Colourful Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons regrets wearing a nude Madonna t-shirt without checking what was written on it.
Madonna appears on the shirt as a hitchhiker, wearing only high-heeled shoes and carrying a photoshopped sign that reads: "Gas, grass or ass, no one rides for free".
Mr Lyons, a paparazzo known for his flamboyant style, wore the shirt to the city's inaugural Oktoberfest event on Saturday.
"I didn't realise what was written on the logo on the t-shirt, and I probably have regret about chucking it on," Mr Lyons told 3AW on Monday.
Protesters are set to rally at 12.30pm to demand Mr Lyons resign or be sacked for wearing the shirt.
Mr Lyons said he didn't have a problem with the image, which was taken for Madonna's 1992 "Sex" book.
"I do think it's a sexist comment on the actual scrawl... it's a photoshopped image," he said.
Mr Lyons said he celebrated great art and the female form.
"I have a huge collection of pictures of naked women, and a big art collection with women and men and famous masters," he said.
Geelong Trades Hall secretary Tim Gooden said the image angered Geelong women because it trashed the city's reputation and reinforced a negative stereotype among men about women.
He said it also undermines efforts by the Geelong union movement and many others to eliminate sexism and violence against women.
"We're talking about the mayor of Geelong, the number one citizen, an officer of the Crown who gets paid $170,000 a year and wore a shirt to a public event that is clearly offensive to people in this town," Mr Gooden told AAP on Sunday.
Mr Lyons said he wasn't going to apologise for a "fine art situation".
Council colleague Jan Farrell was savage in her criticism via Twitter.
"As a woman who lives and works in Geelong I am beyond offended at his ongoing disrespect for women," she wrote.
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