Naturism and LGBT etc.
I got this email yesterday. A couple - maybe members, told me:
"xxxx.com is a website we are starting to build to create a worldwide database of naturist resorts and campgrounds; with also information on LGBT friendly locations. Comments and suggestions about our website would very much be appreciated."
Great idea, I thought. And then you get it all wrong from the beginning.
What is it with this mixing naturism into the alphabet soup of LGBT etc.? We are NOT part of that. We are not about hetero sexual orientation either. We are not about sex. When do you get it?
When guests book at our naturist resorts, they sometimes say "we are a gay couple and we would like to stay ..." what are we supposed to do with that information? We never have anybody write "we are a hetero sexual couple and we would like to stay ..."
Your sexual orientation is COMPLETELY irrelevant to naturism. I couldn't care less and I can use this information for nothing. On the contrary it makes me worried that you do not understand that naturism is not about sexual orientation, gender, race, colour, height, width, weight, length of hair or nails, piercings, tattoos, teeth with or without braces and what have you. It is a preference for spending as much time as possible with no clothes on. It is probably also a preference for doing so among other people who likewise have no clothes on. Because it feels good. And then you can add on a lot of other excellent healthy reasons, but believe me, nobody would be naturists for healthy reasons only - we are naked because for some reason it feels great and it inadvertently puts a smile on your face and it miraculously makes you want to be friends with all the other great naked people around you.
Regardless of all the other stuff.
We had a member some years ago, who was naked in the beginning. Shortly after, he went up to his room and put some jewellery on. A little later he went up and put a wig on and some lipstick. While all that was a bit unusual, nobody really had any problem with it.
It was not until he went up and came down in a black nightclub dress with his wig and makeup and jewellery that we had to tell him, that he was in the wrong place. We are into not wearing clothes. He thought it would be OK if it was clothes usually worn by any other gender.
We had to explain to him, that his clothes polluted our clothes free area. We could feel his frustration, that he had a difficult time finding a space where he could cross dress among other cross dressers, but this was our space and we had had a hard time fighting for acceptance of this space too. So he could choose between undressing or leaving. He left.
One if my frequent discussions with Khun Dao is about the sign at the pool at Barefeet Naturist Resort. It says: "No Sex In The Pool". Why is it there? With or without it, we tolerate sex at the pool no more or less than your average Sheraton hotel. So why do we put it up - and why don't they?
Instead I would love to put up another sign saying:
Dear Guest,
If at anytime during your stay you feel an urge to put on your clothes, please be considerate to other guests. Put it on in your room only or stay within the designated area behind the building until you are ready to take it off again.
Thank you.
.
A great, big & bold statement, Gregers. I don’t know if it was just me or my state of mind when I read this, but I can feel the emotion of the the statement.
I share your sentiment, and disappointment, regarding naturism and its big no connection with sexual activity, sexual preferences or anything about sex at all. And it is the hardest job still, to make people understand the first rule about naturism; it’s not about sex! And it is a long, never ending battle to make people understand this concept first. And we will keep on fighting this together
So true, Apis. And so basic 🙂 but it has to be stated again and again.
“”When guests book at our naturist resorts, they sometimes say “we are a gay couple and we would like to stay …” what are we supposed to do with that information? We never have anybody write “we are a hetero sexual couple and we would like to stay …””
In this predominately straight world there is no need for a hetero couple to ask. It is different for a gay couple/person because they are NOT always welcome everywhere and are often classed as an unwelcome minority. I have also seen single men asking that they would like to stay or attend a naturist function because there also seems to be some discrimination there too at certain times and places. As for what to do with the information? Tell them that they are welcome. period
That is exactly what we do: Tell them, they are welcome.
And its not a “preference” it is an orientation and like skin color can not be changed. How a gay individual deals with this fact of life differs widely, as you might expect.
At first I thought you would be right … I may have used the wrong word. But when I read the text again, I could not find it.
I only use preference about being naked. I believe. Have I overlooked some instance of the wrong word?
Ahhhh sorry it wasnt you. It was another member commenting. My bad! And “preference” is the perfect word for wanting to be naked!!
I agree with statement about naturism without regards to the human created “label” with all the alphabet soup. In fact, few years back, when I was interested to visit a resort in Pattaya, I had an impression that the resort was for gay men. Also there’s one in Bali. The question I would have asked is, ” can a heterosexual person visit the place simply because he/she enjoys being nude and free in a place sanctioned as a clothes-free area without regards for whatever the person’s orientation”. I’m glad to be accepted to the resorts I currently visit, despite being a solo male, which is not acceptable in a lot of family-oriented resorts in US. But these labels should stop once you enter into a naturist resort, because once you are nude, nobody judges you for who or what you are, just like when we are born. I always remember this analogy “you may drive a Porche, and I may drive a Proton, but our graves would still be the same 6′ X 3′ box”…..
oh yeah, talking about no sex in the public use pool, ‘coz it’s not hygenic 🙂
I totally agree with everybody’s comments…To my understanding, Naturism is just a lifestyle…i.e. being naked whenever or wherever, when you working or leisure….Just like to pubic people we see on the street…The only difference would be naturists have to act at some specific places, like our naturist resorts, nude beaches, specific restaurants, or even naturist clubs etc…All activities forbidden for public people should be forbidden for our naturists…so if sexual acts were permissible on the street, then it would be permissible in the pool… ???
You don’t have to search Google for a long time before you realize that many people can’t talk about naturism without talking about sex. It seems that the two things are mixed together for a very large group. It is and will be an eternal battle for information. Just my opinion….
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I happened to read the article and the comments below and a small doubt came to my mind. Are we good enough at making everybody feel welcome? It is not quite enough just to say that ‘everybody is welcome’ to make everybody feel that the environment is made deliberately inclusive of them. To understand what I mean, compare with bars. Some bars feel like they welcome women both single and couples, some bars are so masculine in every way that no matter what it says on the sign by the door most women would prefer to go somewhere else. Old German naturists sitting around their “Stammtisch” in their FKK club may believe that they are welcoming young naturist. But that is not what the decoration and atmosphere says. There is a reason why their grand children go to nude fest on the free beaches instead. As resorts we should focus on how to signal through all the little things more inclusiveness.