Carved out, carved up

On the challenges and complexities of protecting nudism with legislative carve-outs

Editor’s note: This opinion piece is written in reference to the recent Planet Nude article titled “Florida’s new massage therapy law exempts nude resorts,” which reports on the recent successful efforts of the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) to carve out an exception for AANR affiliates in Florida’s new ban on nude massage services, a law written with the stated intention of combatting human trafficking.

Adobe stock photos

Over the past year or more, there have been various legislative efforts across the country to ban or severely limit certain performances, services, and gatherings, particularly ones that include or imply nudity and sexuality. Some such efforts have included bans on drag performances that unjustly targeted the LGBTQ community but were also written broadly enough to pose a threat to entertainment performed at nudist venues and gatherings. In fact, many states have implemented or attempted to implement such bans, though few have been successful, and others have been challenged or overturned. As a nudist—and as a gay nudist—watching the nudist community grapple with the potential impact of these laws on the nudist community has been eye-opening, particularly in the ways that a handful of the more socially conservative nudists seem keen to watch their own rights erode as long as the LGBTQ community takes a hit, too.

I say that with a heavy heart. Most nudists are not so opposed to the LGBTQ community or its rights, and most are also not opposed to drag performances. And yet, even among many of the most progressive nudists, there has been a reluctance to involve ourselves in matters that connect us with a legally vulnerable and politically controversial community like the LGBTQ community, to the extent that many nudists refuse to accept that targeted assaults on queer rights are just a hop, skip, and a jump away from targeted assaults on nudists, or that those same targeted assaults might already have an impact on the nudist community. Worse yet, conversations around carving out exceptions for nudist venues in order to skirt that impact have shed light on the willingness of many within the nudist community to sacrifice the LGBTQ community to a culture war over nudity rather than fight to defend whatever shared values and freedoms we enjoy. Fortunately, it seems that the wave of drag bans has subsided somewhat as constitutional contests citing free speech have arisen, to the benefit of both the nudist and LGBTQ communities.

In this same vein, the recent legislation in Florida and its carve-outs for AANR-affiliated clubs has left a similarly bad taste in my mouth for much the same reason. Clearly, we as a community have recognized that these laws are unfavorable to nudists and that they are bound to have a negative impact on nudist businesses and individuals, nude tourism, etc. Inevitably, these laws will also have a similar impact on non-nudists, people who might enjoy nudity within these contexts but who do not identify as nudists. This is not to mention the explicit target of the bills, which are providers of nude massage services. Reasonably, the nudist community has never found itself in a position to align itself with adult services and entertainment, choosing instead to keep their hands clean of anything not purely family-friendly and non-sexual.

That does not mean, though, that political and legal attacks on adult entertainment will leave the nudist community unscathed. Heightened government interference in the personal lives of citizens, whether they’re seeking adult services or a family-friendly atmosphere, should raise a red flag for nudists. For this reason, I find it troubling that rather than outright advocate against this law, the reaction of the nudist establishment is to protect itself in the short term while functionally signing onto the bill itself, legitimizing the targeted attack on adult-oriented nude services and joining in the fight against any form of nudity that is not officially approved by AANR. In theory, this may serve to benefit AANR’s clubs, positioning them to serve as the state’s only sanctioned point of access to nude massage services, which is an opportunistic move that I can only hope was not the intention of the lobbyists and leaders who championed this win.

To the credit of the nudist leaders involved, sometimes the course of action most likely to succeed in protecting oneself and one’s community is just not great. It is the responsibility of those leaders to work to protect their members and the nudist community, and AANR’s success in carving out an exception for its own clubs, in this case, is a win regardless. It officially recognizes and validates the cultural distinctions between nudism and adult entertainment and hands the nudist community a precedent for further legal protections. The carve-out, however, does not recognize or protect all nudists or all nudist venues in the state, only those affiliated with AANR. While we should celebrate this win, it is also reasonable to be disappointed with its narrow scope and that it came at the expense of adult service providers who will still be impacted by the law and at the expense of the rights of the seekers of those same adult services who, regardless of anyone’s personal opinions on the matter, have had a legal right to seek those services until the passage of this law.

In a perfect world, we would have seen a vocal yet tactful rejection of this law and similar laws from the nudist leaders tasked with protecting the nudist community. We would have seen a commitment to combatting these laws in their entirety to remind legislators of the freedoms we stand for, even when those freedoms are enjoyed by people who live their lives differently from us or might not choose to align themselves with us. We would have seen a stance that encourages legislators to find alternate solutions to the injustices they are intending to remedy, solutions that respect and reaffirm the rights we value dearly. We would have seen a more altruistic approach all around that could benefit more than just a subsection of the nudist community, even if it meant shining a spotlight on nudists, our values, and our commitment to respectful and consensual body freedom. We would not have opted to carve up our collective rights for the benefit of a few. I can respect this win and what it means for nudists while also longing for a nudist community that fights more proactively for our collective rights.

Whether the new Florida law will make a difference for those impacted by human trafficking, its stated intention, remains to be seen, but let’s hope it delivers on that promise at least. 🪐