Seattle beach rallies

From Naked Wiki

Home > Projects > Beach Rally > List of events > Seattle > Seattle beach rallies

For more info see Seattle Free Beach Campaign.

Share your thoughts! Please discuss your ideas, concerns, proposals on our discussion page (if the page has no comments or instructions please reload the page on your browser, something is wonky there).

Contents 1 Date, Time and Location of Next Event 2 Previous events 3 Introduction 4 Purpose 4.1 Theme 4.2 Advocating 4.2.1 Recognition of principles 4.2.2 Beach use 4.2.3 Facilities use 4.3 Rallying against 4.4 Announcements 4.5 Activities 4.6 What this event is NOT about 5 Extended Discussion 5.1 What we need to do 6 Previous events in Seattle 7 Endorsements 8 History 9 Local contact info 10 See Also 11 External Links 12 Footnotes

[edit] Date, Time and Location of Next Event

No rallies scheduled at this time. There are however, beach events and other supportive events going on

[edit] Previous events

• Saturday, 10 June 2006 Time TBA. See WNBR Seattle. Event scheduled to include stops at popular local swimming beaches. See speech March 2006
• Sunday, 5 March 2006 11:30 AM. A clothed rally at Civic Plaza which should be above 4th Ave (below City Hall). The address is 600 4th AVE, Seattle, WA 98104-1850 Google Map. This is the same location where Seattle WNBR 2005 stopped and posed on June 11th, 2005. A permit was received from Seattle Fleets & Facilities for use of the space. See speech March 2006
• Disco Beach Rally 4 Sept 2004

[edit] Introduction

Lee Baxandall, Founder of The Naturist Society said: "every civilized nation has nude beaches. That's a mark of a civilized nation". [10]

We believe in order to honor this belief and provide a true and lasting legacy for ourselves and future generations we should all do what we can to support the development of local non-sexualized, clothing-optional beaches. A clothed, peaceful rally is one of the easiest things we can do to help dispel common myths and stereotypes about clothes free recreation.

This event will mark the 73rd anniversary of the Nazi Germany anti-nudity Göring Decree (3/3/33), which called on "all police measures to destroy the so-called nude culture". Beyond the more complex academic intricacies of that decree and what followed, the event symbolizes the long arm of government in our cultural and private lives.

We believe government should not interfere with how we choose to spend OUR FREE TIME, especially ON OUR DIME! Further, government has no business setting dress codes at the beach, lest we fall into a quasi Nanny state where nanny citizens turn against their neighbors and summon the police for harmless acts of sunbathing and skinnydipping.

[edit] Purpose

[edit] Theme

Citizens seek cooperation with the City of Seattle to create new opportunities for family friendly, clothing-optional recreation.

[edit] Advocating

[edit] Recognition of principles

• Clothing-optional recreation on public lands is a legitimate, family-friendly, revenue-generating and an increasingly popular activity [1]
• Beach recreation is not a luxury, beaches are collectively owned and paid for by citizens and should not be dominated by any one user group.
• Many citizens enjoy clothing optional use at other Northwest beaches and would like to see more opportunities closer to home. In light of the desire for people to connect with their local communities, increasing gas prices, the inequity involved with the cost of travel and the environmental cost of travel, the appeal of local recreation is increasing.
• Citizens have the right and obligation to organize and stage events promoting clothing-optional use of local beaches. Historically, some of these events include mild acts of civil disobedience.
• The City has a responsibility to encourage diversity and work with different cultures, maximizing access and opportunities for everybody. The Seattle Department of Parks & Recreation has an obligation to fulfill its mission "to work with all citizens to be good stewards of our environment, and to provide safe and welcoming opportunities to play, learn, contemplate and build community."
  • Parks and recreation has approximately 6200 acres of park land, 24 miles of shoreline, 151 outdoor tennis courts, 185 athletic fields, 38 neighborhood playgrounds, 27 wading pools, 23 community centers, eighteen fishing piers, eleven off-leash areas, five golf courses, two lawn bowling areas, two boating and sailing centers, but not one clothing-optional recreation area. [2] Many feel this amounts to cultural discrimination and is interpreted by many free beach supporters as amounting to a year-round exclusive event reservation for body-negative and gymnophobic citizens.

[edit] Beach use

We will be rallying for clothing-optional use of Seattle beaches. Since fully-integrated beaches may be slightly controversial, we propose the following transitionary measures which would allow at the very least, segregated opportunities locally, beginning with Seattle's most remote beaches with a history of sporadic and/or occasional clothing-free use, such as Discovery Beach.

• Having free beach-supportive groups work with the City and community groups on:
  • (1) Collaborative environmental stewardship projects.
  • (2) Beach use projects focusing on either:
    • (A) An unofficial policy of allowing clothing-optional use at designated areas at a remote beach, such as Discovery Beach. See also Cahill Policy [3]
    • (B) A trial period for European-style (clothing-optional) signed and designated areas at a remote beach, such as Discovery Beach.

[edit] Facilities use

Noting a Seattle Times news story [4] from June 19, 2005 highlighting a Muslim women's swimming program at Meadbrook Pool, and a Jewish women's swimming program at Rainer Pool, we would request that the City allows special event reservations for family-friendly, clothing-optional use of selected public pools and other fitness facilities.

[edit] Rallying against

Protesting the overly-broad rule within the City's Beach Rules & Regulations which states that in the interest of "everyone [staying] safe and healthy" there must be "No 'bare buns' please! We require bathing suits..." The concerns for health and safety are only legitimate in the case of requiring tight plastic pants or diapers designed for swimming for individuals at risk of peeing or pooping in the water. Banning all nudity on beaches by citing concerns about health and safety is misleading (and a bit silly).

[edit] Announcements

WNBR Seattle will announces its fourth protest/party ride slated for 10 June 2006, riding in solidarity with other WNBR events around the globe. The ride, weather permitting, will include stops at popular swimming beaches. These stops were originally planned to happen on the ride in June 2004, but the event was rained out once reaching Volunteer Park on Capital Hill. Naked people don't generally like cold, rainy, windy weather.

[edit] Activities

• Typical rally fare: Gathering together, brief speech/es and holding up signs and banners. See speech March 2006
• Sign an oversized card at the rally with an agreed upon message to the Mayor and the Seattle City Council.
• Drawing for a small selection of prizes (videos).

[edit] What this event is NOT about

Comparing the City of Seattle, its officials, institutions and employees to anything related to Nazi Germany. Please don't do that, that is not at all what the rally is about. This is a forward-thinking event.

[edit] Extended Discussion

I figure since we got 63 naked/half-naked people to show up at City Hall in relatively cool June Seattle weather last year during Seattle WNBR 2005, we should easily be able to enough people to show up and hang out with other free beach supporters for 20-30 minutes, and then maybe got out for a bite to eat. It should be a hoot!

The idea is incredibly simple:

1) Make your own colorful signs. 2) Drop by downtown and demonstrate. That's it! – You don't even need a sign, you could potentially just show up, stand there, and leave.

I'm thinking about a simple message. Seattle citizens have traveled the world, and all over the Pacific Northwest to enjoy regional clothing-optional beaches. Seattle citizens declare that it is time to evolve – its time Seattle had its own European-style beaches! But let's discuss it. I'm open to your ideas. I'm assuming the message will be pretty broad.

[edit] What we need to do

• We need someone host a casual sign making party at their house or business, and someone possibly to bring pens and paper for those who don't bring any.

• We could also make a card ahead of time which we can all symbolically sign at the rally with an agreed upon message to the Mayor and the Seattle City Council. I saw an idea like this at last year's Independence from Oil Day Parade and it was a big hit!!

[edit] Previous events in Seattle

• Saturday, 11 June 2005: WNBR Seattle 2005 (Ride #2) included a stop at City Hall
• Saturday, 4 September 2004: BFC's Naked Beach Rally. Five Seattle Police officers and a Police boat patrol all came running to respond to a nude sunbather at Discovery Beach, one of Seattle's most remote beaches with a tradition of sporadic clothing-optional use. This was during a non-confrontational, peaceful beach rally. The man arrested was freed within a half hour.[5]

[edit] Endorsements

• The Work Less Party of British Columbia
• The Work Less Party USA
• World Naked Bike Ride
• The Rainbow Party (this group is undergoing a name and mission change)
• Radical Women
• Add your group here!

Local political organizations have joined the call for reform. "The crackdown on the nude activists is further example of the deterioration of our civil liberties," says Radical Women Organizer Christina Lopez. "Radical Women respects the rights of individuals to make decision in their lives, including the decision to sunbath nude. You would think the state had important things to deal with!" Christina said.

"In a world were we face the potential of nuclear war and global warming, we think its pretty sad that people would be more afraid of a naked body, which is of no real threat to anybody," Work Less Party of British Columbia, Artists For Peace and World Naked Bike Ride Founder Conrad Schmidt said.

[edit] History

See Seattle history

[edit] Local contact info

Please leave a message for event organizor Dlj at the users talk page at: User_talk:Dlj

[edit] See Also

• Nude beach
• The Naturist Society
• World Naked Bike Ride

[edit] External Links

• Seattle Free Beach Campaign
• Check tide heights in Seattle

[edit] Footnotes