's happening to my constitutional rights? I won't take my family to a public park until something is done. I want my children protected,'' James said angrily.

The controversy started last December, when the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned an indecency conviction against a woman who was charged after taking a topless stroll down a Guelph street.

The court decision made it legal for women in Ontario to appear bare-breasted in public.

MP John Nunziata was at the rally and said ``the decision of the Court of Appeal is wrong.

``The decision doesn't recognize the values and views of the people of this nation. As a father of three, how do I explain that it is wrong to sell pornography, but right for women to walk topless in the street?'' he asked.

Nunziata promised to present the protesters' petition (it has 14,000 signatures already) to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in the House of Commons in the fall.

James called on concerned citizens to telephone their elected officials and to write to Premier Mike Harris and federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan to protest the legality of toplessness.

James admitted that she has never before written a politician or ever raised her voice in public.

``I started talking to my neighbors about this issue and they were as shocked as I am. Someone had to do something, so I spoke out at the Scarborough City Council two weeks ago,'' she said.

Carol Faraone, an organizer of the rally, called the topless option appalling and ``a public violation, lowering Canadian standards.''

Carol's twin sister Cathy Francavilla said that it is ironic that the law protects our children from pornography, but now ``subjects them to nudity in public.''