Byron Bay is to be stripped of its nudist beach – and naturists blame ‘conservative creep’
Byron Bay is to be stripped of its nudist beach – and naturists blame ‘conservative creep’
Campaigners for the closure cite ‘lewd’ behaviour in nearby dunes but naked bathers say they’re just ‘embracing the beach as Mother Nature intended’
It’s a Tuesday morning, the infinite blue sky of Byron Bay has opened up and the six naturists – four men, two women – have stripped down to their birthday suits for a quick dip in the buff.
This section of beach – an 800-metre stretch along the vast coastline – forms the only legal clothing-optional beach in the shire. Among those taking advantage of the opportunity to be out in the open is Duncan James, vice-president of Northern Rivers Naturists, who is something of an evangelist for “embracing the beach as Mother Nature intended.”
“Many of the beach users have described the clothing-optional beach as their happy place, a place where they can disconnect from modern day stresses, a place they can feel at one with nature,” he says.
There is, however, a metaphorical cloud on the horizon. On Sunday, Tyagarah is set to be stripped of its status as an official clothing-optional beach.
“I guess these values aren’t shared by New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service [NPWS], who are hell-bent on closing one of Byron’s last alternative community hubs and experiences,” James says.
Some rich asshole named Stuart Sloan, owner of University Village, tried low key getting rid of our nude beach here in Seattle. He talked directly with the mayor to get a children's park right next to the beach and offered to pay for it which would likely mean police would crack down on nudity there. Thankfully the community gathered together to tell him to fuck off.
Lets all buy the property next to Stuarts house, tear down any existing building, and build a glass house.......for nude parties!
Regressive's like maga claim to be all about personal freedom but in truth they don't want others to have any freedom they don't approve of. Tolerance is not something they possess. Never listen to what regressives say just watch what those perverts do.
Regressives want the personal freedom to harass hurt and kill who they want. That's what they're talking about. They feel the walls finally around them saying they can't. So they lash out, at anything.
They are dangerous feral animals
Someone on the Internet put it nicely as "there must be outgroups the law binds but does not protect, and in groups the law protects but does not bind". That's all there is it to it. My people good and can do what they want, your people suck.
Stripped down to this basic level, you can see it's a pretty vile worldview.
I really need to start using the term "regressives". It is so accurate!
Someday I hope to build up the courage to visit/participate a nudist beach. It seems far more comfortable and “normal” in Europe than in the States from my travels. Remarkably humanizing.
its surprisingly a nothing burger. from 50+ feet away a nude elderly man looks quite similar to a nude elderly woman. the breeze is the best part.
Went to one while in Spain. The spectrum was roughly the same as you would see at any beach. There were no creepers hanging around or anyone who was judgy.
There's one in my area of Florida. It's the busiest part of the beach lol. Other people get judgy if you tell them you go, but the people there are super normal. It's really more about yourself being free in nature. If you go to ogle at people you'll be disappointed and also unwelcome, naturists don't generally tolerate creeps. They like to keep it chill and everyone interacts like any other beach. Occasionally there's even kids there.
But it's technically illegal in the state... But the cops turn a blind eye and haven't gone after it (it's been this way for decades). The (federally run) park even put up signs to warn that you made encounter "nude sunbathers" at a certain part of the beach.
They are really good. And tbh, they feel pretty normal once you get used to it, usually takes about 15 min. I prefer them now, since you dry off a lot quicker and don't have to deal with a wet bathing suit. The US has some good ones, as does Canada.
Beaches are tougher but I believe there's a nudist resort in every state in the US. You can visit the AANR website and find the closest one. If it's a "family resort" that means it's probably very welcoming, if a little boring depending on location.
Its a cultural thing, in Japan and Europe its the opposite, nudity is considered less extreme than violence
Ehh… that depends too. Here in Italy there’s plenty of people that wouldn’t bat an eye at their 10-year old playing CoD and shooting people in the most graphic ways possible, as long as there’s no female nipples in sight.
Japan seems to have picked up more American-like attitudes about nudity over the decades. Older anime had a lot more ecchi nudity than current stuff, including anime that was meant for a younger crowd.
For example (NSFW link): https://animebathscenewiki.com/index.php?title=Mobile_Suit_Gundam/Episode_22
I may be making assumptions about a whole culture based on one aspect of it, though.
They worded conservative creep perfectly to be completely misleading
Weirdly it was only on reading your comment that I saw the ambiguity. I quite like it.
Misleading yet entirely accurate
Recently, some solid gold asshole tried to close one of the two nude beaches in our city by getting a playground installed on it (the nude beach is in the wealthy part of town, nestled between $6.2m dollar homes in a neighborhood that only recently become staggeringly wealthy. The beach itself is tiny, but heavily used.
Luckily, hundreds and hundreds of people showed up at the tiny community center, all in favor of protecting the nude beach. People were packed in, and a line stretched out deep into the lobby and out the main doors. They keep trying to close it, but people love it too much. Realistically, the city needs more nude beaches, not less. Beach goer cars line the neighborhood for blocks, and the park and bike racks are always completely full.
I hope the recent attention brings it back to its former dykekiki glory this summer, it’s really fallen into grody hempfest crowd over the last several years. I pick up so much trash when I go there now, it’s kinda depressing.
Yeah, I agree. The other nude beach down the road feels a bit cleaner.
These prudes would be terrified of San Francisco, whole city is clothing optional. No one ever really does it cause it's too cold though saw a couple out today for pride. Sucks there banning it in a place that would actually be comfortable to do it.
Not sure if you mean -
[It] sucks there, banning it in a place that would actually be comfortable to do it.
Or
You're just too lazy to learn how to be coherent for the rest of us
"[It] sucks they're banning..."
Probably autocorrect or something like that, it's not that hard to figure out.
Did you think you were being witty? Cause you’re just an asshole.
What options does the community have? Was there no RFC by the park board?
First they came for the nudes, and I did not speak out. Because I was not nude.
Tobias?
I thought walking around naked was part of Australian culture.
Sorry to read that. How dare you sun yourself as nature intended. /s
Admit it, you zoomed.
Is this the case of Byron becoming fashionable, hippies being gentrifuged out by rising prices and replaced by Liberal voters who wanted their slice of heaven to be more conservative and family-friendly?
Someone needs to explain to me why nudity is considered not 'family-friendly' but watching movies/playing video games with massive amounts of bloodshed and death is considered fine and dandy for kids.
Because of the American Puritannical values, which dictate what the credit companies and advertisers are willing to do business with and the cultural zeitgeist along with it.
The Puritans were some of the earliest British colonists in the US, and were either thrown out of England for attempting a coup to replace the king with a puppet to force their more extremist form of Christianity on the country, or left by their own choice because they felt that the Church of England was too liberal. They were basically a bunch of prudes who believed that the human body and sex were shameful and disgusting.
This has led to the dichotomy where advertisers want nothing to do with sex/nudity, except when it comes to implied sex in advertisements. Because sex is bad, but it also sells, which is good.
Who said violence was good for kids? If I were a parent I wouldn't let my kid play those games. Not until they're 14.......unless they're a stupid kid. Then 18.
Family friendly?
Are you for real? Nudist campings are family campings in yurop. Went to a nekid beach last week and it was filled with families. As it is every time we go.
It's not the nakedness that seems to be the issue. It's your hyper sexualised mindset and culture.
as much as we all hate Liberal voters*, and gentrification and rising prices - Byron Bay is ground zero for hippy anti-vaxxers and the resurgence of measles in Australia.
So... I'm torn.
* for Americans, the Liberal party (capital 'L') are the conservatives. Basically, wannabe Republicans. They're economically liberal, not socially liberal. That is, like all conservatives, they like wasting government money and giving liberal amounts to corporations.
Glad you gave the astrict!