protest CLOTHING OPTIONAL LIVING Don't arrest me, I was born this way Warning: Clothing has been shown to cause extreme psychological dependence. Wear it at your own risk.
(...said Ben Thornton) ITALY SOUTH AFRICA AUSTRALIA CHILE 
return to conformandobey.co.uk |
THE UNCLOTHED HUMAN APPEARANCE IN PUBLIC SPACE AT THE START OF THE 21st CENTURY  London July 2000 - July 2001
"It's the 21st century. Time to evolve" Russell Higgs, a Letter from Prison, the Guardian newspaper, January 2001 The Crown Trial of Vincent Bethell January 2001
Mr Bethell, 28, became the first person to stand trial naked in an English court. jury unanimously acquits Vincent Bethell 2001
London January 2001 
BOW STREET MAGISTRATE'S COURT JANUARY 2001 Russell Higgs being bailed naked and without the magistrate imposing any conditions to put clothing on. After a month of being remanded in a prison segregation cell, continuously unclothed since 17th December 2000. The (non-imprisonable) charges (section 5 of the public order act) were later quietly dropped. The mini placards covering our genitals came about as a practical antidote to the media's coyness and simultaneously to counteract the media's compulsive obsession with adding carry-on style captions to any photo they published. Otherwise the mainstream media tended to opt for rear shots and a "law is an ass" variation of accompanying text, without printing a single serious quote from any of us. Therefore the mini-placards guaranteed us a degree of control over how we were being contextualised in mainstream reports. "Being Human" Naked activists Vincent Bethell and Russell Shaw Higgs, London July 2001, clips from "BEING HUMAN" (2002) film by Lisa Seidenberg "To be offended by the visual appearance of another person is prejudice, akin to racism. The right to exist, uncovered, should hold precedence over the right not to view this, for the objection is irrational." - Terri Webb February 23, 2003: Those who have been following the case of nude activist Terri Sue Webb will be interested to know that the Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon has REVERSED Webb's involuntary civil commitment to a state psychiatric institution. It was that commitment order that allowed a judge in May, 2002 to order Webb to be confined to a facility in Pendleton, Oregon.
Early in 2009, Stephen Gough was moved from Her Majesty's Prison Barlinnie to Her Majesty's Prison Perth. Steve appreciates all the letters he receives and replies to all of them. They should now be addressed: Stephen Gough Human Rights Political Prisoner No. 81590 Segregation Unit HMP Perth 3 Edinburgh Road PERTH PH2 8AT Steve Gough's 2nd naked walk the entire length of Britain from Land's End to John O'Groats 2005 2003: Stephen Gough, 44, from Hampshire, finished his walk after seven months, much of which was spent in jail. jan 2004  Russell Higgs demonstrating inside Selfridges department store, London, in support of Stephen Gough, Sept 2003. THERE IS NOTHING INHERENTLY BAD OR CRIMINAL IN THE APPEARANCE OF THE UNCLOTHED HUMAN BODY.
i'm not some fucking hippy who wants to tell the world how 'beautiful' we all are, or how 'natural' and free it is to be naked. NAKED PROTEST IS AN EXTREMELY SIMPLE AND DIRECT POLITICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ACTION, HIGHLIGHTING THE ABSURDITY AND EXTENT OF OUR CORRUPTED SOCIAL PROGRAMMING AND THE UNIFORMED STATE THAT ENFORCES IT. public nudity is a simple human statement that simultaneously invokes numerous important complexities. clothes do not maketh the man or woman sept 2003
World Naked Bike Ride London 2009 World Naked Bike Ride London 2009
"Simply being naked on the street is not a crime in San Francisco," said Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, september 2004. City prosecutors said it was not illegal to perform naked yoga in the city -- even at the crowded tourist destination of Fisherman's Wharf. prosecutors decided they had a weak public nuisance case against George Monty Davis (the "naked yoga guy"), because local laws do not bar public nudity. "It is quite common to see signs (in public buildings) that require shoes by order of the Health Department, but in reality, there is no such order or regulation in New York State." (...STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 2002, via Society for Barefoot Living) hundreds of farmers from Veracruz state marched naked to Mexico City  June 18, 2003: Wearing masks of former President Carlos Salinas, naked farmers from Veracruz protested outside of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in Mexico City. The farmers were demanding agricultural reforms and asking the party to return their land that the PRI government seized between 1992-1998 in the state of Veracruz. (read a typically coy account in the guardian) Brazil 2003: Police Attack Nude Anti-Police Brutality Protesters at the World Social Forum. "Police did what police do best when they violently attacked protesters and bystanders on the last day of the World Social Forum. It started when a Mapuche woman who was attending the WSF and staying at the international youth camp was arrested with charges of "obscene acts" for bathing nude in a river. Activists saw this and organized over 400 people to protest by nonviolently taking their clothes off in solidarity. When the nude protest left the youth camp to march downtown the police attacked. After injuring and arresting some of the the nude protesters the police lashed out at journalists and bystanders. An unknown number of people were hospitalized or arrested as a result of the police assault." VIDEO 7.2mb via indymedia
NAKED PROTEST ANTI-WAR 2003 (via baring witness and bare witness) "Naked anti-war demos sweep world"  Sydney, Australia March 2 2003  Marin County, california, us, January 4 2003  A Corua, Spain March15 2003  Durango, Colorado, us February 16 2003  Antarctica, McMurdo Station, Ross Island January 9 2003  Ashdown Forest, east Sussex, uk january 12 2003 THE HUMAN BODY HAS A LONG And ANCIENT HISTORY AS A SITE FOR OPPRESSION AND CONTROL |
