Naked Rambler gaoled again

After so much time in prison, this guy cannot have any kind of residence or employment to return to. Everyone presumes he's doing this to "make a statement" but to me it seems just as likely that he's doing it because he wants to be in jail.
 
More bad news, now that the European Court of Human Rights has delivered a pretty convincing smackdown to his case that his right to free expression was being oppressed.

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/oct/28/naked-rambler-stephen-gough-loses-european-court-nudity

The court described Gough’s case as troubling, but ruled that “relevant and sufficient” measures had been taken against him by the police and legal authorities which saw him arrested in 2011. They were meeting a “pressing social need in response to repeated anti-social conduct” by Gough...The ECHR said it was prepared to accept that arguments on the acceptance of public nudity in a modern society is a matter of public interest, but also noted that Gough’s view is “shared by very few people” and that the matter raises moral and public order issues.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I'll admit that when I lived in Europe I enjoyed the mixed nude sauna thing and stopping for a swim at an FKK beach when out on my bike rides. Having said that, there's a time and a place for everything. Are the Americans and Brits too uptight about nudity? Yes. Does that mean I want to sit next to a naked person on the Metro or an airplane? No. Maybe he should try to advocate for more times and places and less on making everyone else interact with him while he's naked whether they want to or not.
 
I do wonder if there was a female naked rambler if she'd have the same record.
 
I don't. I'm pretty confident that a naked woman walking around in public would be arrested just as quickly.
 
In the US this would arguably qualify as freedom of speech, but you might have to take it to a pretty high level court to win. Technically, nudity is not outlawed in many states unless it is explicitly "for the purpose of sexual arousal" which is pretty hard to prove without an erection or something. In Kansas it falls under "lewd and lascivious behavior" -- but like I said, you sort of have to prove a sexual motive for it to apply.

In reality, people don't get naked in public here primarily because we're all prudes... doesn't have much to do with the law.

I agree with the guy. I do not think the human body is indecent. I also think that a legal requirement to cover yourself is a breach of civil rights. However, I most generally don't go running around naked in public. Just because you have a right doesn't mean you should exercise it.

It arguably fits quite well with our 1st amendment by the way... nudity has quite frequently been used as a form of protest throughout history.
 
Last edited:
sadhatter said:
Look at my pic, i am one of them. lol

Nobody is saying you don't have the right to exist, ugly or no, but i have the right not to see ones package, a right every civilized country i can think of has agreed upon.
Click to expand...


But why don't I have an equal right to not have to be subjected to ugly fat people in spandex? They offend my delicate sensibilities far more than naked people. And political canvassers, they drive me into a rage every time i see them. And all those dirty hippies, I find myself constantly nauseated at the sight of them (or the smell, one of the two). If I support you, are you willing to support me, or is it only your delicate sensibilities that must be protected?

I guess it's a good thing you live in a properly civilized nation like the UK, instead of some uncivilized primitive hellhole like French Polynesia, central Africa, or the Chittagong Hills. I hear all the uncivilized savages there go partially or completely nude all the time. I cannot imaging how damaging that must be to the psyche of good civilized white folks.

Oh, and incidentally, nudity restrictions in the Anglosphere and Eurosphere world are entirely religious in origin. But I guess supporting religion is good when it agrees with you. It's only when it disagrees that it's a bad thing.
 
commandlinegamer said:
From a personal point of view, nudity does not offend me. If people choose to wear clothing, or not, I'm not bothered. Obviously others may be upset; we do still live in a culture with taboos on showing 'naughty bits' in public. But given that he's not murdered anyone, or committed grand larceny, I do wonder at the wisdom of keeping him locked up.
Click to expand...

There might be hygienic issues to consider. :D

The former Royal Marine, from Eastleigh in Hampshire, has been behind bars in Scotland for much of the past decade.

He was found guilty of breach of the peace after a trial at Perth Sheriff Court, which was initially held up while court staff found a sheet of brown paper for him to sit on "for hygiene reasons".
Click to expand...

Also parents and guardians of children might have issues with public nudity.
 
Last edited:
luchog said:
Why? Not being facaetious, i'm trying to find a good answer to this question. Why is public nudity a problem?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, I have a rather facetious answer. Because little girls will see men's parts and ask about them, and little boys will see lady's part and ask about them, and their parents will have to come up with an explanation.

Naturists believe such curiosity is natural and the explanations should be as well, and once the explanation is given the kids should be all right. Overall I agree with them.

However, many materials naturists use to explain and defend their lifestyle often read like a game of "spot the logical fallacy." I put the link into a spolier because the linked-to page is NSFW.
 
luchog said:
Not being facaetious, i'm trying to find a good answer to this question. Why is public nudity a problem?
Click to expand...

It's mostly esthetic. Most people don't look good naked.

ETA: This is in Scotland? Does this guy put skivvies on when it gets cold?
 
Last edited:
I heard from two different sources that a gentleman was strolling around Coventry city centre in the altogether this very morning.

First version said he was carrying a briefcase and merrily singing away to himself, second version claimed he was wearing a rucksack.

Rather him than me, it was a bit cold this morning.
 
luchog said:
There might be, IME these are vastly overblown.




Why? Not being facaetious, i'm trying to find a good answer to this question. Why is public nudity a problem?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty German about this. You don't walk around Germany naked wherever you want. However, in the summer I used to like doing a bike ride to one of two lakes near my house and having an area set aside where I could doff my riding clothes and go for a swim in the nude. There were plenty of places for both nude and clothed sun bathing and swimming. That seemed a reasonable arrangement.
 
Blue Mountain said:
Unfortunately, I have a rather facetious answer. Because little girls will see men's parts and ask about them, and little boys will see lady's part and ask about them, and their parents will have to come up with an explanation.

Naturists believe such curiosity is natural and the explanations should be as well, and once the explanation is given the kids should be all right. Overall I agree with them.
Click to expand...

When I took my un-neutered, male Great Dane to the park, it wasn't uncommon for kids to point out his testicles and, depending on the child's age, either ask what "those" were, or point and giggle.

My brother explained things to his grandson (10 years old) like this: "He's a boy dog. He's got balls just like you do."
 
sadhatter said:
<snip>

This guy does not want me to be able to choose not to see him naked, and i am sorry, but this is just another case of, your rights end where mine begin. If he wants to walk around in the nude, more power to him, there are beaches, colonies, temporary and permanent places where he can walk around buck naked all day. Not to mention even in your more standard areas, he is perfectly free to be on his own property naked as the day he was born, any time he wishes, assuming proper caution is taken to avoid others having to see him.

This has nothing to do with state mandated decency, this has to do with one person's want, infringing on another person's right. A right that has been agreed upon by society in general , and so much so that it has been made into a law in most places , ( with the obvious exception of the segments of those places, named above. ).

<snip>
Click to expand...


It is only your "right" because of stated mandated decency.

As you go on to discuss further into that post, the guy could try and have the decency statutes changed, and then your "right" vanishes like smoke in the wind.

So it has everything to do with state mandated decency, and nothing at all to do with anything else.
 
luchog said:
i'm trying to find a good answer to this question. Why is public nudity a problem?
Click to expand...

Because religion, mostly.

It boils down to 'decency' standards that come from religion, from thousands of years ago.

Why are male nipples 'decent' and female ones indecent?

It's probably due to some priest ages back deciding that bits of the human body that can excrete stuff were 'unclean' and we've been stuck with it ever since.

See a bunch of other stupid rules, like marrying 1 partner for life, monogamy, being a virgin on your wedding day, being heterosexual.

Some of them are changing some aren't, but they all come from the same source and are based on the same flimsy reasons.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom