sxnahm@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Nahm) (05/15/84)
Gay and Lesbian Naturists
by Murray Kaufman
from "Clothed with the Sun," Spring 1984
Copyright 1984, Used with Permission.
National SIG Is Launched
At the first East Coast Naturist Conference in 1981, at Pine Tree, although
there was no formal gay organization, several gay people and I met on an
individual basis to discuss our special interests and needs. During the second
conference at Goodland, in June of 1982, the first Gay Awareness meeting took
place. Sadly, only 5 or 6 people attended, and there was no decision to
continue to meet at future conferences.
At Solair, in August of 1983, many more Gay and Lesbian individuals
attended, about 20 in all. The group included people from New York,
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, and allowed
an open forum for meeting, sharing, making new friends - although there were
other gay people present who, for whatever reasons, were not open to
interacting with us or attending our gathering.
The outcome of the Gay Awareness meeting was a decision to form an on-going
group to be called Gay and Lesbian Naturists, a Special Interest Group within
the national Naturist Society.
After discussing the treatment gay men encountered during registration at
the Solair conference (see Shelly Seidman's report, CwS, 3.3, page 14), we
realized the need for a national network for future meetings and to facilitate
the exchange of ideas and a newsletter (the first edition being now ready).
Most of the members of the GLN-SIG have pledged to submit articles, poems,
photos, ideas, or suggestions.
If you were not at Solair and want to join our network, send me your name
and address for future gatherings and the newsletter. We would also like your
suggestions and articles for the next edition. We want to become aware of and
keep in touch with other gay and lesbian naturist groups around the country, so
please let me know who you are and send a newsletter along if you have one. It
would also be helpful if you would let me know what type of activities you
share, how long you have been meeting as a group, and the number of people
involved. We will assume that all letters and material you send us may be
included in our newsletter, unless you request otherwise. In order to
encourage cooperation while respecting people's privacy, we will withhold your
name and address on request.
The Solair meeting ended with a tremendous feeling of shared important
concerns. In addition to recognizing the need for an organized group and a
national network, we decided to definitely all meet again at the 1984 East
Coast Gathering. This, we realized, was a new beginning with a spirit of
togetherness and friendship. We look forward to attending - and sharing ideas
between gay and nongay individuals - at the 1984 conference.
I volunteered and the group accepted me as the National Coordinator for the
first year of the Gay and Lesbian Naturists. On October 9, 37 gay men spent an
evening together without clothes in a non-sexual atmosphere which generated a
feeling of warm sociability with good music, food and drink until 5 a.m. This
event indicated that gay men can meet and share good feelings as an alternative
to their usual socializing.
To learn more about Gay and Lesbian Naturists contact Murray Kaufman, at
243 West End Ave., no. 1508, New York, N.Y. 10023, or call (212) 873-0999.
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Typed reluctantly by Mary Hatch. "These men have got to learn to type!"
Transcribed from Clothed with the Sun by:
--
Steve Nahm
sxnahm@bbn-unix.arpa (ARPA)
{decvax,ima,linus,wjh12}!bbncca!sxnahm (Usenet)