Boulder DA Wants to Make Streaking Illegal

Any sane person knows that it's sheer stupidity to force streakers to register as sex offenders. Under current Colorado law, anyone caught running nude in public could be forced to register as a sex offender, and Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett wants to make streaking and other "Pumpkin Run-type behavior" a petty offense instead of a class 1 misdemeanor.

Don't let this fool you - streaking is a harmless prank, a bit of devil-may-care fun, and should not be any type of crime.

Judd Golden, chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union's Boulder chapter, said his organization doesn't believe that public nudity -- by itself -- should be against the law at all.

"That is regressive," he said. "It's going back to the Victorian days when body parts were considered immoral."

If a person runs nude through a football game, Golden said, he or she should be charged with disrupting a public event. If a naked person walks into traffic, he or she should be charged with obstruction.

"But our position is that public nudity in and of itself -- absent aggravating circumstances -- should not be a criminal offense," he said.

"The kids were consequenced"

Several Minnesota students are in trouble for streaking and mooning at three separate St. Francis High School football games.

"The kids were consequenced," District Superintendent Edward Saxton said, adding that the students, all boys, were suspended for anywhere from one to 10 days...Immediately after one of the games, a road contest Sept. 18 in Fridley against Totino-Grace, three boys ran from one end of the field to the other "while the stands were still full ... and through the neighborhood," said police Detective Jennie Markham...The two 17-year-olds were accused of trespassing and disorderly conduct, she said. However, because of one of them "had no clothes, as in not a stitch [and] showing his genitals to people under the age of 16," a charge of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct could be leveled, Markham said.

I'm not sure if "consequenced" is even a viable word, and this bastardization of the English language comes from a school superintendent?

Even more disturbing are some of the comments to the article, including one person who compares the streakers to child rapist Roman Polanski, and another who believes that throwing the teens in jail and imposing sex-offender status on them will straighten them out. Someone even offers that "there is no constitutional right allowing a person to show their genitals". Last time I checked the constitution, there was nothing in there banning genitals, either. Some comments are supportive, calling the sex-offender charge "horrific", and not to ruin the kid's life over a harmless prank. One commenter blames the overreaction on our "PC liberal society", and another blames the "crazy conservatives."

Back in the seventies, when I was in college, streaking was at its peak. One evening about 50 students ran around the campus in the nude, another day a group of young men streaked the dining hall, and the fad was so widespread that Ray Stevens had a hit song called "The Streak." What has happened over the past 30 years to turn something so harmless and funny into a criminal act? Roll back the clock a bit and decriminalize streaking and sexting. These excessively harsh punitive actions against our own children expose our society's deep-seated fear of our own bodies.

UPDATE: Here is another report which claims that when one streaker was captured, between 500 and 1000 people surrounded the police, yelling and throwing things to try and prevent the arrest. One protesting student was shocked with a stun gun. They also busted him with marijuana possession.

The school principal is quoted as saying that streaking is "a lot bigger issue than it was in the 1970s and it won't be tolerated." He is also quoted as praising the police officers, saying they did a "fabulous" job, and warned any further protests could be dealt the same penalties as the streakers. Whose side is this principal on? Does he really want half his student population in jail?

Good for the kids in protesting this idiotic persecution of streakers. They should all go on strike until the charges are dropped.

The Daily Newds 5/18/09

• British model Katie Price faces possible arrest for nude sunbathing in the Maldives.

  Foreign Office travel advice warns: "Nudism and topless sunbathing are prohibited throughout the Maldives including on resort islands. "The Maldives is a Muslim country and serious violations of law may lead to a prison sentence."

• No disciplinary action will be taken against six students who streaked across the stage at the Green Mountain College commencement in Vermont.

  It's sort of become a new tradition at the school, one that is not encouraged but not "stamped out, either," (communications director Kevin) Coburn said. "It happened at last year's commencement," Coburn said, hours after Saturday's streaking.

• Married for 43 years, Ian and Nancy Watters love the nude lifestyle.

  "We do everything in the nude; mowing, mulching, gardening. We always seem to have a lot of laughs and that’s good for your health."

• A sex theme park slated to open in October has been torn down by Chinese authorities because it was "vulgar, ill-minded and misleading."
• A South Texas town is debating whether or not to ban "nude sketch classes" in the Arts District, due to its proximity to schools and day care centers.
• Laurie Penny says that burlesque today is nothing more than a "misogynist scam."

  I began to realise that what really differentiated my act from that of your average stripper wasn't the performance, or the costumes, but simply class. Like the majority of women who choose to get involved with burlesque, our troupe was made up of middle-class girls, with the act offering us an opportunity to indulge in raunchy exhibitionism without feeling "cheap" (at least initially). Burlesque serves up misogyny in a tasteful package of feathers, while the explicit nature of the shows increases each year. When I was performing, complete nudity was frowned on, but burlesque acts such as Satan's Striptease and Empress Stah have since started offering full-frontal flashing.

• Why are law enforcement officials targeting Craigslist for censorship? It's "good politics."
• A teen has been suspended by his fundamentalist Baptist educators for attending a prom at another high school because there was "dancing, rock music and hand-holding."
• A group of Belgian actors rode nude on bicycles at the Cannes Film Festival to promote their movie.
• The Christian Action Network in Cape Town, South Africa, want to criminalize pornography and other forms of adult entertainment after a recent Sexpo event. Miss Nude South Africa says that Sexpo was not exploitative.
• 80% of Key West tourism-based businesses support a clothing-optional beach.
• A Lutheran pastor has denounced Miss California USA Carrie Prejean as a hypocrite.

  "(In) America, according to this girl ... it is totally immoral for two people of the same gender who are in love to enter into a lifelong, faithful, monogamous union, (and) apparently not a problem at all for a 17-year-old girl to be photographed half-naked for the expressed purpose of sexually arousing millions of heterosexual men to whom she is not married and who are not married to her."

• Dita Von Teese was ordered to show "less cleavage" during the Eurovision Song Contest.
• A nude sketch of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is up for auction in Paris. Imagine if a similar image of Michelle Obama went on sale in New York City, and you can clearly see the cultural divide.
• Does a teacher have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" for files stored on a school computer?
• The producer of a Danish TV reality show has apologized for shooting a nude scene on a Malaysian island.
• If you think nudity has caused some trouble through the years, consider these instances where articles of clothing caused riots.
• Kenyans want the statue of a nude boy in front of a court house to be demolished claiming it "encourages pedophilia."
• One woman ignores the "naked baby police" and lets her kids frolic nude in a wading pool.
• Striking a balance between "nudists and prudists" has been difficult at North Lido Park in Sarasota, Florida.
• The Calgary Music Festival features bands, nature, and a "nude slip-n-slide."
• Helena writes, "stop being so prude and get your kit off" after witnessing women showering in their bathing suits at the local gym.

  Being a Swede, where nudity is something natural, this is incredibly strange to me. When I'm in the communal showers I notice that these women are still wearing their swimmers but had they been naked I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. Why is it that some women, depending on their upbringing, culture or religion, cannot get undressed in front of other women. We all look the same. And when I'm in the shower I don't look at what your bodies look like. I'm busy trying to squeeze out of my wet, too tight bathing suit and just wash myself. I have no interest in looking at other women. So please, just get your kit off and feel that it's ok to wash yourselves properly. Because you can't really reach all your bits when wearing a Speedo!

• A new naked tribe has been found in Nigeria.
• William Cook, who founded the Eastwoodhill Arboretum in Gisborne, New Zealand, was an avid nudist.

  ...he often did his gardening unimpeded by clothes, apart from the boot he wore to help with digging holes, and visitors soon learned that it was a good idea to phone for an appointment.

• Attorney Scott H. Greenfield calls the criminalization of teen sexting as "the stupidest thing ever."

The Daily Newds 5/13/09

• Alanis Morisette will reportedly do a nude scene during the next season of "Weeds". Morisette once said, "I'm a leave-the-bathroom-door-open nudist, which is sometimes disconcerting for my friends."
• A 73 year-old sex offender was found hiding under an assumed name at an Arizona nudist venue. He was using an RV with tags registered to the previous owners.
• With all the worry about "stranger danger", it's illuminating to discover that approx. 8000 children were injured by falling televisions in 2007.
• A new book argues makes the case that running in bare feet "may be the kindest thing you every do for your body."
• I really feel terrible for the family of the Ohio girl who committed suicide because she was bullied by her peers over a nude photo she took of herself, but suing the school, the town and some of the students is compounding the tragedy unnecessarily.
• The Texas Senate voted to repeal a $5 per person "admission fee" to strip clubs, which was declared to be unconstitutional, and agreed to replace it with a "new tax" on sexually oriented businesses. And the difference is...?
• Are curvy young women rejecting the "half-starved look" which has been the body ideal for a generation?

  ... the impossibly bouncy paradigm of birdlike frame supporting implausibly big breasts that originated with porn stars — and Barbie — may be on the way out, at least among teenagers. Mind you, what women tell market researchers doesn’t always reflect what they really think. Do women, especially young women, even always understand the fraught cross-currents of reaction that their own — and other women’s — bodies elicit?

• The first streaker has struck Citi Field.
• An ad for Air New Zealand shows pilots and flight attendants wearing nothing but body paint.
• A sexting case in Palm Beach County has resulted in search warrants to the homes of five teens, as well as seizures of cell phones and computers. No charges have yet been filed.
• Vanessa Hudgens, who took a nude photo of herself a couple of years back, is open to doing nude scenes in movies.
• Sexploitation hits a new low in a Latin American show called "Without Breasts There is no Paradise."
• All nudists and naturists laugh at the annual "How to Get in Bikini Shape" article.

The Daily Newds 5/11/09

• The original Calendar Girls are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their fame by stripping down again.
• The Boston Herald has an article today on the closing of Eastover Resort and the reaction of Nicky Hoffman Lee, the managing director of The Naturist Society.

  Lee said the event will likely have to leave New England to find a host that can meet its needs. The group might have to go back to a campground-style get-together.

• The top ten sporting streakers are admired for their naked ambition.
• A painting of three topless women bathers was banned from a New Zealand art show for being "not appropriate for family viewing."
• One of the things you definitely don't want at a nudist beach is a crocodile.
• Another columnist reacts to the virtual strip-searching of airline passengers.

  Industry sources tell us the naked truth is bare butts save bucks, and it won't be long before the government bean-counters are using the strip scanners to replace thousands of security guards.

• What do you say to a naked lady who knocks on your door in the middle of the night to bum a cigarette?
• When Peaches Geldof was photographed while enjoying topfreedom at a beach, the photos helped her land a six-figure deal as a lingerie model for Miss Ultimo. "I'd rather young girls were looking at a normal body like mine rather than an anorexic model," she stated.
• Is it theologically correct to equate Hugh Hefner with Pope John Paul II for views on nudity and shame?
• The Timberline clothing-optional resort is reopening in Tennessee.
• If your bar hosts an event where women wrestle in a pool of Jell-o, is anyone really surprised if nudity ensues?
• Katharine Mieszkowski writing in Salon says to stop worrying about your children.

  We don't tolerate sex crimes. There's just much less tolerance of any kind of abuse of kids. Those people are prosecuted very aggressively, to the point where a lot of them are behind bars now. But if other parents aren't letting their kids walk to school, or wait at the bus stop by themselves, if you buck the trend, doesn't that make your kid more vulnerable, because other kids aren't doing it, too? If everyone was doing it, wouldn't there be safety in numbers?

• The European reality television show which had contestants run nude on Johor Island is under investigation my Malaysian officials for possibly violating cultural sensitivities.
• An editorial in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin calls for the end of the FCC.

  ...the FCC isn't needed to serve as vulgarity police. The audience has complete control. If people are outraged by certain behavior they won't watch the show or, even more powerful, they will let the advertisers know about their displeasure. The FCC has become an unnecessary government agency that's wasting time and money filing lawsuits over situations viewers can control with an "off" button.

• Business owners are upset with Myrtle Beach officials who want to turn away hundreds of thousands of motorcycle riders who come there each May. The issues are noise, violence, obscenities and nudity.

  "At a time like this, you can't pick and choose the tourists you want. You take the ones who are going to come," said Robert Kelley, who owns three hotels and a restaurant.

The Monthly Newds Part Three 3/28/09

More catching up...

• More and more columnists are making the argument that sexting teens are NOT sex offenders and should not be punished for taking nude photos of themselves. Read here, here, and here.
• British Naturism has offered its advice on how to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies in Scotland.
  

  In a submission to the Scottish Government, British Naturism said a less prudish attitude to the naked body would help take away the mystique that it says contributes to high pregnancy levels in teenagers.
  
  A less "censorious" attitude to the body would also give youngsters a better understanding of their own bodies and prevent eating disorders, it said.

• Some women disagree with language in the new North Dakota breastfeeding bill which requires a nursing mother to act "in a discreet and modest manner" in public.
• 100 women disrobed in Paraguay to protest nuclear weapons.
• This article does its best to sensationalize the teen sexting phenomenon, using the following words to create hysteria: porn star, provocatively, alarming, pornography, horrify, disturbing, shamelessly, hard-core, damaging, long-term effects, explicit, obscene, illegal, horrifying, breaking the law, consequences, humiliation, prosecution, police, not for the faint-hearted, totally inappropriate, topless, naked, nudity, sex acts, murders, at risk, vulnerable, horror, stomach-turning, sexual violence, outlawed, etc. The entire article is nothing by hyperbole, dwelling entirely on all the perceived dangers and never making any attempt to understand what is really happening.
• Some people collect stamps, others collect nude photos of celebrities.

  “A friend of mine spent nearly thirty years collecting a complete set of nude photos of the original Magnificent Seven, for instance. Charles Bronson was the most difficult to obtain,” says Buffage. “Whilst there were known to be a couple of shots of his bare arse snapped by a tourist when he mooned at Richard Attenborough during The Great Escape, for many years it was believed that no full-frontal pictures of Bronson existed. Eventually my mate heard of an illicit picture taken by a technician during the shooting of The Dirty Dozen. He ended up paying £3,000 for the picture and the negatives - a real bargain!”

• A critic feels that Nancy Feliciano spends "way too much time nekkid" in the film "Into the Woods".
• The New York Times covered the story about nude hiking in Switzerland.
  

  Mr. Hepenstrick, 54, is an architect who loves to hike in the altogether. In winter, he said, he has hiked for hours in temperatures well below freezing, though he does concede the need for a hat and gloves. He has hiked in the nude for about 30 years, he said, and has crisscrossed the hills and mountains around Appenzell, as well as in France, Germany, Italy and even the Appalachians.
  
  His companion, a schoolteacher, also hikes, though she will not do so au naturel, he said. So why does he take off his clothes? “There’s not much to discuss,” he said. “It’s freedom. First, freedom in your head; then, freedom of the body.”

• A columnist understands that most teenage sexual confusion and curiosity stems from the fact that society bombards them with adult sexual imagery just when their hormones begin to explode, while at the same time expects them to remain innocent and pure.
• In Vietnam, artists releasing nude photos online is a "phenomenon".
• Wearing only well-placed shamrocks, 400 people stripped off in London in order to win free flights with Aer Lingus.
• Mark Simonson recalls the heyday of streaking in the 70s.
• About 50 nude men and women took part in the Australian leg of The World Naked Bike Ride, and police reported no complaints. Riders stopped and posed for photos with some newlyweds.

The Daily Newds 2/27/09

• An 18 year-old man who streaked naked through a shopping mall says it was a "stupid move".
• The DA of Centre County, Pennsylvania, sees the latest teen sexting case as an "opportunity" to give a verbal warning to students and parents before pressing charges.

  "It's potentially against the law. It's potentially a criminal record and I want kids and parents in particular to know about it. At some point we'll take a stronger law enforcement approach after the proactive one," said (District Attorney) Madeira.

• A life drawing model at the University of Arizona finds that students are not always prepared for full frontal male nudity.

  "I had a guy come into class, and I was up on the podium in the classroom, and he looks and goes, 'Oh, a dude! Man, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do this!' And he ended up staying in the class, and he toughed it out and manned up."

• A new Rhode Island law expands current legislation which protects a breastfeeding mother from indecent exposure prosecution. Mothers will now be allowed to breastfeed a child in any public place and permits a woman to allege a violation of her civil rights if she is interfered with.
• Bay to Breakers organizers have given in to allow floats back into the event, but also announced a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol. No word on whether or not nudity will be allowed, but police have previously stated that they will not be issuing citations for indecent exposure. It looks like there will be some compromise because organizers really just want to improve crowd behavior, asking participants to be courteous and not urinate in public places.
• Tom of West Penn Naturist group has a report online about his weekend at White Tail Resort in Virginia, and observes that there is hope for involving younger people in the naturist lifestyle.

  Saturday night was the talent show and a dance... There were about 20 youth here from JAANR, Junior American Association of Nude Recreation, http://www.aanr-east.com Their theme is "Winter in JAANRville" There were songs skits and lots of laughs. It was really a first time experience for me to see this collection of 20+ youth, not only able to get up in front of the crowd and perform, but to do it nude. Can't honestly say I could have done it at their age. It was quite an event.

• Nudity is in vogue during London Fashion Week.
• "Assume Nothing" is the title of a photo exhibition by New Zealand artist Rebecca Swan includes both clothed and nude portraits of individuals who identify as both male and female.
• An Australian resort referred to as "nudist" in this article is sold out for a full month, where 250 people will engage in anything goes sexual activity.
• Struggling moms are turning to stripping in order to make ends meet.

  "I'm telling you right now, with two kids, a $13.85 an hour job is not going to help you out with anything. I'm sorry. That might pay your rent and that might pay your gas to get back and forth to work, but it's not going to pay for groceries. It's not going to pay for anything they want. It's not going to pay for health insurance. Who wants to live like that?...I come [to the strip club], work 6, 7, 8 hour shifts and leave with more than $500."

• Kathie Lee Gifford admitted to sleeping in the nude during the fourth hour of "Today", which prompted co-host Hoda Kotb to poll the crew on how many of them also slept in the altogether. Many of them did.
• An Olive Garden restaurant is being sued by a mother claiming that she was not given a proper private place for her to pump her breasts.

  According to the suit, a female manager told Gray that she would not be able to pump in private, leaving her with the choice to pump in an office with a manager present or in a bathroom stall. The same manager expressed her disapproval of breast-feeding, calling the process "disgusting."

• 29 of the 35 members of the Geelong Harmony Chorus in Australia, ranging in age from the 20s through the 80s, have volunteered to pose nude for a fundraising calendar.
• 45 year-old Lisa Rinna is most comfortable in the nude and has posed for an upcoming issue of Playboy.

  "I don't get all the fuss our society has over people's weight...I want to encourage other women to be proud of their bodies no matter what age or size."

The Daily Newds 2/25/09

• Rachael Isaacson supports breastfeeding but believes that being too open is counterproductive.

  ...my personal belief is I can meet my baby’s needs AND take into consideration of the public around me. That means being discreet. Some women disagree with this because breast feeding is natural and healthy and isn’t something to hide.

• Residents in the Vermont town of Westmore will vote whether of not to spend $25,000 to enforce a nudity ban on Lake Willoughby.
• A student at Whitworth University wants to preserve the legacy of streaking.

  The decline in streaking certainly can’t be due to an increased level of modesty or discomfort with our bodies. Society as a whole has become more immodest since the 1960s. If you think Whitworth is an exception to the rule, you have only to look at the popularity of the partially nude calendar the Carlson Men of Arend put out every year. There is no doubt that those students are comfortable with their bodies.

• The mayor of Oaxaca in Mexico wants to expand nude beaches to attract more tourists.
• This article exclaims that the summer of 2009 will be remembered as the time when nudism took off in Argentina.
• At an FKK swim in Germany, a woman was told that she had to undress, or leave the facility.
• More articles on the Maine topless coffee bar here and here.

  Topless waitress Susie Wiley, 23, of Farmingdale, said she went for the job because it's "something different" and said she's worked in coffee shops since she was a teenager. Asked whether the shop is degrading to women, Wiley said, "No, I love it. I find it very empowering, not degrading."

• Officials in Destin, Florida, plan to send out "inspectors" in order to catch nude dancers in the act.
• Members of the Edinburgh Music Theatre Company discuss disrobing for their production of "Hair".

  "I've never been unhappy with my body, but at the same time I've never been comfortable showing it off. I'm the kind of person that wouldn't even go topless on the beach, but this play has made me more comfortable – to the point where I wouldn't be afraid to bare all again. "Since I've been rehearsing for this show, I've learned to love the costumes and I've become comfortable being in character, with or without the clothes."

• I think this article is meant to be inspirational, but there's something a bit sad about a mother and daughter bonding over their boob jobs.

The Weekend Newds 1/24/09

• Laure Redmond explains why life is so much better for women who feel good naked.

  It's about knowing and accepting yourself at your core. We don't get to choose Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as our parents, so we have to come to terms with the shape we take and the skin we're in. And when we do, it's very powerful.

• "Exquisite Corpse", a theatre production in Providence, features two scenes involving nudity.
• A 19 year-old assistant scoutmaster has been charged with "possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child" after posting on Craigslist that he was looking for "young teen naturists."
• A woman ended up marrying a man after spending some time in a coed bath house. in part because feeling comfortable walking around naked with a guy and his family "is a good sign you'll be able to handle anything that comes your way!".
• There are good biological reasons that men like looking at women.

  "Like the masses of planets and stars, our bodies curve the space around us. We radiate signals constantly, radio sources that never go off the air. We cannot help being centers of attraction and repulsion for one another."

• Designer Jessica Rey has designed a line of swimwear which hearkens back to a time when

  "women valued their bodies...You don't have to be half-naked to look beautiful... in fact, most of us look better when we're a bit more covered up!"

• When asked what her reaction when a streaker ran out onto the court at the Australian Open, Serena Williams said, "I just thought, my eyes, my innocent eyes."
• What's the reason why the Senate pool is for "men only". Could they all be skinny-dippers?
• Gotopless.org has announced Sunday March 8 and Sunday August 23 as National Go Topless Protest days.
• 85 year-old nudism pioneer Muriel Howell still takes nude vacations.
• In San Rafael, life-size cutouts of breastfeeding women have been placed in public locations with the message "When breastfeeding is accepted, it won't be noticed."
• The widow of a man who drowned in 2007 at the Olympic Swim and Health Club near Pittsburgh is suing the nudist retreat for not supplying a lifeguard.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 1/20/09

• An Australian sports club has imposed a six month ban on a member for streaking.

  A member - who didn't want to give her name - said the six-month ban was "ridiculous".

• "Hanging Out" is the name of a nude musical revue in California.

  From the moment they dropped their robes our merry band of birthday suit-ers (which was also the name (Birthday Suit) of one of the 23 numbers) didn’t bat an eyelash or flash a blush as they gamely sang and danced.

• Spencer Tunick is back in Mexico City again, this time for more intimate photos of 40 subjects instead of the 20,000 people he gathered in May 2007.
• Calendar Girls in Hampshire, England, is holding a nude photo contest in anticipation of the arrival of the hit musical.
• The advice given to the mother of a three year-old who loves being naked is to invent an imaginary therapist and use bribery to get her to put on clothes.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

Tickets Issued at Boulder's Naked Pumpkin Run

Police issued tickets for indecent exposure at Boulder's 10th Annual Naked Pumpkin Run because the huge crowd threatened to "get out of hand". Hundreds of costumed revelers started chanting “Let them go!” and telling officers to “find real criminals.”

Sorry, but I fail to see how a police crackdown on nude runners is an effective means to quiet a rowdy crowd. In this case it apparently just riled them up even more, and could have resulted in someone being hurt, or worse. Better to set up a police presence and let the runners have their fun. After all, it's not really indecent exposure if nobody is offended, is it? All the tickets that were issued should be challenged.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked