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There is frequent talk on this forum of petitions to decriminalize nudity, but nothing compares to taking direct action and facing arrest in order to challenge nudity laws in court. Please note that I am not advocating this. I am just noting that there are advocates for nudism who have endured repeated arrest and jail time. The following are three of them.
Andrew Martinez
In 1992, Andrew Martinez started attending classes nude at the University of California, Berkeley. He found some support with a "nude-in" on campus. Campus police arrested him, but the prosecutor concluded his conduct was not lewd; therefore, it was not illegal. He was expelled from the university after he showed up nude at a disciplinary hearing. In 1993, the city of Berkeley adopted an ordinance making public nudity illegal regardless of whether it was associated with lewd behavior. In 2006, he was convicted of an assault charge following a fight and committed suicide while in jail.
Vincent Bethell
Circa 2000, Vincent Bethell began going nude while engaged in his normal daily business in London as part of his "Freedom to be Yourself" campaign. He was arrested repeatedly and spent five months in jail. In 2001, a jury cleared him of the charge of being a public nuisance. Despite winning the court case, his campaign lost momentum. Part of this was due to disagreements with other nudist rights campaigners regarding objectives and tactics.
Stephen Gough
Stephen Gough, AKA "The Naked Rambler", made headlines with his nude trek the length of Great Britain from Lands End to John O'Groats in 2003 through 2004. He was arrested several times but still managed to complete the trek. In 2005, he started a second nude trek along the same route with his girlfriend Melanie Roberts. He was again arrested several times, but this time one of the arrests resulted in him spending three months in prison due to a contempt of court charge due his appearance nude in court. He did eventually complete the second trek in 2006. He had several additional skirmishes with the law for breaking an Antisocial Behavior Order that resulted in him spending a cumulative time of more than ten years in prison. He eventually discontinued his nudism campaign due to family issues.
Andrew Martinez
In 1992, Andrew Martinez started attending classes nude at the University of California, Berkeley. He found some support with a "nude-in" on campus. Campus police arrested him, but the prosecutor concluded his conduct was not lewd; therefore, it was not illegal. He was expelled from the university after he showed up nude at a disciplinary hearing. In 1993, the city of Berkeley adopted an ordinance making public nudity illegal regardless of whether it was associated with lewd behavior. In 2006, he was convicted of an assault charge following a fight and committed suicide while in jail.
Vincent Bethell
Circa 2000, Vincent Bethell began going nude while engaged in his normal daily business in London as part of his "Freedom to be Yourself" campaign. He was arrested repeatedly and spent five months in jail. In 2001, a jury cleared him of the charge of being a public nuisance. Despite winning the court case, his campaign lost momentum. Part of this was due to disagreements with other nudist rights campaigners regarding objectives and tactics.
Stephen Gough
Stephen Gough, AKA "The Naked Rambler", made headlines with his nude trek the length of Great Britain from Lands End to John O'Groats in 2003 through 2004. He was arrested several times but still managed to complete the trek. In 2005, he started a second nude trek along the same route with his girlfriend Melanie Roberts. He was again arrested several times, but this time one of the arrests resulted in him spending three months in prison due to a contempt of court charge due his appearance nude in court. He did eventually complete the second trek in 2006. He had several additional skirmishes with the law for breaking an Antisocial Behavior Order that resulted in him spending a cumulative time of more than ten years in prison. He eventually discontinued his nudism campaign due to family issues.
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