Social nudity in Seattle - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Social nudity in Seattle is an umbrella reference for Seattle's culture of non-sexualized clothing-optional

Nudity

Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...

and topfree events.

Seattle is known for having a diversity of clothing-optional events, a large degree of creativity energy in a wide range of different organizations and events, as well as enough tolerance for such phenomena to take place.

Beaches

While Seattle is known for its naked cyclists, clothing-optional activity in Seattle goes back much farther with nude

Nudity

and topfree use of areas of Magnuson Park, Washington Park Arboretum

Washington Park Arboretum

Washington Park is a public park in Seattle, Washington, USA, most of which is taken up by the Washington Park Arboretum, a joint project of the University of Washington, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, and the nonprofit Arboretum Foundation. Washington Park also includes a...

, Discovery Park, Denny-Blaine Park and Secret Beach (a name given to a park that local users wish to keep a secret).

In the late 60s and early 70s, there was a far more rebellious mood and more group activity, including nudity. A lot centered on the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

, with the main skinny-dipping area the NW corner of the Washington Park Arboretum

Washington Park Arboretum

(to some extent a gay cruising area today). When the RH Thompson expressway construction was stopped, folks liked to dive off the unconnected ramps, but this all ended (mid 70s? I’m not sure).

Magnuson Park may not have been accessible to civilians until the late 1980s, when the Sandpoint Naval Air Station was closed. Skinny-dipping was individual or a few people, and at various spots north up to the NOAA buildings. Others may have clearer memories.

Because of the lack of safe places around town (1970s-1990s) some preferred skinny-dipping at lakes (e.g. Lake Kachess) or going to Scenic and other hot springs. No formal organized use has been documented before the Seattle Free Beach Campaign came into existence in the early 2000s.

Clubs

Additionally, several clubs serve the Greater Seattle area including Fraternity Snoqualmie on the side of Tiger Mountain

Tiger Mountain

Tiger Mountain is a mountain in the U.S. state of Washington.-The mountain:The mountain has six peaks in the center of the Issaquah Alps forming a triangle between Interstate 90 on the north, the Issaquah-Hobart Road on the southwest, and State Route 18 on the southeast...

near Issaquah

Issaquah, Washington

Issaquah is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 30,434 at the 2010 census.Based on per capita income, Issaquah ranks 25th of 522 areas in the State of Washington to be ranked....

. Fraternity Snoqualmie at Park Forestia is the home of the Bare Buns Fun Run West and Nudestock. Additionally the Sun Lover's Under Gray Skies (SLUGS) is a naturist travel & events club located in the Puget Sound area.

Naked cyclists

The Solstice Cyclists

Solstice Cyclists

The Solstice Cyclists is an artistic, non-political, clothing-optional bike ride celebrating the Summer Solstice...

are widely believed to be one of the primary groups to popularize festive and artistic nudity and have been an influence on such groups as World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR)

World Naked Bike Ride

World Naked Bike Ride is an international clothing-optional bike ride in which participants plan, meet and ride together en masse on human-powered transport , to "deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world."The dress code motto is "Bare as you dare"...

and its local affiliated World Naked Bike Ride Seattle

World Naked Bike Ride Seattle

World Naked Bike Ride Seattle is an umbrella reference for Seattle's collection of local World Naked Bike Ride-affiliated events including WNBR Downtown Seattle , the permaculture-oriented Gardens Everywhere Bike Parade, WNBR Seattle Night Rides, WNBR West Seattle, Seafair Cyclists and Hemp Ride...

events including WNBR Downtown Seattle (the longest standing ride), the permaculture

Permaculture

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that is modeled on the relationships found in nature. It is based on the ecology of how things interrelate rather than on the strictly biological concerns that form the foundation of modern agriculture...

-oriented Gardens Everywhere Bike Parade (GEBP), WNBR Seattle Night Rides, WNBR West Seattle, Seafair Cyclists and Hemp Ride as well as other local Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

clothing-optional bike rides

Clothing-optional bike rides

A clothing-optional bike ride is a cycling event in which nudity is permitted or expected. There are many clothing-optional cycling events around the world. Some rides are political, recreational, artistic or a unique combination...

such as Body Pride Ride (BPR or Beeper) as well as rides that have no specific dress code and tolerate clothing-optional participants such as Seattle Critical Mass/Seattle Critical Ass. In fact, participants of non-Solstice Cyclists events often are assumed to be directly affiliated with Solstice Cyclists, or simply just known as the naked cyclists.

In fact all of the organizers of the latter naked cycling events have in been participants of the Solstice Cyclists, including Daniel Johnson

Daniel Lorenz Johnson

Daniel Lorenz Johnson is an American permaculturist, artist, activist, community organizer and writer who has worked for the advancement of various progressive/social liberalist causes through interdisciplinary, collaborative projects involving grassroots politics, media art and popular culture...

, Nexus (alias), Matt and others.

(A schedule of all Pacific Northwest clothing-optional bike rides can be found at NakedCyclists.org.

2000 and beyond

Body Freedom Collaborative

The Body Freedom Collaborative is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the integration and acceptance of non-sexual social nudity in a variety of public and private settings...

is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the integration and acceptance of non-sexual social nudity in a variety of public and private settings, and was formed in the early 2000s by Mark Storey

Mark Storey

Mark Storey is a board member of the Naturist Action Committee and has testified at anti-nudity legislation hearings all over the United States....

and Daniel Johnson

Daniel Johnson

Daniel Johnson may refer to* Daniel Johnson , English buccaneer* Daniel Johnson, Sr. , politician, leader of the Union Nationale party and Quebec premier, 1966–1968* Daniel Johnson, Jr...

Legality

While there is nothing in the Seattle Municipal Code about nudity and expectations of behavior, Washington State does have a law protecting against "obscene" behavior while being fully or partially naked. This law is intended to protect citizens against unwanted lewd behavior. RCW 9A.88.010 on Indecent Exposure states "(1) A person is guilty of indecent exposure

Indecent exposure

Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Indecent exposure laws vary in different...

if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm. The act of breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...

or expressing breast milk is not indecent exposure." The severity goes up substantially when an offense is made against young children.

In 2005 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...

reported the following:
The Superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation

Seattle Parks and Recreation

Seattle Parks and Recreation is the department of government of the city of Seattle, Washington, responsible for maintaining the city's parks, open space, and community centers.The total area of the properties maintained by the department is over , which makes up approximately 11% of the total...

, provided this explanation to those who complained about participants in the 2006 World Naked Bike Ride Seattle

World Naked Bike Ride Seattle

event:
Former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske

Gil Kerlikowske

Richard Gil Kerlikowske is the current Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position generally referred to as the United States "Drug Czar". He assumed office on May 7, 2009....

had this to say to his staff about questions regarding nude participants in the 2008 Gay Pride Parade:

Beaches

Clubs

Naked cyclists

2000 and beyond

Legality

See also

Official links

Local naked + painted cycling resources

Clothing-optional events