The Board of Supervisors in San Francisco approved the initial part of the nudity ban on December 4 with a 6-5 vote. The nudity ban intends to limit the number of people nude in the city who have made other citizens and business owners believe that it has gotten out of control. Once the ban is put into action, violators will be fined $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second offense and $500 for a third offense with the possibility of jail time for up to a year. The ban would still allow nudity for purposes of special events, such as the San Francisco Pride Parade. Children under the age of five will be also permitted to be nude in public as well as sunbathers.
Currently, there have been cases of nude men around Castro District, a predominantly gay area, and those individuals are not content with the nudity ban, which might apply to them. A well-know group called, Naked Guys have been spotted on a frequent basis around the Castro District area. They claim to have the right to expose their bodies in public, and politicians should abstain from them since it is contradictory from their behalf because politicians have participated . To give an idea of how the city is dealing with this matter, it was made mandatory for nudists to cover the surface of any public place where they chose to sit on. This, however, resulted in an increment of nudists. The state of California forbids nakedness, although the police must prove that any act of nudity is vulgar an offensive to other individuals. Berkeley and San Jose have also implemented the prohibition of public nudity.
During a demonstration, the police covered up with blankets a group of protestors who stripped down to their socks only after hearing the vote results at City Hall. The group of people congregated in opposition of the nudity ban shouted, “body freedom” and “shame on you” when police were escorting them out of the area.
Mayor Ed Lee will be signing the new order, which would take effect on February 1st of the upcoming year. Supervisor Scott Wiener, worked on the nudity prohibition, representing the Castro District. The opponents of the ban, have named it, “Wiener bill.” The San Francisco mayor candidate in conjunction with four nudists, have filed a suit against the ban. Their legal representative is Christina DiEdoardo, who expressed her position on how the city is taking away people’s constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection.
