Why should public nudity not be illegal?

[Gary Naturist]

You have been asked to appear as a witness before a committee of lawmakers, or a court of law, to explain why public nudity should not be considered illegal.

In order to have the maximum impact, you need to be able to summarize your assertions in no more than five points of no more than 25 words each.

Note: Assume that it will be possible for public nudity to be controlled on public property by social pressure and on private property by the owners.

Your (up to 5) points of no more than 25 words each are ...

Gary

[Gary Naturist]

You have been asked to appear as a witness before a committee of lawmakers, or a court of law, to explain why public nudity should not be considered illegal.

In order to have the maximum impact, you need to be able to summarize your assertions in no more than five points of no more than 25 words each.

Note: Assume that it will be possible for public nudity to be controlled on public property by social pressure and on private property by the owners.

Your (up to 5) points of no more than 25 words each are ...

Gary

[stevenf64]

There are so many points you could make, from medical to social to spiritual, however you would have to judge to see if they were actually open to the idea. Lets see if I can start the list.

1)A lot of skin almeants are created by not having enough air contact. This would go for body as well as feet (imagine feet in boots all day)

2)Nudism takes away body shame and allows for more open and honest discussion

3)Although I am sure that there are people who prey on children everywhere it is much harder for them to hide there true intent in a nudist setting

4)It allows for more frank and honest discussions about physical abnormalities

5)It allows for more openness regarding the changes that our children go through (one of the major concerns regarding children going thru puberty is I think some of them feel no one would understand because they are the only ones who are or have gone through it).

6)Doctors have proven that not enough exposer to the sun in the winter is the reason for a lot of depression

7)Its preaty hard to hide who you are behind what you have when we are all on egual footing (makes keeping up with the Joneses a lot easier)


The list goes on and on, but I will leave some points for others to make. However let me say, as someone who lives up in New England, that I for one know that there are times that clothes are a needed.

steve

nude when possible, clothed when practical

[nudeM]

From an economical standpoint, being able to be nude in public would reduce the requirement of air conditioning. Being able to go swimming in the public pool then sit out in the breeze would further reduce the need for air conditioning.

Doing yard work, nude, you would not be confined to wet, sticky clothing. A gentle breeze will cool you off.

Don't have to worry about concealed weapons. Where would you hide the weapon?

As stated already, the list could go on and on.

[wannabenaked2001]

In the context of "public nudity", it is a victimless crime. While some may argue there are those who will be "offended", this does not constitute a "victim". Personally I find some of today's clothing offencive (ie, logos on T-shirts, baggy jeans worn below the waist to display underwear, etc.) (OK, to be honest the jeans just look silly to me, not really "offencive")

Some may object on moral grounds, but I truley belive the goverment must not dictate "morals".

[Rex]

Unless I had very sound reasons to think differently, my very considerable experience of putting a case for nudists' rights would lead me to assume that I was not going to get a fair hearing.
I would expect to be virtually under attack, even if the judicial panel or whatever appeared friendly and reasonable.
I would go in only on various health angles, but, under these circumstances, I would talk about various legal options which may be exercised by some unknown third person.
Some very assertive person, [not me, of course], may decide to challenge the law, or may decide to sue etc.

[Trailscout]

Public nudity is not illegal by federal law, but ironically, states, counties and municipalities are free to pass laws against it.

This constitutes an abbridgement of freedom of expression. The rights and personal freedoms granted to us nationally cannot be constitutionally curtailed at the local level. (The same principle should apply to gun control laws and the Right to Bear Arms). That does not prevent local governments from passing laws specific to their borders, as long as those laws do not diminish personal rights guaranteed to all Americans. Or do we need to revisit the Dred Scott decision?

[MikeJB]

I really do think that public nudity is a human right if not a part of the first amendment because to me its a form of expression and to deny people this goes as far as being a breach of this amendment and the people's freedom of expression. I mean I know people might be "offended" by nudity but personally I dont see why they are or think they should be and personally if you can apply being offended to nudity, you can apply it to baggy shorts, bikinis, thongs, etc. I think that nudity is beneficial to children and teens. Nudity is also practical for most yardwork and most other types of labor *saftey issues aside, thats just common sense*. I also beleive that the government shouldnt enforce morals, because we are too diverse and have too many opposing morals for one government to set up one set of morals for everyone to follow. Its like with the gun thing, people can legally bare arms, but are denied this in several areas and dispite some saftey issues, this is a breach of their rights. The same goes for nudity and I think nudity falls under the freedom of expression and while federal law says that nudity in and of itself is not illegal, many state and local laws try to say it is? Now how can this be legal? I could go on and on about this but I think I have some logical view points here.

[Bob S.]

I'll give some reasons later, but let me now make a counterpoint to Trailscout's message.

The Federal Government does not regulate nudity. They leave that to the states. There is no right to be naked granted to us by the federal govt. That means that the states and localities have the power to make such laws and why we laws that vary so widely from state to state.

Bob S.

[MikeJB]

Yeah but they say nudity isnt lewd in and of itself and basically say that its ok, so why dont they just tell everyone that its legal and just say that you cant make any law making it illegal *baring situations where its practical, i.e climate and saftey situations*. If the feds just let the states make the rules, then they can basically decide whatever they want and youll end up with 50 different thoughts about nudity and no one will ever know weither its legal or not.