by Spike.
Faxed to Xtra! on July 15th, 1997.
From what I saw of their Pride Day forms, the Pride Committee very wisely said that "legislative requirements regarding nudity must be adhered to", without specifying what those requirements were. I marched naked on Pride Day with the TNT!MEN contingent, confident that no laws were being violated. The Deputy Chief of Police who supervised the parade apparently feels the same, saying in the Toronto Star (July 5) that "There's no concern about nudity or obscenity." To learn more about nudity and law, attend TNT!MEN's public seminar called "Body on Trial" at the 519 Church St. Community Centre on August 6th at 7pm.
According to my Oxford, to parade means "to march in procession or with great display or ostentation; to walk up and down or promenade in a public place, especially for the sake of 'showing off'". It is not meant to be every day life; it is meant to excite people, to inspire them.
I marched naked on Pride Day because it is a special day, with a special audience. I would not want to be naked on the streets of Toronto otherwise. I marched naked because I wanted to loudly proclaim that the human body is a good thing, that shame is a bad thing, and that social nudity heals shame. This is a message that has been promoted very well by TNT!MEN, and by TCAN before us. Between the two groups, in three years of social nudism here in Toronto, we have reached thousands of men locally, and hundreds of thousands on the internet. Now, thanks to the courage of the TNT!MEN contingent and the hard work of many volunteers, our actions have spoken much louder than words ever could.
I must point out that not all nudists like being so loud! In fact, two of the eleven in our contingent did not get naked. I know that marching naked places us on the cutting edge of social approval, and I know that TNT!MEN expects many people will not want to move so quickly. I think that most people need plenty of support before they can be publicly "proud" of themselves.
But those who marched with us saw the reactions of the crowd, and it was overwhelmingly positive! People clapped and cheered and whistled with great excitement when they saw us. Some laughed, some looked shocked, and a huge number grabbed their cameras to take photos! I don't think they took my photo because I suddenly developed a huge amount of sex appeal. It was clear from their reactions that most people understood our presence at least in part, thanks to our placards and banner, and many people congratulated me afterwards for my courage.
TNT!MEN and TCAN are social nudist clubs. That makes them different from every other gay group in the city. Floats and advertising have used nudity for years for its sexual shock value, and perhaps it is this exploitation that causes people to react so strongly. But social nudity is entirely the point of these groups - wearing clothes on Pride Day would be an unhealthy contradiction for a nudist club!