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NAG Supporters General Categories. => NAG News. => Topic started by: Duncan Heenan on December 04, 2020, 05:32:01 PM
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Looking Back, Looking Forward
It’s that time of year (December 2020) when we all review the past year and plan the new year. Many people will want to forget 2020 with all its Covid generated problems and disappointments, and probably high on the wish list for 2021 is a return to normality. So it is for NAG. We’ve had our share of cancelled or frustrated campaigning events and projects, and I won’t depress you further with the details. However, being a bit quiet on one front has allowed progress on another.
NAG’s website was getting a bit dated and the final straw was when it got badly hacked by some cyber-vandal. We decided to patch it up while a new one was written. The new one went live in September, and is publicly accessible at https://www.naturistactiongroup.co.uk . Please have a look. It is not an entertainment website, it is about campaigning for naturist acceptance. From that website you will also find links to NAG’s main social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook. These too have been renewed from the old ones, so if you were signed up before you’ll need to sign in to the new ones. The old website has now been shut down, as have old social media. As part of this process we have weeded out a lot of old stuff in anticipation of looking forward. So what are we looking forward to?
There are (arguably) two main strands to naturism. One views naturism as an occasional treat, maybe on holiday or in a private club or official beach. The other sees it as a lifestyle, which people want to adopt according to their individual circumstances. The former requires little campaigning as mostly it is done in private. NAG is more concerned with the latter – ‘lifestyle naturism’, as that is where we need a much greater and more widespread degree of acceptance to be able to live fully as we wish. Since, under pressure of naturist campaigning, the Crown Prosecution Service and the College of Policing issued their clarifications on the law regarding nudity, there has been very little actual legal action against naturists. However, there remains a lot of mythology in the police, the press and the public about whether nudity is really ‘allowed’ in public. We still have a big education job to do. And beyond education we need to influence the attitudes which make us afraid to be naked when and where we want to.
How to achieve this broad goal is the more tricky question. But none of this is new, and the way ahead is largely a continuation of what we have been doing in recent years. NAG’s work in London achieved the acceptance by the Authorities that naturism on Hampstead Heath is legal. A few naked picnics put this into practice and a full season was planned for 2020, only to be curtailed by Covid. But this needs to be re-started when the weather and the lock down allows. This is just a flagship though, and we need to transplant it to other places if possible. There are other examples of people gradually feeling more confident, with naked rambling, ‘wild’ skinny dipping, garden naturism all on the increase. These need to be encouraged and facilitated, so that the wider public cease to panic when they see a naked person, and start to accept it as something which does not threaten them. If you have any suggestions of how we can carry this forward, let us have them via our website.
Of immediate importance is the Law Commission’s current review of Hate Crime (see https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/hate-crime ). NAG, together with other naturist organisations, is making a submission aimed at including naturists in the legal protection of minorities from hate crime. Some members of the public think it is OK to shout abuse or direct violence towards people simply because they are naked. This has to stop. Anyone can put their views forward in this consultation. The more naturists who express a view the more likely it is that we will get better protection. NAG would like to hear from you too, especially if you have had an incident which feels like Hate Crime because you were naked. Let us know about it, in confidence, by emailing john.kenneth.wood@naturistactiongroup.co.uk . But be quick, consultation ends on 24th December – don’t delay, do it today! And then have a happy Christmas.