Speech March 2006
From Naked Wiki
Home > Projects > Beach Rally > List of events > Seattle > Speech March 2006
Speech written by Daniel Johnson for the Beach Rally on March 5, 2006 at Civic Plaza, Downtown Seattle 11:30 AM
The speech was not given because there were too few people. Instead we just held a meeting for about 45 minutes or so.
Contents |
[edit] Intro
Thanks everybody for coming today on such short notice. Spring is definitely in the air, despite the gray, windy, and wet weather.
It seems like just yesterday that we were here for last June's World Naked Bike Ride. We came here hoping we could play in the fountain after learning only days ahead of the event that the Seattle Center International Fountain was shut down for maintenance. Unfortunately, this one only comes on during weekdays and city officials discourage people from frolicking in the water. Given that, and just out of curiousity how many people would want to come back here this June for WNBR?
For those of you who don't know me, I'm Daniel Johnson and over the last few years I've been getting involved with, among other groups, the Work Less Party, a new political party which focuses on devoting less time to production and consumption, and more time to the things that matter most, like music, art, culture, recreation, family, and community. We believe that the whole wearing-clothes-at-the-beach thing is just a really bad fad..... and that someday soon, people will give themselves permission to dress as they please on the beach.
[edit] Main Section
The reason why we need to rally is we need to increase our political involvement in moving towards getting a free-beach in Seattle. Many of us have made due with what we have, or have quietly been using a few local beaches clothes free, and that is understandable. But we need to shift to a more engaged, a more assertive position. We need to make the choices today that will lead to the liberation of our own Seattle beaches.
[edit] Reasons for Encouragement
We should not view this mission as an impossible task. We have a lot going for us already.
[edit] An abundance of Body-positive groups
We have an amazing array of body-positive groups and businesses in this region including Banya 5, the Sun Lovers Under Gray Skies, The Naturist Society, AANR Northwest, Body Freedom Collaborative, several regional private clubs, Radical Women, Wreck Beach Preservation Society, The Oregon Clothing-Optional Beach Alliance, the Burning Man community, FKKayakers, Body Pride Ride, World Naked BIke Ride, the painted cyclists os the Summer Solstice Parade and several other communities who organize body-positive events. The Northwest Naturists community alone number about 7400 people. Couple that with the large number of people who travel up and down the West coast visiting beaches and resorts we could easily be talking above 30,000 people who are actively seeking clothing-optional recreation. We have more than enough people here in Seattle to form a self-policing beach support group to establish communities where newcomers and families feel comfortable, safe, and respected.
Without even having an established clothing-optional beach locally, there is a tremendous amount of activities going on. Everything from sauna nights, movie nights and film festivals, theatre, yoga, photography, potlucks, bodypainting parties, gardening, hot tubbing, polar bare dips, hiking, bike rides, concerts, activism, swim nights, kayaking, open water swimming, hot springs, art events, environmental stewardship projects, volleyball, beach travel groups, internet projects, you name it.
People in the Northwest have grown accustomed to travelling long distances, whether it is to travel to Oregon for the state-sanctioned clothing-optional area at Rooster Rock State Park for a beach cleanup, or to Collins Beach at Sauvie Island to the west. Those can easily be 3-6 hour trips each way. Seattlites have contributed to the volunteer efforts of these beach groups in Portland and have fought against high rises at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver BC that would overlook Wreck Beach. Locals have been instrumental in turning beaches suffering from neglect and creepy behavior into showcases of the family-friendly values of the clothes free community. It is a testimony to what free beach community groups and government agencies can do when they recognize that they can create something much better together than working against each other.
Every August there is a large exodus of artists and free spirits from our region who travel all the way to the Nevada dessert where the choice of being dressed or undressed at the Annual Burning Man project is just one part of a growing movement for a wider range of creative expression and body-positive expression. There is a shift that many of us are working on to help stage more creative and body-positive events within the city itself.
[edit] Seattle's body-positive reputation
Secondly, Seattle is widely regarded as one of the most body-positive cities in the world. Aside from all the work the above communities are doing, we have the largest number of regular naked bike rides anywhere and they have been a giant hit for years. Believe it or not, this June, the painted cyclists will be celebrating 15 years of cycling around town and in the Summer Solstice parade, and about nine years doing so with bodypaint. Last year we had around 160 cyclists riding through Seattle for the Summer Solstice. Despite the cold and rainy weather, last year's WNBR Seattle ride had about 62 people. We also saw the creation of the Body Pride ride as well and they were immediately embraced in the Seattle Pride march.
Even Denmark, a country which allows nude bathing on all but two beaches, doesn't have this. We have seen an evolution of a City position on non-lewd nakedness when it comes to bike ride events but apparently the same principles don't hold true on the beach. It is odd that Seattle has more tolerance for large numbers of naked cyclists cycling through the most densely used areas of the city, than it does for more passive and traditional recreational activities such as sunbathing and skinnydipping at its most remote beaches. There is a disconnect.
[edit] A history of nude use of local beaches
Finally, we do have some sporatic nude use going on at some local beaches. Howell Beach is one of them, the north end of Washington Park Arboretum is another and a few areas that are difficult or dangerous to reach on the westside. None of these beaches, however, are generally very attractive or accessible for family-friendly use.
[edit] Discovery Beach
Discovery Beach has seen sporatic nude use for some time. Many of us did not even know this, including myself, until several of us started planning beach rally events locally and actually visited the beach to see for ourselves what was going on. As a result of the publicity from these beach rally events we know that the general public by in large supports the idea of designated areas for clothing-optional use. That is no small accomplishment so early in this movement. Many, upon hearing that there is actually a growing beach movement, are surprised that Seattle, of all cities, has no such beaches, which is really odd considering the popularity of free beaches on the West Coast and considering the cultural makeup of the this region. According to the Lee Baxandall's World Guide to Nude Beaches there are easily over twenty clothing-optional beach areas in California alone. See also the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Annual Guide to Nude Beaches [1]
[edit] Local Focus
We think that its long overdue that we did something for ourselves here in Seattle. In order to achieve anything significant we have to give ourselves permission to care about our own community and to invest in our own local beaches. And that requires an investment of time and energy. We need to get more connected to our city. We have to learn to project from our own values and share our enthusiasm with others rather than wait for others to take initiative for us. Many of us have made significant strides in precedent for acceptance of non-lewd nudity on public lands and we need to continue to build off of that with a project that will have long-lasting implications for the region.
Establishing a clothing-optional beach is a lasting and measurable legacy for future generations. None of us want to see our children have to be like us and continue to travel outside the region to Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego or Florida or even off the continent simply to enjoy the beach as nature intended. We cannot pass the buck to future generations on this issue. We need a formal free beach movement in the city. Today is another small step in that direction, with much bigger and better events to come.
[edit] Getting Involved
There are a variety of activities for us to get involved in.
[edit] Environmental stewardship
One great thing we can do is to work with the city and other local groups in various environmental stewardship projects in our parks system. Locals should learn that there are real people behind this movement that can commit to something larger than just being naked on the beach.
In the same way that volunteer groups work to protect the bluffs, the tidal beaches, the streams and the natural wildlife we need to protect the natural human element of sunbathers and skinnydippers who have found refuge below the clifs and along the more remote areas of beach. Their sunbathing and skinnydipping is just as natural as anything else on the beach. We should not write off the numbers of sunbathers as insufficient for supporting or not well-established enough to be worthy of our attention, that would be a discredit to our core values.
[edit] Communicate with government and community officials
We also need to write our Nieghborhood Council members, our Ciy Council members, the Mayor's office and Parks & Recreation, telling them that we want to help work with them towards preserving Discovery Park and preserve the nude use there by setting aside part of the vast shoreline for integrated clothing-optional use.
I brought some cards today with this broad message that all of us can sign and deliver to the mayor and members of the city council. The three cards will be going to three different departments, so feel free to sign all of them if you weren't able to sign them last night at the SLUGS swim. Our public officials need to hear from us, our family and our friends. Otherwise we are invisible.
[edit] Just showing up is major help
We also need to use the beach, and use it regularly. Beach rallies, whether clothed or clothing-optional, must become a regular event and expected part of the political landscape for a movement to be taken seriously. We must all at least make an effort to show up for support if we are able, even if we don't feel comfortable getting naked.
[edit] WNBR Seattle goes to the beach
For its part, this year's local World Naked Bike Ride plans on visiting several popular swimming beaches and briefly go wading. WNBR is not just a showcase for the power of human transport and sustainability it is a powerful vessel for a body-positive movement around the world. I urge everybody to ride with us for WNBR, the nudity is not as significant as your participation. Of course it helps that its a lot of fun too.
[edit] Stop cultural discrimination
We also need to let the City know that when it excludes so many people from clothing-optional recreation within the city limits it amounts to cultural discrimination. This doesn't mean we have an excuse to treat public officials with disrespect, but we must be honest about what is going on. We should not be afraid to hold a mirror up to government policy and contemporary culture and asking questions about what's going on. We must show people that there is a better way.
[edit] Everybody's back yard
Policy makers need to be put on the spot on some level. I've talked with several police officers and parks workers, and few of them want to have anything to do telling people to leave the beach. While some officers don't have a problem with it, it still is awkward to do. We have to understand that much of the policy that is in place comes from the City Council, and the decisions they make are heavily incluenced by Community Groups and Neighborhood Councils. But we can't tremble in fear about any community body says on any one day. We must hold true that the city beaches belong to everybody and are not simply neighborhood beaches. They are not just the backyards of the cities' wealthiest citizens. They are everybody's backyards. The city has an obligation to allow for a wide range of recreation within its system. We must not sit idly by and allow the City to enforce a body-phobic policy on our dime. We can learn to share and respect one another.
[edit] Seattle Parks and Recreation
Here is something to contemplate. We have 24 miles of shoreline in our Parks system and yet not one designated clothing-optional beach area. We have 151 outdoor tennis courts, 185 athletic fields, 38 neighborhood playgrounds, 27 wading pools, 23 community centers, 18 fishing piers, 11 off-leash areas, 5 golf courses, 2 lawn bowling areas and 2 boating and sailing centers, but not one clothing-optional beach. If you couple that with a ridiculous no bare buns policy it amounts to a year-round exclusive event reservation for body-negative citizens. We deserve better.
[edit] No 'bare buns' policy
For those of you who are unaware of the no bare buns policy, it is in the City's Beach Rules & Regulations in the Parks Code. Every summer lifeguards pull out sandwich boards with the policy on it, just in case someone get sick of their silly soggy suits and want to run free. The policy 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 remotely 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 bare buns on beaches by citing concerns about health and safety is mislead, and ridiculous.
If there is any doubt that the Parks Department has a prudish bias, even the harmless act of changing one's clothes the bathroom has been deemed as inappropriate. Go and visit Madrona Beach and you'll see that the bathroom has a sign, painted on the wall INSIDE of the bathroom, that says, "No changing of clothes allowed". If any beach deserves to be visited this summer, I would say Madrona should be one of them.
[edit] The myth about children and nudity
The fact that so many parents let their children run naked on our beaches is testimony that the often-espoused notion of children somehow being adversely affected by nudity is just a misinformed myth popular by prudish parents and other uptight adults. Children have to be taught and conditioned that nudity isn't acceptable and its sad to see that the only way parents can show their kids what a naked human body looks like is to bring them to the Solstice Parade instead of just being able to go down to the water.
[edit] Closing statements
We don't need a good reason to take our clothes off, we need a good reason to keep them on. Individuals must be able to make personal decisions about what they wear on the beach without government interference. We need to make the choices today that will give us the experiences, the memories, the opportunities we want in the future.
Thank you.... and I hope to see you this summer during our collaborative events!
Please sign the cards. Those who are interested in the drawing for prizes can stick around.
