All-Nudist occasionally pointed these things out while it was unfolding, much to the ire of some of those involved or interested. We never felt that a handful of naked men hanging around an intersection had anything to do with nudism/naturism and were appalled that some in our community, including those who should know better, somehow saw it as a nudist cause.
To the contrary, it was a fiasco which nudists should have immediately distanced ourselves from and which our organizations should have spoken out about to make clear that this has nothing to do with our wholesome lifestyle.. Those people were not nudists by any stretch of the imagination.
The continued use of the term 'nudist' in reference to those oddballs did us no good in the public eye, and the success of the nudity ban created a precedent for other cities to follow. For representatives of nudist organizations to openly support those responsible for this black eye is disturbing, in the least.
Bear in mind that our objections were not over what SF's wackos do or their right to attempt it; we've only asked that the media learn what a nudist is before applying that term to just anyone who happens to be naked. Sadly, some 'nudists' don't even understand the difference, it would appear.
We disagree with the writer of this article only in that we don't feel that the term 'nudist' needs to be changed, but rather the public's understanding of who we are. No matter what we call ourselves, sooner or later it comes down to a bunch of people being naked together, and as long as the public misunderstands what that really means, nothing will change.
That naked guy we see in the news, on angel dust and running down the street screaming isn't a nudist, and a first step should be an immediate reminder of that fact to the media, every time it occurs, by AANR, TNS, BN, FCN, INF and every other group and individual purporting to support social nudism. It costs nothing and could help a lot to reclaim our honorable name!
Anyone want to bet that we'll ever see that happen?
Related: