Racy snowboards spark free speech row in UK

London, Jan 7 (ANI): Racy snowboards featuring giant pictures of naked women have created uproar - and initiated a debate on freedom of speech and sexism in Vermont, America's main skiing state on the East Coast.

The city leaders in Burlington, where the boards are manufactured, have asked to stop making the range, whose images are taken from 1970s Playboy magazines.

Parents, politicians and even the state's Girl Scouts are protesting against the racy snowboards, reports the Telegraph.

However, there supporters insist that the right of people not to be offended out on the slopes is less important than the constitutional right to free expression.

Burton, one of the America's biggest snowboard makers, revealed that the criticism has been "hurtful and out-of-line", and insisted that it targeted the sort of 18-year-old man who want gear "their parents would never be caught dead in".

Several resorts have also barred their staff from using the boards. The Girl Scout Council of Vermont is considering taking the issue to state legislators next month.

Brittany Wieland, a 16-year-old Girl Scout, told the Boston Globe that resorts should only allow people with offensive boards on to the slopes when children were not around. (ANI)