Nudes in the news

[jbeegoode]

Kids can not be harmed by this. He needs to submit the facts, the studies and Naturist Action Committee has the knowledge to disprove any allegations of risk of harm.

Hw should not need all of that for his defense, except he is being prosecuted by foolish ignorant authorities. Its common sense against fear.

So SILLY!!!
Jbee

[Davie]

A usful well written paper concerning naturism and children may be found on the home page of the British Naturism site - here "children deserve better"

Davie 

[BlueTrain]

I once swam in a college pool (UMass, Amherst) with a bunch of high school boys and for which nudity was required. Believe me, some objected. You could say it was the ultimate forced nudity. It isn't the nudity, necessarily, but the forced part. Are there things you don't mind being forced to do? Whether or not it harms children (an elastic term) is arguable but you probably wouldn't want to know what the children are thinking.

[Greenbare Woods]

A Connecticut man allegedly swam nude in a YMCA pool with children present
Greenwich Time, 4:18 PM
GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — Police have charged a Connecticut man they say swam nude in a YMCA pool in front of children.

Connecticut may have more body phobic laws than some other parts of the US.   I hope he has a good lieyer.

Bob

[nuduke]

Yeah, yeah, it's all very well to defend this guy's right to be naked and all that, but legality aside, he appears to have flagrantly transgressed the majority consensus of what is considered politeness at this pool. Like all public pools the convention is to wear a scrap of cloth (i.e. swimming trunks or shorts) over the genitals and he didn't!  No wonder others were unhappy about it.  Come on now Mr Sawyer, seek permission in advance and accept graciously if a refusal is given.  Organise a CO swim where nudity is the polite consensus, maybe.  But don't just barge aggressively (in this context by being naked) into the status quo and then expect to be accommodated by all, the greater majority of whom, especially the staff, will have a huge burden of prejudices against casual nudity setting their alarm bells off. 


I just don't think one should butt the norm like that - like Steve Gough it tends to do more harm than good.  Work more subtly by, say, asking the management to organise a CO swim or, say, campaigning at the door and gathering support. I don't think he deserves having to deal with the law but I do think he should be given a stiff telling off by the management for transgressing the rule - whether written or just understood.  I'm not supporting the bigoted, blinkered textile prudes, I just want people with a point to make to do it in such a way as it moves the naturist cause forward, not ends up as a petty little arrest (which also takes it all away from public consideration) with nothing achieved except entrenching the enemy further down in their slough of petty convention and prurient thinking by rote.
So there!
John

[BlueTrain]

A local non-landed nudist club where I live seems to have taken the right approach. They have not only had an information table at the local county fair (Fairfax County, Virginia), they also had a nude swim evening at a local health club (or whatever it was). They even managed to get television coverage--while they were uncovered. All images were from the rear, though, but the event included women and children. I don't belong, not being a particularly social nudist, so I don't know much about their activities.

But regarding those who flaunt their freedoms, in a manner of speaking, it seems like those who push the boundaries of propriety are rarely the social type and do not belong to organizations or respect many conventions. You might call them nudist anarchists. There are also those who make a career of attacking nudism.

[Davie]

nuduke makes a point. A pool in the north of England was asked if they could host a Great British Skinny Dipping event at the pool. The pool management agreed and it was a great success, so successful that there is now a regular swim at the pool. I suggest that we are far more likely to advance our cause by consensus rather than by conflict and aggravation.

Davie 

[Greenbare Woods]

I just don't think one should butt the norm like that - like Steve Gough it tends to do more harm than good. 
John

Ten years or so after Steve Gough began his campaign the police in England and Wales cut an agreement with BN. They no longer arrest naked people.  I would say that Steve Gough was very successful.  He did a lot of good bringing it to public attention and demonstrating how silly law enforcement had been.

[Greenbare Woods]

Nudes in the news in Kent

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6462799/Kent-village-Iwade-strips-naked-charity-calendar.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490

Entire Kent VILLAGE strips off for a saucy advent calendar to raise money for charity - and they say it's 'brought the community together'

An entire Kent village has stripped off for a racy festive calendar in a bid to raise money for charity.

Almost every business in Iwade, Sittinghbourne signed up to take part, with dozens of locals baring all, either at work or enjoying their favourite pastimes.

More than 24 villagers have taken part including a gardener, dog groomer, personal trainer and even a few burly mechanics.

Even the photographers themselves are taking part in the Iwade Naked Calendar 2019, which is helping raise money for Demelza Hospice Care for Children and Swale Cats Protection.

Any additional money raised will go towards a new toilet block at the local church.

[ric]

sorry bob youve got the  steve gough effect entirly wrong . he did nothing to further naturism in the british isles.
if anything he had a negative effect.

[BlueTrain]

If you read the comments, it is clear that not everyone was equally or favorably impressed. But over 24 villagers thought it was a great idea.

[John P]

I really think you Brits are too hard on Steve Gough. You seem determined to disapprove of him, even after it's clear that he did no harm (except to himself) and maybe a lot of good. I can recall seeing British discussion groups not related to nudity, where people were saying "This poor man has been locked up for years for doing something that he believes in, which might be strange but doesn't harm anyone". And far from any kind of a backlash, you've seen nudity become much more acceptable, with that document from the chief prosecutor's office or whatever it was, saying "Nudity should almost never be called a crime" and then the College of Policing statement. It's not provable that Steve Gough helped these things happen, but I don't see how anyone can claim he was on the wrong side. It's just like Vincent Bethell back around the turn of the millennium: people criticized him, but he actually turned out to be going the right way at the right time.

I don't think the gentleman in Connecticut is in anything like Steve Gough's position. It's not a situation where the law is likely to change any time soon; if he thinks he's an activist, he's just hurling himself against a stone wall. It seems like such an obvious way to get into trouble that I wonder if he is a little crazy, or possibly drunk/drugged.  Unfortunately this kind of story shows up in the press when the initial arrest occurs, but once it goes to trial the news value isn't large enough for it to be reported, so we may never hear how this turns out.

[Peter S]

A TV documentary that followed one of SG’s walks showed overwhelming acceptance of what he was doing as he walked through England - but I use the word acceptance advisedly; people accepted him with a smile, and had their picture taken with him, and variously allowed him into pubs and shops, but no one spontaneously stripped off to join him. What came across was that he was widely viewed as the latest incarnation of The Great British Eccentric. Latterly, when he was locked up, he garnered sympathy for the time he was incarcerated and the authorities were mocked for spending so much money and effort when all he was doing was being naked.

But SG himself disowned the naturist tag, many naturists disowned him and said he was doing more harm than good.

He certainly did not align himself with BN, nor they with him, and to give him credit for the recent policing guidelines is to misdirect the praise due to BN. Bear in mind that the English police did little to impede SG’s passage, all his problems started north of the border. His later issues down south were more to do with ASBO than with nudity.

[MartinM]

I think SG got the ASBO after insisting on walking past a school. Of course, we know that simple nudity is not going to harm children, but angry protective parents are not eady to persuade... The documentary maker was wetting himself when Steve insisted on walking on - quite funny really.

I don’t know whether this confrontational style was ever necessary. England had been very relaxed about him walking through the first time, but the Scottish police were less accommodating and got into a battle of wills with him. Most progress seems to have been made by constantly pushing at the edges, based on the rescinding of all specific laws against public (non-sexual) nudity some years ago.

As the Crown prosecution guidance does little than clarify the actual legal position, and the police guidance does the same for the police, it is perhaps surprising it took so long to get to this position. It is notable that tbe real progress only came after SG retired from his one-man crusade.

Incidentally, I believe BN did offer him help, but he rejected it.

I suspect Scottish police were relieved to follow England’s lead and avoid the possibility of another costly confrontation.  However, I have little doubt that local BN naturists working in a co-operative way with locals when organising the Gathering at Dunoon, garnering much support, plus a change of police personnel, are what really counted.l

Personally speaking, I was very pleased not to end up on the front page of local newspaper or in court two years ago after having walked naked past many children at a mountain biking event at Dunoon. The organisers had been told about the naturist event and when the first person that two of us passed was one of the organisers, he said not to worry about covering up, it would be no problem! We tried to avoid the routes the bikes were using but they appeared to be on every track in tne forest - so a perfect example of shared use and tolerance that can be achieved with a less confrontational approach.

[ric]

sg came across as self centred and pig headed , only his rights mattered, even though he knew his actions would upset some people and were highly  likely to provoke a reaction from  law enforcement.
the insisting on walking past the school was one example. how many of us would in the light of the current guidlines walk naked through town let alone  past a school at chucking out time......
not widely publicisd is the fact that most of his jail time in scotland was not for walking naked. it was for contempt of court.... basically if the "judge"" says sit you sit if he says stand you stand if he says wear a towel in my court you know that refusing gets you jail time.  personally,knowing the alternative  id wear the shorts or whatever for the hour or two to get out of town free and i think any sane person would do the same .