Far-right group stokes violence against Toronto naturists
GTA Skinnydippers are drowning beneath a flood of fake news “groomer” attacks
TORONTO—International Skinny Dip Day is coming July 13, but the members of one bare bathing group in Canada might not be able to catch their breath long enough to go for a swim. That’s because they’re drowning beneath a flood of attacks.
The GTA Skinnydippers, a naturist recreational group that has been operating in the Greater Toronto Area for over 30 years, was the target of a fake news hit-job this week by an outfit calling itself True North.
The outlet published an “article” on July 2 about public nudity at Pride during the previous weekend and the Toronto Police Service’s decision not to arrest naked people. As the police told True North, it wasn’t their priority to have officers “wading into the crowd to arrest people for public nudity” who were not causing offense or behaving inappropriately.
Barrage of attacks
Copying a tactic that’s been used by anti-LGBTQ groups over the last few years, the published story mentioned that a number of individuals were nude or nearly nude at Pride and then deployed the specter of a supposed danger to children.
Relying on the language of the “groomer” panics that have been a favored strategy of the right in its attacks on queer people lately, the article provided the ammunition for its readers and followers to imply GTA Skinnydippers is a haven for predators with sinister intentions toward children.
“Nudists had a booth inviting people—including minors—to join a naked swimming club,” True North wrote. “GTA Skinny Dippers welcomes children to swim naked with them.”
Immediately, the outrage machine went to work, and GTA Skinnydippers became the target of intense online vitriol. The extremist “Libs of TikTok” group blasted out to its 3.1 million followers on X (Twitter):
“‘Skinny dipping club’ in Canada hosts n*k*d events. They provide FREE memberships for kids under 18. Children between 14 and 18 do not need to be accompanied by an adult…. Men are also allowed into women’s changing rooms if they’re in a couple and can walk around with er*ctions. How is this legal”
Libs of TikTok, which despite its name has actually been permanently banned from TikTok, has a long history of stoking anti-LGBTQ hatred (especially toward trans people), anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of prejudice.
It has frequently served as a base for people organizing harassment campaigns. Everyone from teachers and librarians to doctors and drag queens have been on the receiving end of their political attacks. According to NBC News, at least 21 bomb threats have been linked to Libs of TikTok social media posts.
The account, along with faux news outlets like True North, is part of a network of actors that coordinate to push conservative talking points and manipulate public opinion, using the “culture wars” as cover.
The business of moral panic
True North, for instance, although it presents itself as a news publication, is an arm of the “True North Centre for Public Policy”—a right-wing think tank whose agenda includes cutting taxes, undermining climate change legislation, and whipping up anger over refugees and asylum-seekers, among other policy items.
Press Progress reports that it was founded by Candice Malcolm, previously a spokesperson for former Alberta Premier and United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney and for the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation. It has links to the old Manning Centre, which pushed government downsizing, privatization of public resources, and “free markets.”
Fomenting hatred of LGBTQ people is another plank in the platforms of the far-right media ecosystem that True North is a part of, and naturists are increasingly collateral damage in their campaign.
GTA Skinnydippers is certainly taking some damage. In an email to members on July 9, the group revealed that while participation in Pride was “fairly successful,” the aftermath has been “HELL for us.”
It appears the group has lost its bowling venue due to people “calling the alley leaving hate messages for allowing kids to be involved with adults.” Leaders now also expect “a difficult time obtaining contracts for our swims this season,” as public pools may feel the heat from politicians swayed by the outrage. The group has also had its X account deleted by the platform and has scrubbed its own website of photos and identifying information in an attempt to protect its members.
Collateral damage
It’s not just the GTA Skinnydippers who are under fire, though. The online hate mob has also turned its guns—metaphorically and possibly literally—on Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park, a naturist park located just north of Toronto. A barrage of violent threats has led its owner, Stéphane Deschênes, to request police protection for the resort.
An X account responding to the original Libs of TikTok post about GTA Skinnydippers encouraged people to look up Bare Oaks, which has resulted in a barrage of threats.
“A clickbait social media post has unfortunately gone viral and resulted in people making violent threats online towards members of the naturist community,” said Deschênes, who is also president of the International Naturist Federation (INF-FNI).
Deschênes dismissed the grooming panic. “This current fear of predators at family naturist parks is absurd,” he said in a statement released to the press. “Children in naturism are always with their families.”
He also slammed accusations that naturists like those at Bare Oaks or in the GTA Skinnydippers are a threat to the safety of minors:
“Our whole community is being grossly mischaracterized as dangerous for children when in fact the opposite is true. A multitude of scholarly research studies on this topic in psychology and sociology suggest that children reared in an atmosphere containing family social nudity benefit from the practice. In a world where social media perpetuates a climate of sexual exploitation, objectification, and creates unnatural perceptions of beauty, we need the naturist message more than ever.”
In conclusion
Front groups like Libs of TikTok and True North are out to advance the agenda of the far-right, and sensationalizing naturists and their lifestyle is just another weapon in their arsenal. Solidarity is key in this moment—solidarity with GTA Skinnydippers and Bare Oaks as well as solidarity between naturists and the LGBTQ community.
Some naturists may be tempted to direct the blame toward Pride events or start shying away from identification or affiliation with LGBTQ groups. This would be a mistake. As this episode has shown, division and hatred are precisely the outcomes that the moral panic crowd hopes to achieve.
An injury to one is an injury to all. 🪐
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Very reminiscent of the WNBR in Wisconsin. I remember part of the legislation specifically called out a pass on people who were photographing and videoing for the purposes of reporting. This bothered me because it seemed like a dog whistle for haters.
And now here it is. These haters have no reason to go to Pride (where these pics were taken) except to take pictures, dox people and go to extreme lengths to persecute others for different belief systems, firing up rage machines and threatening good people. If anything, these people should be the ones who get persecuted for creating dangerous circumstances.
In the community of naturism and even outside of that, I really don't give a flying f* about your political leanings. I obviously have my leanings and beliefs but recognize where politics are different than people. So if you have a conservative approach to the world, you do you. However, these groups are self-named ultra-right groups who are stirring up a mob. It is a fact, not an opinion.
The GTA group is a good group. They have strong and thought through processes. They are careful and don't hesitate to remove people who do not follow rules. They deserve support.
Thank you Evan for important reporting.