Wiener open to banning public nudity

http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=68038

A showdown over whether San Francisco should ban public nudity is looming as the issue again rears its head. This time the tipping point may be due to naked men wearing cock rings.

District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener disclosed to the Bay Area Reporter this week that he is open to introducing legislation at City Hall that would ban public nudity.

"I have not done so right now but I am considering to do that in the near future," said Wiener, whose district covers the Castro and a public plaza where many nudists gather on sunny days.

His reviewing of whether stricter rules are required is being driven by an increase in the number of naked men wearing cock rings in public, said Wiener. His office has been fielding calls all summer from constituents upset with the practice.

"People are absolutely repulsed by it," said Wiener.

...

Many nudists, in turn, contend that sporting cock rings is similar to wearing earrings or bracelets. They have reported that the police are informing men who wear the genital jewelry that they are in violation of city codes governing being undressed in public.

"Men have been told they will be arrested on the spot if they are wearing a cock ring," said Mitch Hightower, a nudist who runs a website about public nudity and organizes a yearly Nude In at the Castro's Jane Warner Plaza the Saturday of Folsom Street Fair weekend. "Since Pride people have reported to me of being hassled for wearing cock rings. I don't wear one but I have observed" men being approached by the police.

Hightower, a gay man who lives in Miraloma Park, said he recently changed his views about the wearing of cock rings in public. He did so after he conducted a poll on his site that found the majority of respondents consider cock rings akin to jewelry.

"So I feel comfortable subscribing to that belief system," said Hightower, the webmaster for the 12-year-old site

Certainly an unfortunate name to have when campaigning against public nudity.

Certainly an unfortunate name to have when campaigning against public nudity.

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