We swim naked at local beaches to celebrate our bodies, enjoy our local community spaces, and challenge draconian laws and attitudes that suggest that our natural appearance is offensive enough to mandate coverups
© 2003 Daniel Johnson. Click on image for larger view.
Many local groups are beginning work on the secondary phases of a comprehensive, long-term campaign aimed at increasing local opportunities for clothing-free recreation and expression in line with other civilized countries.
This collaborative effort will be done in conjunction with other organizations, local government, and individuals who are interested in enhancing the community experience by providing opportunities for a diverse body-positive experience.
We believe tax payers are not interested in using city resources for persecuting harmless naked beach users. Not only that but the general population is becoming increasingly restless when they learn that people in other parts of the nation and in other countries are able to enjoy clothing-free recreation without harassment or arrest.
"Laws against public nudity stem from people's unease with the human body. It makes people uneasy that others are comfortable enough to be naked in public, when they are not". (Katie Mann, from article in Going Natural, Vol. 17, Number 2 |
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Website design, upkeep, and illustration by Daniel Johnson/KP. Photography of wade-ins from Discovery Park (top pictures on this page) courtesy of JC; PJ Walsh, Lightwave Photo & Video, Inc.; and KG. Images of beach cleanup at lower left by JC. Site made with a Apple PowerMac G5 with Macromedia Studio MX 2004. Contact web team and project coordinators by filling out the form at the top of the page.
Last updated: Sept 10, 2006
Drop your drawers! Its time for a summer celebration of clothing-optional fun at the beach!You are invited to join the fast-growing movement in Seattle that aims to develop acceptance of clothing-optional use of beaches in the Greater Seattle area. We want to encourage everybody to come down and have fun and be counted as a visible supporter of the clothing-free beach use. A new beach user group is forming around the preservation and enhancement of clothing optional use of Manguson Park shoreline, which has been used clothing-optional since the mid 1970s. Get involved today with the Magnuson Beach Bares (MBB). Click here to visit the MBB Web site. |
The addition of clothing optional beaches in Seattle will enhance and extend the multiple uses that Seattle Park & Recreation offers to an increasingly diverse population, including the thousands of Northwest families and individuals looking for clothing optional beach in the State of Washington. Several groups in the Greater Seattle Area have been working together staging events and projects to help fast-track development of clothing-optional beaches, especially in Washington State's Puget Sound region. While Oregon, California, and Vancouver B.C. boast many clothing-optional beaches, the Puget Sound region has no such beaches with parking and safe access for families and people with disabilities. |
While some people don't mind going a little out of their way to enjoy recreation au naturel, most families and individuals prefer areas close to home, among communities that take their responsibility to maintain a safe and clean environment seriously. With the explosion of large-scale developments in formerly less-populated regions, and growing concern of the environmental impact and time involved in traveling for hours to reach too few remaining areas, grassroots momentum is growing fast to open existing local public beaches for clothing-optional use.
Americans traveling abroad, especially those from the Northwest, are increasingly aware of the disparity between what they can enjoy abroad and what little they have back home. Many countries, especially in Europe, have been front runners for providing its citizens and their many tourists with a large and diverse selection of opportunities for clothing-optional recreation. Denmark, as an example, has had its entire coastline available for clothing-optional use, with the exception of two beaches, for 35 years! In Germany, many citizens can sunbathe in public parks and can be found skinnydipping along rivers all over the country. How can this cultural disparity be justified? If body acceptance can be a measurement of a civilized society, what does that say about us?
Isn't it time that Seattle, renowned worldwide for its natural beauty and friendly demeanor, caught up with the rest of the civilized world? Seattle citizens, say yes! (see Seattle P-I poll and right, along with Roper Polls indicating broad support for clothing-optional recreation across the US). |
We are very grateful to the friendly people at the Clothes Free International (CFI) for their support of our mission and for hosting our web site. |
- Seattle's pop-culture guru Clark Humphrey's closing remarks on Seattle's 2004 World Naked Bike Ride in his MISC Media weblog entry from June 13, 2004
Visit the SFBC Wiki site!
Magnuson Beach Bares is now recruiting supporters! NEW! Visit the Magnuson Beach Bares Wiki Web site at MagnusonBeach.Org! |
Seattle citizens support clothing-optional beaches! In a follow up to an article by Kathy George, the Seattle Post Intelligencer posted a P-I Daily online poll on June 16, 2003 asking "Should Seattle have a clothing-optional beach?"
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These results are consistent with Naturist Education Foundation (NEF)/Roper polls regarding clothing-free recreation
The 2000 NEF/Roper Poll shows that one of every four adults in the U.S. has been skinny- dipping or has sunbathed nude in a mixed-gender social setting. Using current population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the poll suggests more than 51 million Americans have participated at one time or another in nude recreation.
Nude Sunbathing? No Problem!
Another part of the NEF/Roper Poll asked:
Do you believe that people who enjoy nude sunbathing should be able to do so without interference from officials as long as they do so at a beach that is accepted for that purpose?
Results: 80% Yes
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Few American adults object to nude sunbathing that takes place at beaches in designated areas. The increase in acceptance over the past 17 years is significant. The 2000 NEF/Roper Poll indicates that fully four out of five Americans today support nude sunbathing at places accepted for that purpose.
Be sure to visit NEF's Roper Poll results website for details.
Please give generously to the BFC and The Naturist Action Committee (NAC) to help support the push for more clothing-free opportunities.
Campaign Coordination
Seattle Free Beach Campaign (SFBC) is a project initiated by Body Freedom Collaborative (BFC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the integration and acceptance of non-sexual social nudity in a variety of public and private settings. The project has been transformed to represent the efforts of all groups looking for positive change in our region.
Campaign Endorsements
See the SFBC support wiki page.
Media Coverage:
See the listing of various Media Coverage
Other local free beach & public lands resources:
Click here for links.