In most places, public nudity is considered repugnant. Not in San Francisco:
"Other nearby cities like Berkeley and San Jose have passed laws prohibiting public nudity, but in San Francisco it remains legal. In accordance with state law, public nudity is only illegal when accompanied by “lewd thoughts or acts” or “where there are present other persons to be offended or annoyed.” But since state law prohibits police officers from being the offended party, it takes a citizen’s arrest— a rare occurrence in a city that prides itself on its open-mindedness and tolerance — to take a naked person into custody."
And even those who would like to limit it are different in SF: there is now
"...a proposed law — introduced by Scott Wiener, a city supervisor — that would prohibit nudity in restaurants and require unclad people to put a towel or other material down before sitting bare-bottomed on benches or other public seats."
All this from the NY Times:
Protesters Bare All Over a Proposed San Francisco Law
A documented experience of my nude walking tour being halted after one block and 200 feet. So much for a perceived open minded city. I can not express how saddened I am, that my plans for three nude walks in the city were shut down in less than three minutes. Two weeks of extensive research lead me to believe I could actually realize this experience after learning of the "Towel Ordinance" last September, The anticipation grew to such a high level of exhilaration I was completely unprepared emotionally for the let down I felt when stopped so quickly.
ReplyDeleteRead my experience at the link above and help me through this by educating SF residents of the law so complaints may be less likely.
The "I don't want my children to see" excuse holds no water for me, my 23 son just graduated from Reed College, and my daughter is in her 4th year at CSUN doing fantastic. Both my kids are very well adjusted, with heathy mental attitudes. I couldn't ask for a better result with who they came to be. My being a nudist harmed them in no way and I feel strongly they are well adjusted without ridiculous body hangups. When are we going to stop teaching our children be ashamed of their bodies. Don't you know what kids will do if you tell them to stay out of the cookie jar.
As for sexual motivation, the morning before the hike I had a medical scare of passing blood in my urine, scared to death, I sought care at an Urgent Care center at 26 California Street. After, I felt better about the situation I proceeded to start my hike, pretty difficult to feel sexual after that. I actually polled a few people on the way to the urgent care about my intentions, and received positive encouragement. It was the hardest thing I ever did as a nudist to get naked and go for a walk in the city. The nude walk for me was about freedom, exhilaration, and just the simple feel of the sun and yes the freezing cold wind that day. I was fine walking. But I froze to death while the officer who stopped me, and held there in one spot until I received a riot act from some lady who had a stalking incident in her life, showed up. Had I been allowed to continue on my power walk, she never would have encountered me. While I understand the officer needed to do his job for public safety, the time it took me to show him I understood the law and was not a threat, allowed this lady to catch up. If SFPD officers were all on the same page he would have let me continue, and at my pace of walking I would have been blocks away from that lady. Not to say some other puritan with dysfunctional beliefs about the glorious amazing human body wouldn't have appeared and complained. People, it's just a body, come on! Read more at http://www.sanfranciscopublicnudityordinance.com/ Thank you.