Nudist News | The Nudist Magazine

Archive for the ‘Nudist News’ Category

Nude Blacks Back In Form

Larnach Castle was the venue for a clash between the Nude Blacks and the Romanian Vampires on Saturday, the third naked rugby game in Dunedin this year.

Organiser Ralph Davies said about 250 people turned out to watch, which was “pretty good” considering people had to travel further.

About 10 local and international media filmed and photographed the game, with images expected to be broadcast worldwide.

Romanian team management also took time out before Saturday night’s game against England to see a lighter side of rugby. Team police liaison officer Sergeant Hugh Tait, of Dunedin, said: “They thought it was great”.

Nude Blacks captain David Bourke said the team was “keen to get the season back on a roll” after a loss to a Spanish women’s team two weeks ago.

The Nude Blacks won six tries to four, he said.
2011.10.07 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
San Francisco Tests its Limits on Public Nudism

‘No shoes, no shirt, no service’ is a sign you see in a lot of US stores. In San Francisco, restaurateurs might soon have to add ‘no pants’ to the list, as a row flares over nudism in the vibrant heart of the city’s gay community.

On a sunny September day, Woody Miller strolls through the district, known as Castro. He’s tall and fit, with a long grey beard and heavy silver nose ring – and wearing nothing more than sneakers, a baseball cap and a watch.

‘I go naked on a nice day because I like the feel of the sun and the air on my skin,’ says Mr Miller, 55, who is one of the city’s growing number of public nudists, popularly known as Naked Guys.

‘There’s nothing obscene about the human body,’ he adds. ‘The belief that there is is something that’s taught. It’s just another form of prejudice.’ Home to the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro – where sex shops coexist with trendy cafes and bars – is still one of the most free-thinking neighbourhoods in this famously liberal city.
2011.09.28 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
1,000 Nude Swimmers Float in Dead Sea

1,000 Israelis have taken part in artist Spencer Tunick’s first mass nude shoot in the Dead Sea.

The group, aged from 18 to 77-years-old, were specially selected by the artist, but the location was kept secret to stop any religious officials from disturbing the shoot.

The group gathered at the beach from 1am but were told not to get into the water until sunrise.

A second photograph was taken as participants stood along the edge of one lagoon, while the third and final photograph showed them covered in mud.

1,000 nude swimmers float in Dead SeaGetty

As it turned out, the artist had no interruptions, apart from a few members of the public who decided to fly over the naked swimmers.

Journalists from all over the world were stationed a considerable distance away from the group as the shoot began.

Tunick said he believes Israel is the only country in the Middle East with the religious freedom for one of his trademark shoots of nude volunteers.

He insisted that this shoot was not about challenging the region’s religious sensitivities or the turmoil associated with the Middle East.

He said his aim was to deliver an environmental message highlighting the message of the world’s lowest and saltiest body of water which is rapidly drying up.

Tunick has already shot nude installations in Australia, the US, Brazil, France, England, Spain, Switzerland, Holland and Austria.
2011.09.22 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
Naked Ambitions on a Greek Island

Naked people of varying ages and shapes sit conversing underneath shades made from white bed sheets and bamboo sticks, the only shelter from the heat. A dry wind sweeps across the beach, and the shades blow back and forth. An Australian man, wearing nothing but a sunhat, asks if anyone fancies a game of boccia, and immediately the most competitive Italian on the beach jumps up, excited at the prospect of winning the much-coveted prize: rice pudding.

This is my fifth time to the small Greek island of Antiparos, neighbour to the more commercial and larger island of Paros. It is home to Antiparos Camping and the nudist beach attached to it, the first in the Cyclades. The beach is only a small curve of soft golden sand but has the feel of a lagoon, enclosed on one side by the island itself and on the other by the uninhabited island of Dipla; the sea is so shallow it is possible to walk across to Dipla, where goats appear and disappear upon its peak. In the distance, a lone cloud lingers over Paros; in the foreground, tanned hides punctuate my vision, stark against the water’s glint.

The nudists appear totally normal to me now, but five years ago, when I first came to the beach with my sister and her boyfriend, I was not so relaxed. I remember it clearly. We sat not far from the nudists, but not so near as to be imposing, and began our beach routine. I became increasingly aware that wearing swimwear somehow excluded us, and I felt like I owed it to their nudity to undress. One nudist in particular frightened me into revealing myself. I like to call him Nordic Sea God: a Swede, around 60, an artist, and equipped with a handlebar blond moustache. He sat under his own shade like the beach’s royal authority and eyed our swimming costumes with derision. I was afraid he might come and whip the bikini top straight off my chest.

Looking nervously at my sister’s boyfriend I disrobed, while he did the same. Nordic Sea God’s face lit up. The faces of several other nudists did the same: yes, you’re just like us, they seemed to say, creatures bearing disappointing forms. It was time to go for a naked swim. Whereas I can’t recommend anything more highly than nude swimming, walking out of the sea afterwards is a different matter. You are suddenly aware that the point will come when your unsheathed form will rise into full view and that the whole beach is facing the water, like an audience. As I came out of the sea that first time, I was met by Nordic Sea God’s Swedish accent booming: “What a pale woman!”

Ioannis Kalargyros set up Antiparos Camping (where most of the nudists stay) in the late 1970s, drawing in the last stragglers of the dying hippy movement. He still runs the campsite with his family, and they welcome you there as though you were old friends. This year Ioannis took my sister and me out on his little fishing boat and caught sea urchins for us to eat, which he served up with homemade wine. It is that sort of kindness and generosity that has had people returning for more than 30 years.
Emily Rees with her sister Island fantasy: whitewashed houses and blue balconies. Left: Emily Rees (eating a peach) with her sister. Photograph: Isidoro Ruiz Haro

The campsite is built on a plot of land so beautiful that, according to Ioannis’s son Theologos, Roman Abramovich once tried to buy it from the family. Theologos shows me photographs from the 70s of dust-settled plots with nothing but a few bamboo shoots. In those days visitors simply brought a sleeping bag and slept under the stars.

Today the site is composed of small clusters of tents which the family provides for a few extra euros a night, complete with proper mattresses. Low-hanging trees and lush crops of bamboo provide shade; there is a constant verdant glow from the light filtering through the branches and a continuous sound of shoots bristling gently in the wind.

The town is a short amble away down a dirt track. A cobbled street, lined with whitewashed, blue-shuttered tavernas, bars and houses, winds from the port up to the square. By the evening this street is filled with people, every bar and restaurant alive with chatter and music. Tom Hanks and Madonna both have houses on the island, and as soon as I discover the number of celebrities who have been here (Theologos is the man to ask), I begin to think I can see them everywhere.

In fact we do see Tom Hanks. While on a mission to find an ice-cream one evening by the port, my sister turns to me and casually remarks: “That really sounds like Forrest Gump,” and when I turn I find that it really is Forrest Gump – in shorts and sandals, getting out of a battered Jeep. So it seems highly probable that the man who bears a strong resemblance to Dustin Hoffman, a lone traveller who plays football by himself most of the day, could be Dustin Hoffman. We speak to him one evening in the square; he tells us, in a gruff Greek accent, that his name is Georgios and he has come from Athens to escape the city heat. We are deeply disappointed. But then again Dustin is a talented actor.

Antiparos doesn’t liven up until midnight; they might be old, but the hippies have not lost any of their drive. The focal point of the town square – previously the Orthodox church – is now a small cluster of bars and cafés dominated by a large oak tree, where people sit sipping their ouzos and local men play backgammon to the unexpected sound of Dire Straits.

I sit talking to a Dutch man who is keen to tell me how his mother met Leonard Cohen in the 60s, on the island of Hydra. He invites me to go dancing at the Doors, a local bar that’s dedicated to Jim Morrison – apparently Bruce Springsteen went for a dance there while on a visit to his mate Tom’s holiday home. The owner is a moustachioed Greek man who has a penchant for white linen suits; if you know all the words to Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane” he gives you free shots, and the next morning you wish you didn’t. Still, as I’ve learned, on Antiparos it is important to keep an open mind.
2011.09.16 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
Couple Run Into Problems With Plans For A Nude Wedding in Costa Rica

The plans of a couple to marry “chingo” – in the nude in Spanish – may be hampered by the requirement of a Health permit.

Nudists, Jeffrey Calderon and his girlfriend, Joselyn Barquero, posed for DIARIO EXTRA to promote their upcoming wedding on October 1.

Jefrey Calderón and Joselyn Barquero announced earlier this year their plans to have a “all nude” wedding at a popular nudist/swinger resort in Naranjo and were feature in a full page spread/report in the Diario Extra on Friday.

The couple say they received hundreds of calls and emails from all over, wishing them best. But, one of the calls came from Jackeline Zelaya, environmental manager of the Ministry of Health in province of Alajuela, where the wedding reception is to take place.

Jefrey said that his was personally informed by Zelaya that the wedding reception – a private reception that is the couple and the guests in the nude in a private club – cannot take place without a permit.

The groom argues that since it is a private function at a private club there is no need for permits and referred the case to his lawyer, Victor Hugo Mora, who will be officiating the ceremony. (In Costa Rica all that is required to marry is a lawyer notary to officiate the nuptials and record the marriage with the Civil Registry).

The wedding is to take place on Saturday, October 1. In addition to family and friends, the couple are inviting anyone who wished to attend, as long as they meet certain requirements – are of age (over 18) and are not offended by nudity.
2011.09.08 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
Nude Beach Is Experiencing A Cover-up

For those familiar with San Onofre State Beach’s Trail Six, the crowd might have looked a little different this summer. That’s mostly because of what most beachgoers were wearing: bathing suits.

For decades, nudists had taken sanctuary at the mostly isolated beach at the end of a meandering trail and just north of Camp Pendleton, where they were protected under the decades-old Cahill Policy. The policy, named after former state parks Director Russ Cahill who issued the directive in 1979, let them wear their birthday suits so long as people were not offended and everyone behaved.

Several years ago state parks officials began to work to change how they regulated Trail Six, saying the nudity created a sexually charged environment that affected parks employees’ morale and could lead to lewd behavior.

“We believe that there were several pornographic films that were shot down there,” said Rich Haydon, acting district superintendent for state parks. “When we started this out, the amount of lewd conduct that we were catching was significant.”

Park rangers in March 2010 began citing naked sunbathers.

Naturists dispute Haydon’s assessment that nudity leads to the illicit activity. The Naturist Action Committee, a nudist political group, also contended that state parks couldn’t change the policy so whimsically and took the matter to court. But a judge eventually ruled in favor of the state agency.

Now instead of fighting the agency’s ability to enforce the law, naturists are fighting the citations. They have successfully gotten 11 dismissed in San Diego County after pushing to get their cases heard by a jury. Others have pressed their case with state parks administrators, asking them to designate public space for those who prefer to go nude at the shore.

Black’s Beach in La Jolla has also traditionally been used as a nude beach. Nudity is illegal there since the rescission of the Cahill Policy, though naturists say they are unaware of anyone being cited. State parks officials did not return calls seeking comment on regulation of nudity at Black’s.

Though some nudists still frequent Trail Six, their numbers have dwindled to those willing to risk citation from park rangers, who occasionally stake out the area from bluffs overlooking the isolated beach.

Other nudists, trying to avoid a fight, have gone south, trespassing on the Marine base against the advice of naturist committee members and park rangers.

The Naturist Action Committee was dealt what it considers a legal setback Aug. 19, when Vista Superior Court Judge Robert J. Kearney allowed charges against several cited for nudity to be reduced to infractions, basically the equivalent to speeding tickets.

Attorney Allen Baylis, appearing on behalf of several clients, said though the decision reduces the potential penalties, it denies them a right to a trial before a jury of their peers.

He is confident that a jury may not take issue with mere nudity.

“The charges, if reduced to infractions, causes an abrogation of fundamental constitutional rights,” Baylis said in court.

Before that court decision, defendants who demanded that the charges proceed as misdemeanors rather than infractions had prompted the District Attorney’s Office to drop charges altogether, though, as Kearney noted, prosecutors wanted to reduce them as a regular policy, not just for convenience.

Baylis said the defendants would likely challenge Kearney’s decision.

The District Attorney’s Office, busy with more serious crime, has few resources to spare on nudity.

“Mere nudity is a problem … but it’s not as big of a problem as say (lewd conduct),” said Deputy District Attorney Steven Carver.

In the meantime, parks officials say their effort to enforce the state parks’ no nudity laws have worked the way they intended.

Trail Six “is gaining in popularity with people that choose to recreate on the beach clothed,” Haydon said.

The increased threat of enforcement at San Onofre that has prompted some to head just south onto Camp Pendleton has turned the issue into one of trespassing rather than public nudity.

“Clothed or unclothed or wearing purple mittens, they just shouldn’t be there,” said Bob Morton, executive director of the Naturist Action Committee. He said his group has always opposed trespassing, but not everybody listens.

“The park rangers have been so relentless and unreasonable that people have gone over,” Morton said.

Pendleton military police and park rangers occasionally work together to enforce the rules, said Lt. Ryan Welsh, a Camp Pendleton spokesman.

Haydon in February suggested that if people don’t like the law, they should change it. The naturist committee says it has tried, but it can’t break through the bureaucracy of the state parks department to even get a public hearing.

The committee last year sent parks administrators a petition signed by more than a dozen other organizations seeking a forum to designate certain areas as clothing optional, which they believe the department has the power to do in the same way that it might set aside an area as an off-leash dog park or for off-roading.

Parks and recreation attorneys say designating clothing-optional areas would involve a lengthy process. Additional provisions would need to be made to give the department that authority, Parks spokesman Roy Stearns said. But whether the department has the authority now is not even at issue, he said, because the agency is so strapped for cash that considering such designations is not an option.
2011.08.31 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
National “Go Topless Day” on Sunday, August 21st, 2011

National “Go Topless Day” for women is coming! Sunday, August 21st is a chance for women everywhere to “bare” their souls if they choose, and strut their stuff topless. Is this a good idea or just an attention getter?

This event is being held in cities across America for women who believe that they have the right to be outside topless on a hot day, just as men can do.

According to the official website – Go topless.org -”During the protests, women will have the choice of going fully topless or wear red tape or something else to hide their (infamous!) nipples. They are also completely welcome to come and support this cause while being fully dressed if they prefer.”

Surprisingly many people may not know, but it is legal in many cities across the USA for women to go topless if they choose to. Austin, Texas, New York City, Asheville, North Carolina and Washington, DC already have passed laws for women to be legally topless.

Cities that will participating in this event include Chicago, Honolulu, and Los Angeles (Venice Beach).

Do you think it would ever be socially acceptable for women to casually walk around topless in public? One thing is for sure, this event will draw quite a bit of attention, for better or for worse! So ladies, would you go topless if it was legally okay to do so in your city?

Is it indecent exposure for women to go topless in public, or should they have just as much right as men do to bare their chests?
2011.08.26 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
A Bedfordshire Naturist Tells The Naked Truth

A Bedfordshire naturist says there is a common misconception that all naturists are exhibitionists.

Roni Fine, who was first introduced to the lifestyle by her husband Deane, has been a naturist since 2004.

The couple regularly practise their pastime at the Blackthorn Sun Club near Sharnbrook.

“It’s a wonderful feeling of freedom, to be outside on a warm day and feel the air on your body” said Mrs Fine.

According to figures from British Naturism, the UK’s national naturist organisation, about 1.2 million people describe themselves as a naturist, with between 10 and 20 times that number admitting to have sunbathed nude or “skinny dipped”.

Mrs Fine said there was a steady growth in the number of naturists in the UK, as more people accepted the lifestyle.

“Some people try it on holiday and when they come home are more open to it,” she said.
All ages

Founded in 1959, the secluded Bedfordshire club has been developing its current site since 1969 and now has more than 114 members.

“Our members are all ages and come from so many different walks of life. We have plumbers, doctors and even a 94-year-old who have joined.

“It’s a good mix of people who come together who wouldn’t necessarily normally meet up,” she said.
Safe atmosphere

Mrs Fine said clubs provided naturists with a safe and comfortable atmosphere.

“Where else can you strip naked and feel at total ease?” she said.

“We are all there for the same reason and the correct one – to relax in a naked state without upsetting or offending anyone.

“We also welcome friends and relatives to evening socials when we are dressed and hope they see the normality of naturists and overcome their initial doubts and fears.

“There’s a common misconception that all naturists are exhibitionists. We are not, we are normal people, but if it’s warm enough to undress then we do,” she said.

World Naturist Day is Saturday 18 June.
2011.07.01 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
Nude-friendly Hiking a Hit in Germany

Germany’s first official hiking trail for nudists has proved a hit, sparking calls for other nude-friendly trails in Europe, reports a Swiss newspaper.

The 17.7 km naked hiking trail opened last year in central Germany following a series of altercations between nudists and clothes-wearing hikers on regular trails.

The nudist trail, which stretches between the towns of Dankerode and Wippertalsperre in the picturesque Harz Mountains, is marked with warning notices ‘to ensure that clothes-wearing hikers won’t encounter any big surprises,’ German newspaper Bild reports.

The signs are emblazoned with photos of a male and female hiker wearing only boots and backpacks, and say, ‘Anyone who doesn’t want to see naked bodies may not proceed further!’

Germany has a long tradition of naturism, which is known by its German acronym of FKK, or ‘free body culture,’ according to Der Spiegel magazine. The tradition dates back to the late 19th century, and nude bathing is especially popular at designated beaches on the Baltic Sea coast in northern Germany.

There are 50,000 members of the German Society of Nudists, according to the Times of London.

The issue of naked hiking will soon be taken up by Switzerland’s Supreme Court, reports Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger, as translated by Worldcrunch.

One hiker, who carries a scarf when walking nude to wrap it around himself in case he encounters clothed hikers, told the Swiss paper that a sanctioned clothes-optional trail would give people the chance to experience the ‘bodily freedom’ of nude hiking, an experience that ‘fills you with happiness.’
2011.06.14 / no responses / Category: Nudist News
Florida Nudist Resorts Determined to Attract More Young Naked People

Have you ever been to a nudist resort? Those hoping to be amongst unclothed young things might be a little overwhelmed by the sight of wrinkled flesh. Apparently, America’s nudist community is alarmed that its membership is graying and is now desperately trying to attract younger participants into its clothes-free lifestyle.

The Wall Street Journal takes a hard hitting look at the state of nude camping unions, and finds that younger people favor making a trip or two to a nude beach once in a while rather than embracing the full nude lifestyle. Miami’s Haulover Beach is specifically name checked, though, honestly, we visited once to tick it off our “Things We Should Do To Have a Good Story to Tell” list, and were surprised that even there the age skewed older. Apparently the resorts skew even older.

“The whole lifestyle will just disappear unless we attract a younger crowd,” Nicky Hoffman, head of a large American nudist group, told the paper. “The problem is, most of these resorts aren’t geared to young people. They’ve become like retirement homes; they’ve sort of calcified.”

Even naked, old people get cranky and say they don’t care for young nudes’ crazy body piercings and late-night habits.

Though, one new nudist group right here in Florida hopes to attract younger visits.

Though things aren’t off to a great start. That Spring Break Bash, held at a resort on the edge of the Everglades, only attracted 55 people, and the group’s Facebook page keeps getting shut down because it’s tricky to run a group with both “young” and “nude” in the title.
2011.05.30 / no responses / Category: Nudist News