Public Nudity Protestors Arrested

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SAN FRANCISCO—A protest in the Castro District led to the arrest of several protestors for violating San Francisco’s ban on public nudity.

The protest, located at Jane Warner Plaza near Market and Castro Streets, was to protest the ban on public nudity. The ban, put in place two years ago, prohibits public nudity except in cases in which sponsored events have obtained public permits.

Nudity
Officers were present at the protest, demanding that those in violation of the ban clothe themselves.

The protest was not a sponsored event, and more than a dozen of the varied in different levels of exposure. Other supporters were on hand, holding posted signs that condemned the city-wide ban.

Protestors argued that the ban was a form of body shaming, stating that public nudity is a form of expression and sexual freedom that San Francisco has prohibited to accommodate the demands of an influx of newcomers.

After half an hour of speeches, given by protest leader Gypsy Taub and others, a group of police officers arrived and informed the group that they had five minutes to dress themselves before being arrested for a violation of the ordinance.

Three men who refused to comply were handcuffed and taken into police custody. The protestors did not resist arrest. The status of the three arrested individuals is unknown at this time.