News of the Nude, Jul. 2025
Volume 31: A body-positive bundle of bare-based briefs from the dog days of summer
Welcome to another News of the Nude, you fine so’s and so’s. Holy cow, this month has been a whirlwind! Summer is in full effect. I’ve been caught up in all kinds of events and activities—from Skinny Dip Day to nudist conventions, presentations, and demonstrations. In July alone, I’ve been in no fewer than seven different U.S. states (if you count airport layovers). I feel like I blinked and the whole month passed me by, and August promises to be just as packed.
Anyway, all that to say: I’m a little late getting this month’s media review out. I usually aim for the last Friday of each month—but with July ending on a Thursday, that was last week, and I missed it. Still, this marks the 31st straight month of publishing News of the Nude, and I wasn’t about to drop the ball now. So here it is: a little late, but no less worthy, and still squeaking in under the line. Thanks for your patience. 🚀
News of the Nude, Vol. 31 🪐
World Naked Bike Ride: A Protest Against ‘Indecent Exposure’ To Car Culture
Forbes journalist Cecilia Rodriguez offers a rare mainstream look at the global scope and cultural impact of the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR), now celebrating its 20th year. With events in more than 80 cities across 20 countries, the WNBR combines joyful body freedom with serious protest against fossil fuel dependency and car-centric infrastructure.
This article does a good job of contextualizing the event’s evolution from early activist roots to its current scale, while also noting the ongoing controversies it invites, including arrests, legal challenges, and political backlash—especially in the U.S. and France. And the controversy continues every year, as we have reported extensively here on Planet Nude. 🚀
Hundreds of naked people headed to Somerset for Europe’s biggest nude festival
Nudefest 2025 returned to Somerset, England, from July 7–13, drawing hundreds of naturists from around the world to Thorney Lakes for Europe’s largest nude festival. Hosted by British Naturism, the event featured a full week of naked activities (from clay pigeon shooting and line dancing to comedy nights) all in a completely clothes-free environment. Launched in 2007 in Cornwall, Nudefest has grown steadily into British Naturism’s flagship event. Most of the media coverage of the event this year leaned into cheeky headlines, but largely reflected the festival’s increasing mainstream appeal and body-positive spirit. 🚀
Grin and ‘Bare’ it: At this nudist resort, everyone has skin in the game
In this richly reported feature, The Washington Post visits Avalon Resort in Paw Paw, West Virginia, during its 30th anniversary, capturing the vibrant, clothing-optional community through interviews with retirees, ex-military members, and longtime naturists. The piece provides a humanizing look at nudism’s appeal, while weaving in historical context from AANR president (and Planet Nude contributor)
, and scholar Brian Hoffman.While mostly respectful, the article (like many before it) leans on pun-heavy framing (“Grin and ‘Bare’ it,” “bottomless underwear”), hinting at how even sympathetic coverage can’t resist treating nudity as novelty. Still, it gives nudists space to speak for themselves, and offers readers a rare mainstream glimpse into a lifestyle often reduced to punchlines. 🚀
Premier Universities Paving the Path for Powerful Public Nudity
In his spirited student column, Isaac Winchester explores how elite universities like Brown and Yale have become unlikely champions of public nudity through cheeky campus traditions like the Naked Donut Run and biannual nude candy handouts. While these events may sound provocative, participants frame them as playful, body-positive gestures that emphasize desexualized nudity and communal comfort.
Interestingly, the article aligns these college customs within a broader legal and cultural shift: an increasing number of states have struck down topless bans and clarified that public nudity isn’t inherently criminal unless intended to offend. By linking student-led nudity events with national trends toward body neutrality, Winchester positions campuses as microcosms of a slowly shifting social contract where nudity isn’t always taboo, and sometimes is even celebrated in wholesome ways. 🚀
North America’s second-oldest nudist resort is turning 90
Earlier this month, Mountain Air Ranch—Colorado’s long-standing family nudist resort nestled in the foothills near Littleton—celebrated its 90th anniversary with a weekend of live music, catered meals, pool parties, family games, and a drone show. The event welcomed members and first-time visitors alike to honor nearly a century of social nudism on the same piece of land.
As Planet Nude detailed in a comprehensive feature this month, MAR’s origins trace back to 1934, when Denver nudists led by John and Alice Garrison began organizing meetups. After a 1935 police raid, the group purchased remote land near Mica Mine Gulch and founded what would become Mountain Air Ranch. Through police crackdowns, zoning battles, and wildfires, the club has endured (and grown) into one of the most resilient naturist institutions in North America. 🚀
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Why Britons still aren’t ready for ‘social nudity’
In this deeply personal and at times conflicted essay, The Telegraph’s Emma O’Kelly explores the cultural tensions around social nudity in Britain through her own evolving relationship with saunas, wild swimming, and a recent visit to a British Naturism-organized nude swim. While she celebrates the quiet rise of body-positive spaces—especially those led by women—her experience at the BN event ends in discomfort after witnessing inappropriate behavior, leading to a larger critique of how naturist organizations handle safeguarding and inclusivity.
The piece is rich with nuance but framed by a recurring unease: the author’s distrust of mixed-gender nudity, suspicion toward established naturist culture, and lingering associations between nudity and vulnerability. While O’Kelly acknowledges growing mainstream acceptance through saunas and skinny dips, she draws a hard line between these expressions and traditional naturism, portraying the latter as outdated, male-dominated, and tone-deaf to the needs of newcomers. It’s a revealing reflection on Britain’s evolving nudity norms—but also a cautionary reminder of how a single bad experience, poorly handled, can undermine decades of cultural progress. 🚀
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Is a pending nudity ban at Seattle’s Denny Blaine Park ‘queerphobic’?
Seattle’s LGBTQ+ community is voicing concern after a King County Superior Court judge ordered the city to curtail nudity at Denny Blaine Park within two weeks, siding with a neighborhood group that alleged the space has become a site for drug use and sex acts. Longtime parkgoers, including Derek Dizon and Erik Rios, dispute those claims, describing the atmosphere as calm and respectful. They say the rhetoric driving the lawsuit is “queerphobic,” conflating public nudity with inappropriate behavior and targeting a historically queer-friendly space.
As we have reported extensively here on Planet Nude, the park, cherished for its relaxed and body-positive vibe, now faces a future of heightened scrutiny and potential surveillance. While the neighborhood group insists the suit is about public safety and not aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, many worry that the ruling will erode one of the few remaining accessible places in the city where queer and trans people can feel at ease in their bodies. 🚀
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Naturists Federation reacts to controversial nude Lotto ad
A lighthearted Lotto commercial featuring a man skiing naked down a mountain has become New Zealand’s most complained-about ad of 2025, drawing dozens of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). But the New Zealand Naturist Federation isn’t buying the outrage. Federation president Alice de Wet told the Herald that while naturists don’t typically ski in the nude, the ad struck her as harmless and humorous: “Even naturists wouldn’t be offended.”
The ASA agreed, ruling the nudity was brief, non-sexualized, and relevant to the ad’s storyline. The controversy touches on a recurring tension in media representation—where even non-gratuitous nudity triggers disproportionate reactions, especially when aired to general audiences. De Wet took the opportunity to remind the public that naturism is family-friendly and not inherently shocking: “It’s very natural. It should not be seen as anything unnatural or odd.” 🚀
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Gay nudist beach has heritage listing application rejected
An effort to formally recognize Kings Beach—a longtime nudist haven and sanctuary for LGBTQ+ communities near Byron Bay, New South Wales—has been rejected by the NSW Heritage Council. Local couple Rohan Anderson and Jonathan Lee submitted the application to honor the beach’s cultural significance, especially during the AIDS crisis when it served as a rare safe space for gay men. Despite this deep historical connection, the council dismissed the proposal without explanation, stating only that the site “did not meet the threshold.”
As reported in News of the Nude back in May, this decision follows a broader clash between LGBTQ+ beachgoers and state officials, including a short-lived enforcement of a “non-optional clothing” policy by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Though public backlash forced the policy to be reversed, the heritage rejection now marks another setback for those seeking official recognition of queer and nudist histories in public space. As Anderson told The Star Observer, “They just don’t want us there.” 🚀
Austin police seek men who assaulted a trans woman and her friends, and broke Good Samaritan's jaw
A brutal attack at Barton Springs Free Area—a popular clothing-optional beach in Austin—is under investigation as a possible hate crime after a trans woman and her friends were assaulted by a group of men. According to eyewitness accounts and a viral Reddit post, the assailants began with transphobic remarks and quickly escalated to physical violence, shoving the women and poking at their bodies. A bystander who intervened was severely beaten, suffering a concussion and a broken jaw. The beach, known for its relaxed and body-positive atmosphere, became the backdrop for what many are calling a targeted and hateful act. The victims say the attack reflects broader dangers faced by trans and queer individuals in public spaces. A GoFundMe for the injured Good Samaritan has already raised more than double its goal, while Austin police are urging anyone with information to contact investigators. 🚀
Naturists go barefooted for Umhlanga Lagoon clean up
In Durban, South Africa, members of the KwaZulu-Natal Naturist Association (KZNNA) joined forces with local environmental groups for a public beach clean-up at Umhlanga Lagoon, a scenic shoreline north of the city known for its ecological diversity and quiet use by naturists, joggers, and nature lovers alike. Though the event (dubbed the “Barefoot” Beach Clean-up Day) was not a nudist gathering, it reflected the naturist ethos of environmental stewardship and respect for nature, and certainly generated some positive PR for KZNNA. 🚀
WATCH: Moment mortar shell is detonated at notorious nudist beach
A video released by Gorleston Coastguard shows the controlled detonation of a WWII-era mortar shell at Corton Beach, just north of Lowestoft, a seaside town on the coast of eastern England. The shell was discovered in a residential garage and transported to the beach by the British Army’s bomb disposal team for safe detonation.
Though the incident had nothing to do with nudism, multiple outlets highlighted the beach’s reputation as a nudist spot in their headlines. The inclusion serves as yet another example of how media coverage often uses nudist spaces as clickbait, even when the story is about something entirely unrelated. 🚀
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That was this month.
That’s all for this month’s News of the Nude. As always, thanks for dropping in—on the stories and the ever-evolving condition of the naked condition. See you next time. 🪐
Disclosure: This post used generative AI to support the writing and editing process.
Thanks as always for a great news roundup Evan!