Seems I’m a bit late to the conversation, but I do think this is an important subject. I like the idea of a universal naturist code, if nothing else, for it to be a starting point and general guideline. 

I am in Hawaii and there is very little to nothing in the way of naturist clubs here. There are a few small clothing optional accommodations, and a few groups on FB, specific to particular beaches. I am the admin for one of those groups and was disappointed to find very little cohesiveness or community amongst it’s members. 

I have been wanting to launch a group/non-landed club, with hopes of becoming landed at some point (land is exorbitantly expensive). I have reached out to AANR multiple times asking for guidance because it is important to me that the club/venue adheres to certain naturist values, but have gotten no response other than ‘someone will get back to you’. And of course there needs to be some sort of sensible rules in place, such as having something to sit on in public spaces. 

I am discouraged by rules such as no single men, no tattoos, no body jewelry, no body hair allowed, etc. Isn’t part of being a naturist the freedom to be authentically ourselves and to accept others as they are? As far as single men, one friend from the UK said he and his wife were part of a club for years and had many friends there. After his wife died, he was banned as a single man. This to me is ridiculous. I’ve meet countless people online and in person who long to connect with other naturists and to find a likeminded community. Why do we turn people away?  

Another unfortunately touchy subject I’ve encountered are beach goers who feel uncomfortable with nudist families sharing the beach. I once saw a man ask a family to leave, which I feel is absolutely wrong. I feel families should be encouraged to participate as long as parents are there to supervise. Within a club setting, there can still be family only, adult only, women only, LGBTQ only, Christian only, etc events. But to ban any group outright feels contradictory to me. 

When I saw this discussion thread mentioned in the article about The Importance of Naturist Clubs, I was excited to see what everyone came up with. Some had good points, but wishing I’d found more. For now I will peruse the rules of various clubs and groups to try to filter out some reasonable guidelines. Thanks to all who’ve contributed!

Thanks Rebecca - it is never too late to add to the Forum topics, and this will certainly be one we will be pushing as part of the Community theme in December. 

We have heard from people who have witnessed people complaining about families being at clubs or beaches - saying it makes them feel uncomfortable being around children naked - nonsense paranoia that feeds into societies anguish. Naturism should be above this. We have also come across people that think children ruin things because of their noisy and silly behaviour. In my experience unruly children have unruly parents, and children learn to behave by example. One national body actually had a women in naturism representative who literally hated anything to do with children, reported refusing to go to events that had children and falling out with event organisers about it, yet 80% of women have children by 40, so who was she really representing? 

We do thing a set of core rules and also expectations should be designed that need to be adhered, to extra rules added by individual clubs for their specific requirements - it is not good an rv club having members that do not own an rv but it would be ridiculous having that as a rule for most clubs. 

In regards to your own plans. Do feel free to set up a Location -based Group on ANW to allow you to connect with others who live and visit Hawaii, it could be helpful in getting to know people to get your group moving into a physical situation. Greg has recently set up a non-landed club in Minnesota, which is now happening, and we are delighted to help him spread the word and find new members  https://anaturistworld.com/northamerica/twcnaturistsevents, he may be worth chatting to in regards to obstacles and ideas he has had. 

We would like to see a real working network of landed and non-landed clubs connecting on ANW, helping each other, growing and sharing, and welcoming ANW verified members that are local and also travelling. We are looking into how we can expand that around the world with a stronger bond between clubs/venues, ANW, the ANW community and beyond. Naturism needs to start working better as a united life choice. And having a set of expectations as raised in this topic is just one of many ways we can do this.  

no single males has always been such a counterproductive mind set for an organisation which is allegedly based of acceptance and respect.

all dressed organisations couldn't care less about your marital status which isn't something you can just change to suit a mindset, i cant just nip down the shops and acquire a wife. like can shave my pubes as an example of another rule i dont like (as that is very much personal choice)

but to respect my nudity, but not my lack of spouse, not by choice, has prevented me doing a lot of naturist stuff i wanted too decades ago. 

That is why SOC was such a god send because it allowed me and other singles to visit the sites and be part of what we believed in. 

I think some rules can make sense but then get over paranoid and get silly, like no single adults in the pool if kids are in there, which makes sense, suddenly means no single adult in the pool if the kids are not actually in the pool but sat several feet away t on a sun lounger reading a book

This concept of division and segregation within naturism to us appears fool hardy. The textile world uses clothing as a way of separating and diving individuals through status, brand, and style, so to us the moment one disrobes, all of those divisions evaporate and everyone becomes equal. The one thing that actually unites naturism is our core belief that nudity can be none sexual, so it makes no sense at all, that naturism should divide us into groups, especially along the lines of sex and gender. It is a core belief of us as a couple that men out women in, or segregation based on gender or sexual preference is “anti naturist.”

Naturism is based in the belief that it is naturally authentic, and so if that is the case, like the rest of nature itself, everything has its place. One does not fill a garden with one plant, one fills it with a mixture of plants to create what is a natural canvass of colour, shape, and size. With that in mind, we believe that naturism should reflect that in order for it to reflect society naturally as a whole.

We have seen arguments that some men have created discomfort for women, hence women should be segregated to women’s only events, but we feel this is a fools argument. Did a male cause a problem at an event? If that is the case, use the rules of naturism, which deem that the offender is removed, not every male, blame the one committing the crime, not naturism.

Naturism should be open to everyone who wishes to participate, and behave within the rules of a decent societal structure of respect, regardless of your age, gender or sexuality, where everyone in their naked skin is equal.