Tag: law

enjoy the spring: naked sport events and a show (NY, Berlin, Texas)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

This time, I’m not kidding about naked sport events. I was shocked (in a good way) how many people took my April Fools joke for real – I got quite a few emails requesting the details! Well guys, if you’re ready for mud wrestling with freshly squeezed garlic in the morning at a venue without showers, I know I can rely on you! 😀 Well, we do plan to organize naked sport events and classes, and clearly there’s a demand for that!

Tomorrow is going to be my last Winter Indoor Pool Party party this season (organized by Travasuns in Long Island, NY). Well, I guess we can clearly say the spring has arrived to New York, but it’s still a bit too chilly to enjoy nakedness outdoors. We’ve been to a few of Travasuns’ winter pool events, and it was always fun. It’s a low-key event at a rented gym. They offer saunas, hang-out pool, pizza and even volleyball, which is often unofficially dubbed as naturists’ favorite sport. Given that volleyball is indoors too and surrounded by walls, we rather play it as wallyball. 

naked wrestling 0001 Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany

On the weekend of 10-11 May in Berlin, Tam and I plan to have naked acro-yoga and wrestling jam sessions. Please contact us by e-mail or comment here, if you are interested in joining, and we’ll send you details re timing and exact location. This is also pending on the weather. We haven’t decided as to how many sessions we’ll have, but our approach is the more the merrier. We’ll take advantage of Berlin’s healthy attitude towards nudity and do at least one session in its central park – Tiergarten – don’t worry, we won’t be arrested for doing acro-yoga naked there like in San Francisco. Wrestling might work better by one of numerous lakes in Berlin, as we’re likely to get sweaty. Here is a sneak preview from our naked oil wrestling match a couple of years ago (photos courtesy of Joe). Come and join us!

naked wrestling 0000 Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany

YNOTU (Young Nudists of Texas United) will host Nude Games on Memorial Weekend, May 24-26, at a campground near Dallas. Unfortunately, none of the people form our group will be able to attend, but it seems like fun. In the program: flag football, tug of war, water and sand volleyball, beer mile, 3-legged races, potato sack races, bean bag throw, Frisbee toss and egg toss, yoga, Latin dance class. Highly recommended!

And we’ll have our round-up end back in New York. My friend Alexander Kargaltsev, who I’ve already introduced here because oh his variously themed photo works that often involve nudity, is now developing a play, Crematorium, that sounds shocking and looks beautiful, and it will have plenty of nudity too.

 Former Ukraine. In the south of Putin’s Crimea, a giant factory with chimneys is built: a Crematorium for gays. Four couples are picked to test a new machine to turn them straight. Torture, interrogation, death and cleansing in the fiery furnace await them.

Here is the preview video.

https://vimeo.com/92654893

The shows are set for 29 May – 1 June at Shetler Studios & Theatres, New York. You can buy tickets online.

Hope to see you at these events in New York and Berlin!

exhibition: Alexander Kargelstev’s Friends and Lovers

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

The image was taken as a protest against Russia's 'racism and homophobia'

My friend Alexander Kargaltsev has recently made headlines with this image above that was taken as a protest against Russia’s ‘racism and homophobia’.

Kargaltsev's Asylum

I wrote about him and his exhibition about Russian gay asylum seekers in the US more than a year ago, and now he’s staging a new exhibition – “The Last Polaroids: Friends and Lovers” set to open at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York on February 28.

Alexander Kargelstev's Friends and Lovers

Be sure to expect some friendly and lovely nudity, of course.

Alexander Kargelstev's Friends and Lovers

Alexander is also set for a new play, Crematorium:

Putin builds a Crematory in Russia to burn gays. Four couples are picked to test a new machine to turn them straight.

Get tickets here.

Save Lighthouse Beach – write letters!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Naturist Action Committee has made a press release for all those concerned about beach time in New York area this summer. The next thing we, visitors of the beach and whoever cares about freedom and human rights, should do is writing letters to park officials and politicians. For more info, refer to http://www.naturistaction.org/fiis

Check out my previous post on how this issue arose, all of a sudden, starting with an open letter of Fire Island chief ranger.

Save Lighthouse Beach Fundraiser

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

As I wrote in the comments to my previous post about closing of the Lighthouse beach for clothing-optional use, Naturist Action Committee (NAC) seems to have taken this issue seriously and are working on lobbying against the nudity ban on Fire Island. So, the best we, the people who enjoy the beaches of Fire Island, can do for now is to support NAC. There is a perfect opportunity for that at the upcoming fundraiser event in Long Island this coming Thursday, the 21st of March.

It’s going to be a fun-draiser!

Here is info from the event’s facebook page:

So you heard and it’s true, Lighthouse Beach has been shut down. This is our home, where families have been going for generations, where lovers have met for the first time, where we created bonds that last all year round and essentially our “Nude Family” lives. Well What now???
We need to unite and do our best to battle the decision. What better way to join forces then to have a meet and greet fundraiser and unify our voices. Oh and let’s make it Clothing Optional!!!
All proceeds will be given to The Naturists Action Committee, who already has a Lawyer on retainer and lobbyists in Washington D.C. The Naturist Action Committee is the non-profit political adjunct to The Naturist Society (TNS). NAC is a grass roots organization that relies on the involvement and participation of individual naturists and groups at local levels. They are soley based on donations.
So let’s get together, show our support for Lighthouse Beach and begin to unite all our groups together in effort to be one solid front in combating this decision. There is a chance we won’t win, but we couldn’t be satisfied with losing if we didn’t put all our collaborated efforts together and given them everything we got.
Even if we don’t win, let’s set an example for the rest of the Nation and let them know what the real Lighthouse Beach is about and stop this nonsense about it being a bunch of “Drunken, brawling, drug-using, prostitutes” like the media and other officials would like to portray the majority of beach users as.

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TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT DOOR CASH ONLY OR YOU CAN PRE-REGISTER @
http://savelighthousebeach.eventbrite.com/

$25/Ticket 21+ EVENT

Can’t make the event but want to show your support please click on the link below and select the donation option to show your support for the fundraiser.
http://savelighthousebeach.eventbrite.com/

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Resident DJ BRANDON will be bringing musical delight to our ears all night long. DJ BRANDON has captured our hearts with his superior beats and his ability to make you dance the night away. We are delighted that he has donated his time and art of music to us all night long!!!

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We will also have a HOSTED Bar serving Wine and Beer.

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We will be serving snacks through out the night and will have a pastry bar with coffee and tea for purchase. All proceeds will go toward the fundraiser effort.

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Bob Morton the director of The Naturist Action Committee will be joining us via Skype to answer some of our questions and give the scoop on the latest news!!

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– Chinese & Silent Auctions Raffle & 50/50

Some Auction Items we Already Have:

* 1 Hour Massage
* 2 Day Passes to Rock Lodge Naturist Resort
* Private Dinner for 2 Cooked By a High End Private Chef
* Professional Nude Photography Items
* Professional Nude Art Items
*Zensuality Nude Yoga passes
*2 night stay at Sunny rest Nudist Resort
*A complete Personal Tax return
*Photo Shoot

And many more generous donations……

We are accepting donations for the auction items from friends, families, & local businesses until March 18th.
Message Us if You would like to be a sponsor!

 

and it goes on… will we fight for our rights???

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

New York’s nudist community has been shocked by recent news: “Effective immediately, state nudity laws will be enforced at Fire Island National Seashore”

It means that three places that I’ve described here – Jones Beach, Lighthouse beach and the Pines of Fire Island – have to go off the list 😦

This is beyond sad, and there is no doubt that we need to fight for our rights, otherwise we’ll be easily stripped off them! The mere fact that “Public nudity has been prohibited in the State of New York since 1984 under New York State Penal Code 245.01”, i.e. it isn’t a vestige of some prudish pilgrim set of laws and is quite new, is scary enough. Look how situation developed in San Francisco: 2011, a towel law is proposed. I found it ridiculous that there had to be a LAW about it. It may be a courtesy, but do we need to put it in law that one has to hold the door for the next person, for example? Look how New York Times started there article: “Perhaps it should not be a surprise that San Francisco does not have a law against being naked in public, nor that a small, unselfconscious segment of the city’s residents regularly exercise that right.” And guess what, that was just a probe, they wanted to see how nudists and others would react, and reaction was very mild. So just a year later, a new law was proposed and passed prohibiting nudity in San Francisco entirely, except for specifically designated events. I myself thought to enjoy the last days of freedom and did naked yoga in Golden Gate park with a friend last November, but we got fined, because they had a law specifically against nudity in parks, which we didn’t know about. And already in February 2013, we’ve got first arrests for public nudity in San Francisco (see the video here): So what makes you think it won’t go any further? And if New York and San Francisco are the most liberal cities in the US, what can we expect other place in the US? What’s next?

Nudity ban passed in San Francisco

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

😦 :’-( :-(((

Nudity ban passed in San Francisco

I was quite surprised to find out that many people didn’t take it seriously, thinking that it wouldn’t happen, ‘not in San Francisco’. Now it has happened. Mind you, it all started with a law that required naked people to put a piece of fabric or a newspaper when seated in public places just about a year ago. Obviously, they didn’t plan to stop on that. What’s next? And we’re talking about the ‘most liberal city’ in the country that positions itself as a stronghold of democracy…

Naturist Activists, Friends and Guests in Bay Area!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

This Wednesday, if possible, you should take part in the historic RALLY FOR URBAN NUDITY in San Francisco. I wrote previously about an attempt to strip San Franciscans and guests off their right to be clothes-free in public places, but here is a chance not only to stop the ban, but perhaps help to secure and expand this overlooked basic freedom?

So, here is a copy of the announcement, hope it will be success:

Greetings Body Freedom Supporters and Friends!

A reminder that on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at Noon, the  RALLY FOR URBAN NUDITY will take place on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, (across from Civic Center on Carlton B. Goodlett Place).

Clothed, nude or anywhere in between, if you support the right to choose your own form of attire without government interference, come join us!

Naked men in exhibitions in NYC and Vienna; and sign petition against ban on nudity in San Francisco!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

A short exhibition about Russian gay men who fled to the US is now on display in a small gallery in Manhattan, 287 Spring. Sorry for the late alert, but this Sunday is the last day and I just visited it today. I had a chance to speak with the photographer, Alexander Kargaltsev, and he told me the idea to show those men naked, besides the aesthetic value, had a symbolic meaning. They fled from Russia, because they were confronted with aggression and misunderstanding, and new laws in many regions, including seemingly progressive Saint Petersburg, make it practically impossible even to mention such issues in public (the so-called bans on gay propaganda). Although US is still lagging behind in terms of equality in some basic right to its homosexual citizens, these asylum seekers at least can now live openly in such cities as New York, which is symbolised by their nudity – open and free – next to some well-known sights of the city or simply on the roofs. The story made it to Huffingtonpost, and even with uncensored photos. Also, the exhibition is free and the photographs are easily visible from the street. This publicity, however, made some of the models decide to withdraw their photographs, as they didn’t want to risk security of their family members who stayed in Russia.

Its worth noticing though, that they, as any other people in New York, don’t actually have the freedom to be unclothed in public, so their nudity is really not more than a symbol. San Francisco’s legislature seems to be much more liberal in this respect, but this harmless freedom is at risk even there. Sign a petition against proposed ban on nudity in San Francisco!

Vienna hosts even two exhibitions with naked men on display in different art forms, from sculptures to paintings and photographs, and not in a small gallery, but in two major museums: Leopold and Lentos. But surprisingly, Viennese dwellers turned out to be not ready to see [male] nudity on posters in the city.

Go figure what’s wrong with it… or better go check it out and show some support. You could actually even visit it naked! Here is a link to the video from the naked day at Leopold Museum: http://www.stern.de/kultur/kuriose-ausstellung-nackt-im-museum-1973612.html