SF supes move closer to banning public nudity

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco lawmakers moved a step closer Monday to banning public nudity. A supervisor's committee decided to urge the full board to pass that proposal after one supervisor said there are too many naked guys in his district.

"Yes to the Declaration of Independence. Yes to body freedom," a nude Gypsy Taub said during a San Francisco supervisor's meeting unlike any other, a hearing on a proposal to ban public nudity.

Though it would be city-wide, the measure is aimed at the so-called "naked guys" who've been letting it all hang out just about every day for the past couple of years at a plaza in the Castro. We're born this way. This is your true expression of self," nudist George Davis told ABC7 News.

However, Supervisor Scott Wiener believes enough is enough even in a city known for tolerance. "That doesn't mean that anybody can do anything they want, anywhere, at any time under any circumstance. There are always some basic standards for our public spaces," he said. Wiener, who represents the Castro, is proposing the nudity ban with exceptions for parades, fairs and festivals. His hearing brought out the pros and cons.

"The idea that the body is obscene or indecent is learned behavior, which I believe makes it a form of bigotry," resident Woody Miller said.

"It's just appalling behavior that is keeping not just me, but many other residents from the area," resident Edith Juarez Souter said.

Nudists like Gypsy Taub, a single mother of three, see it as a civil rights issue. She was detained at the hearing, given her clothes back, and escorted out of city hall.

"In my view, if it's good enough for the Castro, it's good enough for City Hall. My constituents have to deal with it every single day," Wiener said.

You better believe nudists at the plaza are carefully tracking the measure which was approved by committee Monday and goes to the full board for a vote later this month.

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laws, castro, san francisco board of supervisors, san francisco news, carolyn tyler

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