A Rolling Crone: Nude-In Today at San Francisco’s City Hall

Friday, February 1, 2013

Nude-In Today at San Francisco’s City Hall

Lincoln looked appalled

Your fearless reporter Rolling Crone flew into San Francisco last night, and with her morning coffee today read the following headline in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Nudists Hope City Hall Protest will Get them Cited”

The article began:

“Getting naked in public will be illegal in San Francisco starting Friday. How will the ‘Naked Guys” –and gals- commemorate the day? Hint: not by putting their pants on.

“No, they’ll stage a protest of the city’s new ban at noon on the steps of City Hall. And naturally, they’ll do it au naturel.

“Their goal, it seems, is to get cited by police officers so they can head back to court with the claim that their right to protest politically is being violated. U. S. District Judge Edward Chen on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by the nudists attempting to overturn the city’s new ban on genital exposure, but he did say they could return to court if the city enforced the ban in a way that stifles a political message.”

Since Rolling Crone is staying in a hotel near City Hall, she asked her equally fearless daughter Marina, who promised her on an insider’s tour of the city, to pass by City Hall to see the fireworks. They drove up right behind a police van which pulled over and escorted the only completely nude demonstrator in sight into the van. He was a white haired and bearded gentleman who had, to paraphrase what David Niven said when a naked streaker broke into the televised Oscar program, extremely small assets to display.

Cops looked grim and demonstrators chanted loudly and profanely. The most innocuous chant was:

“Don’t Arrest, Cite and Release.” Which is what the police did. They escorted the completely nude gentleman to their van, issued him a citation and let him go, as they did to anyone else who had exposed genitals. The almost-nude protestors were not harassed.

Daughter Marina, who lives in San Francisco, strongly felt that nudity should be allowed. Your faithful reporter, Rolling Crone, who has seen hundreds of naked bodies of all sizes, shapes and sexes while taking many figure drawing classes, pretty much agrees with daughter Marina. Rolling Crone also feels, as a 1963 graduate of Berkeley and a veteran of demonstrations on more serious subjects, like capital punishment, that the police acted with admirable restraint and tact today.

But she also felt that some of the nudists should show equal tact and share their bodies only with friends and family. And stick to warm climates like San Francisco. (Can you imagine a similar demonstration among the snows of Boston?”