what's sad is females can wear swimwear made from dental floss in the USA but men in speedo's and things at the pool or beach are frowned on and presumed gay unless your on a swim team at a event. I started wearing speedo's back when we moved from the north to South Florida when I was 12 , at the community pool was teased and called names - gay wasn't a term back than. I stuck with it as other than being nude more comfortable . as for board short what a joke kinda reminds me of pictures of woman at the turn of the century covered from head to toe no doubt they would drown as i'm amazed those in board shorts don't. I still don't understand while at the beach that being nude isn't the norm as again the gals in dental floss swim wear is way sexier.
Australia was more tolerant in previous decades, but its earlier British/Euro culture fostered by decades of prevailing migration trends seems to have been subsumed by the US one. I'll wear a 1" brief anywhere in Australia (and skimpier in some places), but on the occasions I could splash around on a US trip in 2017 I felt my preferred suit would perhaps be less than welcome. I would definitely have been the only bloke in a brief, even though many females seemed quite comfortable in string bikinis.