Brattleboro Board Bypasses Bares

Congratulations to the Brattleboro, Vermont, Select Board for passing on the nudity ordinance, referring to it as a "knee jerk response to an isolated incident." The board did the right thing in spite of worldwide media coverage and pressure from a handful of outraged citizens.

Tuesday's debate on nudity was in response to resident Theresa Toney complaining at a previous Selectboard meeting about a woman in the Harmony Lot who walks around topless. "I just think it's anarchy, because they won," she said Tuesday after the meeting. "It's inappropriate behavior for downtown. It has nothing to do with the weather. There's good behavior and there's bad behavior and that's bad behavior."

Someone should ask Ms. Toney why nudity is bad. She will probaly say that it is "indecent" or "bad for the children". Those are not hard reasons, just opinions. I still stand by my previous statements on this blog, that I do not consider the nudity to be wrong, but I do think that the teenagers exercised poor judgement and disregard for the feelings of others in hanging out nude in the downtown area.

But I was wrong whan I said that no good would come out of the situation. The decision of the Brattleboro board is a victory for personal freedom and nudists/naturists in particular. While Vermont still has no state law barring public nudity, if Brattleboro had adopted the ant-nudity ordinance, other communities would likely have followed their precedent. But this story is far from over - the board expects the ordinance proposal to re-surface in the spring if there is still a "problem".

Peggy Frost, a Vernon resident, found it disturbing. It's traumatizing to children, she said. Parents should teach their children the difference between the male and female anatomy -- they shouldn't see it on the street. She said she refuses to shop in Brattleboro until the issue is resolved. "How can children tell the difference between a nudist and a pervert?" she asked. "They can't until it's too late."

Nudity is not "traumatizing" to children. Kids take to nudity like fish to water. The shame and trauma comes from the adults who cover their eyes and act indignant. And I would ask Ms. Frost the question "How can you tell a priest from a pervert?" or "how can you tell a Boy Scout Scoutmaster from a pervert?" Young children need to be educated that ALL STRANGERS can be a potential danger, that child molesters can be friends, family, or someone else that appears trustworthy.

And many parents fail in teaching sex education to their children. That's why we have sex education in schools, and Planned Parenthood would not exist if all parents were responsible and understanding with their kids' sexuality. Personally, I learned about the male anatomy from nude swimming at the YMCA in the 1960s, and the female anatomy from Playboy magazine. My father died when I was only 9, and my mother was never any good at talking to me about sex.

Another report on the meeting has some more details.

Town Attorney Robert Fisher presented the Brattleboro Select Board Tuesday with examples of anti-nudity ordinances passed by other Vermont towns, but noted that it may be difficult to write language that adequately defines the terms nudity and public place. For example, Fisher asked, should the Select Board ban all public nudity, including at secluded swimming holes along the West River? And would an anti-nudity ordinance also ban nude sunbathing in a person's backyard, or breast feeding in public?"I think we have to first determine if there is a need," Fisher said.

Fisher is right. For example, if it is determined that a woman's nipples must be covered in public, what about the male breast? There was a time when a topfree man was breaking the law, and this was only changed in the 1930s. When Clark Gable bared his chest in "It Happened One Night" it was scandalous. It's the proverbial slippery slope when one tries to define decency in terms of the law.

"Most people do not want to be exposed to this exhibitionist behavior," said Stephen Cable, a Rutland attorney representing the conservative Christian group Vermont Renewal. "You are obligated to protect children from this."

Wrong, and wrong again. The nudity in Brattleboro is not exhibitionism, which by definition is a psychological need to display parts of the human anatomy. By all accounts the teenagers were expressing their freedom and rebellious nature. And as for the "children", well, I'm getting really tired of that lame argument.

Residents are expressing mixed feelings about the Brattleboro nudes. Some say the town has been hurt by all the media coverage, others say it has been a boon for business. I say the jury is still out on the issue, the the winter cold will now rule and force people to cover up, and come the spring we will see if the nudes will come out to play in downtown Brattleboro.