California Catholic Daily

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Published: June 3, 2008

“They’re trying to make nudity at San Onofre illegal”

California parks chief pressured to allow people to go naked at state beach

A state parks official has come under siege by people who want to be left free to cavort naked on a public beach in the far northern reaches of San Diego County, a few miles south of San Clemente.

Yesterday, rangers at San Onofre State Beach began warning nude bathers they were breaking the law, and that, after Labor Day, they would be cited for the violation if they continue. The new policy is the result of a decision by Ruth Coleman, director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

Coleman, citing complaints from her own employees that nudity at San Onofre has created a “sexually charged atmosphere” in which they were not comfortable, ordered rangers to begin the crackdown. For many years, rangers had ignored the public nudity.

But the beach has become much more popular than in the past, with nearly 2.5 million visitors last year – twice as many as in 2000, according to state parks officials – and is no longer a remote enclave that may have made it suitable for “naturalists.”

Last year, according to the Orange County Register, a man was arrested for the alleged sexual molestation of a 12-year-old girl near the beach.

The decision by Coleman has produced howls of protest from nudists and their allies. “Beach lovers: They’re trying to make nudity at San Onofre illegal. Please take action,” says a post on the San Diego BDSM message board.

A group calling itself “the Naturist Action Committee” issued an “action alert” to its members, urging them to “contact the Director of CA Parks to express your vigorous opposition to this disastrous change in policy.”

According to the Naturist Action Committee, Coleman is undoing a policy that had been in effect since 1979 when former Parks and Recreation director Russ Cahill issued a memo to his senior staff members telling them they should not designate clothing-optional areas in state parks, but at the same time that citations for nudity should be issued only after a complaint and a failure to comply following a warning from rangers.

In issuing the new regulation, however, Coleman is apparently relying on a request from rangers on the scene, who report not only nudity, but frequent illegal public sexual activity as well.

The nudists and their supporters have begun sending emails and making phone calls in an effort to get Coleman to return to the previous policy. Says the Naturist Action Committee’s alert: “Send a letter, a fax or an e-mail, or make a phone call. Director Ruth Coleman, Dept. of Parks and Recreation, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95816. E-mail: director@parks.ca.gov; Director’s office telephone: (916) 653-8380; Director’s office Fax: (916) 657-3903.”

Supporters of Coleman’s decision have asked people to use the same information, but to send messages approving the action instead.

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