From: Free Beach Action Date: Tuesday, 20 December 2005 10:26 AM Subject: Free Beach Letters V Personally I endorse your [Stuart Baanstra, Free Beach Letters IV] ideals but I think the right to be naked perhaps needs a different slant - The right to dress/undress however you find comfortable. - The right to be free of the forced sexuality imposed by the fashion industry. - The right to spend as little as you like on clothes. - The right to dress as you feel comfortable in hot weather. - The right to free from the prejudices that clothes bring. - The right to be free from sexual exploitation because voyeurs find nudity titillating. The real issue is should we be free to dress as we please without being judged. To suggest that all nudists are perverts because of the way they dress is as logical as suggesting that all Muslims are terrorists because of the way they dress. Best regards Don Nairn Melrose Park Lady Bay Beach, Watsons Bay You have to admire nude bathers. Apart from being perfectly happy to flash their wobbly bits at passers-by, they are happy, regardless of the season, to disrobe, expose their pale flesh to the elements, and go for a dip without the modest support of the covering that not only holds things up but withholds cheap thrills from the masses. Sydney has only three official nudist beaches. There are two very discreet destinations on Middle Head - Cobblers Beach and Obelisk Beach - and one on the southern shores. Located just below the South Head Heritage Trail, Lady Bay is the only Sydney nudist beach that can be viewed easily by the public. It is perfectly located and affords the nude swimmer glorious views up the harbour, with the CBD on the horizon. It is quite wide for a harbour beach and it has pleasant rocky headlands at either end. The views to Middle Head are often broken by yachts, Manly ferries and cargo ships leaving and entering the main harbour. Bruce Elder the (sydney) magazine #33 Bathing "au naturel" no secret I very much welcomed Bruce Elder's article ("hidden treasures", January issue) to include Lady Bay Beach, one of Sydney's clothing optional beaches. Not only is it time for modern-day naturism to go public (to be natural doesn't need "very discreet destinations") but also to encourage more people to give skinny dipping a go. Back to nature, they'd discover a new way of life, and a much healthier body and mind. Unfortunately, traditionally used but "unofficial" nude beaches are in danger to be closed down by conservative local councils, like the beautiful Little Congwong Beach in La Perouse, even though it has been a nude beach since the mid '70s. I urge you to support Sydney's newly formed Free Beach Action Group and write many more articles about naturist beach culture. Gerald Ganglbauer Free Beach Action http://www.gangart.com/freebeach PO Box 522, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012