Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Ten TNS Members Could Be Arrested

Looks like 10 naturists at the Mid-Winter Naturist Festival at Sunsport Gardens Family Naturist Resort decided to defy public nudity laws by appearing naked on public Delray Beach with the intent on making a human peace symbol for an aerial photo.
The nine men and one woman were not arrested.Police recommended an indecent exposure charge but the State Attorney's Office will decide whether the birthday-suit peaceniks will be arrested.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Whose idea was this? Was Morley Schloss or any other TNS or NAC official involved? I'm dumbfounded as to why these 10 decided to pull this idiotic stunt and generate more negative publicity for nudism and naturism.

11 comments:

Alex said...

Two things:
* "Naturists" in quotes? Seriously? The whole tone of the article set me off.

* In the "shudder to think" category, I'm drawing a line between this and the "what about the children" tip-off that brought authorities to Sunsport earlier this month.

Palm Beach County seems to be turning up the volume on prudery. Sad.

Academic Naturist said...

Ahem... Some interesting items from the festival program:

Delray Beach: A Clothing-Optional Beach In Our Near Future? - Dave Armstrong - Island
Networking and lobbying for a naturist beach.

Beach Trip For Nude Peace Sign - Dave Armstrong, Morley Schloss - Meet at Clubhouse Lawn
Help make a local beach clothing optional!

---

It's hard to tell what the future holds -- they may be able to win over a new naturist beach, but it doesn't look promising at this point. We'll see what the heavy hand of the law has to say about it.

Academic Naturist said...

OK, so I should add more commentary here... What exactly IS the way to create a new clothing-optional beach? (Or do you recommend that we NOT push for new ones?) Risks need to be taken, and things never quite go as planned. I think the publicity will glaze over and be forgotten by next week. I think you're being overly critical.

I'm feeling some of this dilemma closer to home. My geocaching article may attract other freehikers to the county park. Some may not be so bright and get themselves in trouble. The best scenario is to have a group willing to help maintain the park, and in return get temporary signage for some slower days at the park to safely (for everyone) allow clothing-optional use. What's the best way to create a positive working relationship with the county parks administrators?

Nudiarist said...

Well, one way NOT to lobby for a nude beach is to openly defy the law. While the story might go away, it's unlikely that law enforcement or local officials will forget this incident. Certainly there is more to this story than has been reported so far, and no word from Morley on his take, but once again nudists/naturists look like eccentric kooks, aging hippies making peace signs and exposing themselves in public. That's the public perception.

I don't know the story behind the planning of this stunt. I don't know if they applied for a permit to protest, which would likely have protected their nudity as freedom of expression. But if they simply went down to a public beach and stripped off, that's just stupid.

IMHO.

Anonymous said...

How does making a nude "peace sign" further the cause of nude beaches??? How does risking arrest help? I'm with the Nude Diarist on this one. The public already thinks we're a bunch of nuts or hippies always. Plus these actions do nothing to impress the hip hop iPhone generation.

Academic Naturist said...

The law was being broken when people started going to Haulover. Didn't the Swedish girls break the law when they went swimming top-free in public pools? How about the Topfree 7 in New York? Liz Book? People are breaking the laws at nude beaches in California, although in that case it's a reaction to preserve a nude beach.

Public perception aside, how can law enforcement charge a bunch of naked hippies laying on the ground making a peace sign? It's clearly a standard protest of some sort, and isn't meant to offend. (Am I the only one who thinks it's silly to apply for a permit to protest?) Don't most similar protests usually go unpunished?

I'd bet that they won't get charged with this, which opens the door to other events with nudity at the beach. It's a slippery slope for both the public officials and the naked activists. Both sides need to step carefully.

People in Florida seem to know what they're doing. Haulover and the new nude beach opening in Key West are both major successes unmatched by any other state. I wouldn't dismiss them so quickly.

@Naturist Review -- Nothing can impress the hip hop iphone generation...unless nudists get a popular TV show somehow.

Nudiarist said...

You need numbers in order to make civil disobedience work. 10 naked people on a Florida beach making a peace sign signifies nothing.

I do sincerely hope they know what they are doing, and that they won't be charged, but all it takes is a state's attorney who wants to get his or her name in the paper, and bingo, the 10 are arrested and charged.

If you put all the pieces together - the clearly adult workshops at Sunsport last week, the visit to Sunsport by child protection authorities, and now this news story basically mocking the naturists, it's not good publicity.

Ryan said...

In response to 'Naturist Review', the hip hop iPhone generation doesn't give two hoots about this incident. Most really wouldn't think much of something like this. It sounds like they were having fun, something the hip hop iPhone generation know how to do well, and don't often care if it involves stepping on someone's toes, not even the law.

In response to 'nudiarist' who is wondering why they would pull a stunt that would create a negative image for nudists; well there's two ways to look at that. Perhaps they simply wanted to create a big ass peace symbol on the peace. I mean, why can't it be just that simple? But if they really actually were trying to make a statement, well then high five to them. Nudists have hidden behind curtains and the safety of their own beaches too long, careful to not draw any attention to them. Well it's time we did something that got us noticed, drew attention to our cause, and pushed for some rights. If we don't, we will forever be labelled as outcasts and shamed into hiding.

Nudiarist said...

Ryan,

I agree that nudists/naturists need to be bold, but I also believe that they should be bold with a smidgen of intelligence.

What was the purpose of these 10 people going nude on Delray Beach? It was apparently to muster up some support for creating a nude beach. Instead, the cops were called and they all face potential arrest for indecency.

"The mission of The Naturist Society is to promote body, acceptance through clothing-optional recreation using the tools of education and community outreach"

I really don't think this is what they mean by "community outreach", and the only education this has provided so far is to further stereotype naturists as aging hippie kooks.

Nudiarist said...

One more thing. You have to wonder why TNS and the NAC have been mum on this incident, which apparently happened on Feb. 11. Perhaps they were hopeful that news wouldn't get out.

Ryan said...

Nudiarist, you bring up a good point about 'aging naturist kooks'. Our scene is definitely run by an aging crowd and we really need to figure out ways to appeal to the younger crowd. I don't think I have a solution here, I'm just noting the need. It's a bit of vicious cycle; the younger crowd associate nudity with porn, and porn exists because people are prudes about nudity and thus it can be marketed. Change one issue and you've changed both, but porn won't go away while people are prudes, and youth will have a hard time differentiating between naturism and sex so long as porn exists. Again, I don't have a solution, just posing an issue