August open forum
On when to stand up for social nudism, and when to step back?
Summertime . . . and the living has been easy by the lake in my part of the world.
The weather has been perfect for naturism activities so far, though there are times I have to — gasp! — wear a swimsuit or cover up with a beach towel when I am by the lake because boaters are close by, some of whom are lake residents and paddle over to my dock for a chat.
I’m not complaining: Public nudity is illegal in Quebec. I have to be careful. C’est la vie.
Anti-tourist protests
Nudists in Spain, where social nudism is legal, do have cause for complaint, particularly in Catalonia this summer as textiled tourists invade their nude beaches — and are allegedly disrespectful to boot, according to reports.
“Those areas are being invaded, mostly in the summer months, by tourists who not only wear swimsuits but also have a very disrespectful manner to nudists. We feel displaced in our own spaces and we fear losing them,” one Spanish nudist is quoted in an an article on the U.K. Daily Express site with the headline: Nudists in Spain rage at invasion of 'disrespectful' fully-dressed British tourists.
The Catalan News site has a piece with the headline: Nudists form human chains to defend naturism in around 20 Catalan beaches. Mostly, they want respect, they say, and not to be judged.
"Generally, across the world, society is becoming more and more conservative, and we see that many and many more people are having more problems in doing nudism on the beaches,” observes Segimon Rovira, president of the Catalan Naturism Club Association, in the report.
I’m glad to see nudists are standing up for their civil rights there.
Toronto Pride 2024
Looking back, Toronto Pride was most newsworthy not for the nudists who set up a booth there or for the participants who marched in the buff, but for the fact the parade was cut short by pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked the route.
Mainstream media (the Toronto Sun doesn’t count) paid little attention to the nudity angle that some right-leaning publications and social media types latched onto.
Meanwhile, the question of whether nudists/naturists should be promoting social nudism at Pride events has been much debated by members of the naturism community, including here.
Nudity itself at Pride has been a never-ending debate, according to a July 2020 IN Magazine article with the headline: The Right To Bare All: Should Nudity Be Allowed At Pride?
In a nutshell: Police often turn a blind eye to Pride nudity in cities where public nudity is illegal, i.e. Toronto, and people have been calling for the cops to enforce the law for years. Reports IN Magazine:
The issue really blew up in 2014, after Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee Sam Sotiropoulos led a motion requesting that police enforce the city’s public nudity laws at Toronto Pride. “[Pride] is supposed to be a family-friendly event. If you went to any other ward in the city on that day and paraded around naked, you would likely be arrested,” Sotiropoulos argued at the time. (The motion was defeated.)
Some arguments in the article by members of the queer community who are in favour of nudity at Pride seem to be sexually-related — the opposite of social nudism idealism as promoted and practised by naturists and nudists.
“The prevailing perspective from the pro-nudity camp is that our queer identity is the direct result of who we have sex with and, therefore, Pride should be sexual,” the report says.
Not all members of the queer community agreed in the article. Some were in favour of limited nudity at Pride parades, and others none at all beyond shirtless males.
But nudity at Pride is sexual expression for the community. That seemed to be the consensus in 2020, and I imagine it still is. It’s little wonder that naturists’ attempts to promote social nudism at Toronto Pride 2024 were misinterpreted by some (though, largely ignored by most, I think).
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As always, the monthly open forums are for members to discuss all things related to social nudism/naturism. You don’t have to pick up on my points above. Talk about your summer. What’s happening on your favourite nudist beaches?
And a warm welcome to new members. Feel free to join in the conversations. If you are reading this in your inbox, don’t reply to the email. Click on the “Leave a comment” tab below or go to the website’s comment section.
Have a great August, everyone.
"I have to be careful. C’est la vie."
Public nudity is not illegal in California. Social pressures are such that even in this comparatively liberal state, one covers up when one encounters textiles. A hat is about the minimum covering one might use, is the quickest thing one might grab, and does not involve carrying anything extra. I meet someone *unexpectedly* on the trail maybe once a year. The hat goes back on my head as soon as I can determine the encounter isn't a negative one. I am obviously naked but stll taking account of the other person's sensibilities.
It sounds like you meet people regularly on your lake. Wouldn't being clothed in water be adequate?
Legal or not, if someone is upset with my nudity, they may call the gendarnerie, They WILL respond. That itself is a supreme headache because I don't know how it will work out. It could be anything from nothing to being arrested and detained while they decide whether they thought you were doing something lewd. That is a level of stress I am unwilling to accept.
If the people who saw me, knew me at all well, I wouldn't bother covering up. They already know I'm a nudie and have probably seen me nude at one time or another or at least I have told them what to expect.
Probably the worst case scenario is meeting someone who I don't consider a friend but whom I have to associate with. And the only reason they wouldn't know I was a nudie is if I were confidant they were hostile to the idea, yet the association with them was unavoidable. We have a lot of extreme social conservatives in my neighborhood.
Of course, where I hike the probability of meeting anyone unexpectedly on the trail is very small. If I did meet someone, the probability I'd know them approaches zero. I don't worry about numbers that small. If I did, I'd never leave my house. Driving is more dangerous than the trail.
I don't consider it shame. I consider it a combination of pragmatism and courtesy. I have had positive encounters on the trail where the person thanked me for the cover-up.
Sometime back in the last century I was on the coastal train running north from Barcelona. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of nudists we saw dotted along the quieter bits of beach before we got to the package tourist nightmares of Blanes and Lloret de Mar where we saw no nudity. Further north along the Costa Brava where the coast got more rugged towards Palamos and beyond there were some glorious nude beaches - i.e. Cala de l'Illa Roja. Beyond there there are smaller and quieter out of high season nudist spots past Cadaques like Cala Jugadora, which Salvador Dalí knew of, but I've never seen a painting of him naked there!
Years later that same train journey revealed less nudists at those formerly quieter spots and more concrete accomodation for package tourists had appeared there. With the guests seemingly intent on wandering around in miniscule tight-fitting outfits rather than relaxing comfortably naked like those we'd seen years before there.
I think this might reflect why the local Catalan nudists have found their previously wonderfully naked beaches being taken over by this strange sub-species of human who thinks that nudity is wrong while wearing these miniature outfits that highlight certain body areas. Talking with friends who either live there or come from the region seems to back this up.
Just as I've seen favourite nudist beaches here in the UK get more textile visitors, (that was very much the case during Covid, when people were not supposed to travel!). I've seen what were once wonderful nudist beaches on Greek islands gain more concrete and those weirdos who prefer clothing appearing in greater numbers soon afterwards.
I'm not part of both the nudist and LGBT+ camps so I can't really comment on whether nudity should or should not be encouraged at Pride events. I have seen public nudity near where Pride events were taking place and as a no doubt 'biased' nudist I found that welcome. I saw that in the same way as how I've approached being naked in public at WNBRs. I want to normalise nudity and back the right to bare all.
If nudists have no hang ups about baring all socially then why do we have to contend with prudes imposing their worldview on us? Giving in to them means that we'll forever be hastily 'covering up' to meet others expectations when nudity is natural.
I think that it is a good thing that nudists promote social nudity at Pride, just as British Naturism promotes social nudity at some non-naturist events. I don't think that the fact that Pride is aimed more at certain parts of society matters any more than say an exhibition promoting different types of holidays.