The Orbit: May 16
This week on Planet Nude: Brighton stalls, Blaine pushes back, and naturism heads to the classroom
This week on Planet Nude
Minnesota’s Supreme Court ruling on topfreedom was barely dry before Blaine moved to contain it. This week the city passed a new ordinance aimed squarely at undoing the practical effect of the decision, restoring restrictions through local code after losing ground at the state level. It’s a familiar cycle in nudist politics: a narrow legal victory followed by an administrative workaround. Rights can become negotiable again the moment they leave the courtroom.
Brighton’s World Naked Bike Ride ran into a different kind of vulnerability. Organizers postponed the event after a far-right demonstration and counterprotests were scheduled nearby the same day. Naked protest depends heavily on public atmosphere, and atmosphere is increasingly unstable. A very similar thing happened last year in Los Angeles. In Brighton, unlike what we say in Minnesota this week, the ride itself didn’t become illegal. The surrounding conditions simply became harder to navigate safely. Hopefully the postponement solves the problem.
Most of nudism’s public battles are defensive ones: protecting a beach, preserving a legal standard, preventing another rollback. But if naturism wants broader social acceptance rather than mere survival, it also needs an affirmative case for itself. That seems to be part of the thinking behind the INF-FNI and FFN’s new International Summer Naturist University in Paris. The conference is explicitly framed around naturism’s intellectual and philosophical foundations, with organizers arguing that the movement risks becoming little more than leisure culture without a stronger articulation of its underlying ideas. Whether readers agree with that diagnosis or not, the effort itself reflects something real. Naturism is increasingly trying to explain not only why nudity should remain legal, but why the movement exists in the first place.
Check out these stories and more from this week on Planet Nude.
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News of the Nude
Here are a few stories we’re tracking off Planet Nude this week.
Naked and unafraid at 73, she’s challenging ideas about aging women on a Hollywood stage
Pamela Redmond’s solo show, Old Woman Naked, uses literal nudity as a way into questions about aging, women’s bodies, visibility, and what live performance can still do that digital culture cannot. The premise sounds like provocation, but the piece is really about embodiment—the body as biography, argument, and evidence.
NAKED DISTRACTION World’s largest nudist village ‘overrun by seedy SWINGERS’ – with Brit naturists up in arms
The annual “Cap d’Agde has fallen” cycle is back, but underneath the tabloid tone there’s a real question about whether large commercial nude resorts can hold onto a nonsexual identity once sex tourism becomes economically central. The complaints from longtime visitors sound familiar because the debate itself is decades old. Cap d’Agde might be naturism’s most chaotic mirror.
Khan ‘failing to protect children’ from London’s naked bike ride
Weeks before riders even take to the streets, critics are pushing the familiar “children in public spaces” argument against London’s upcoming ride. It’s the same framing showing up around beaches, parks, and nudist events elsewhere this year, and it’s becoming one of the defining rhetorical battles around public nudity right now.
Discord Dispatch
The Planet Nude Discord sspent the week comparing nude camping plans, hot springs trips, and the exact start date of “nakey season” as members collectively emerged from winter hibernation.
Friday’s screening of Diary of a Nudist, Doris Wishman’s campy cult classic, drew a lively crowd for nudist-history trivia, live chat commentary, and a surprisingly great post-film discussion. More community screenings are definitely on the way.
Upcoming in the Discord:
May 27, 6:00 PM Pacific — Nude guided meditation with Richard Dewey of Humanist Meditation
Date TBA — Reverse strip poker game night
Join us at discord.gg/8gt7D6ssMd — learn more
Featured: 1 Naturist Life
Dustin explores the spiritual intersection of naturism and the concept of the Sabbath, framing social nudity as a way to find rest from societal pressures and “unmask” before God. By shedding clothing and artificial status, he argues that naturists experience a profound sense of peace and equality that mirrors the restorative intent of a holy day.
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