Reluctant to Sign the Clothing Optional Access Petition?

The petition asking policy makers to designate more federally-owned wilderness areas, forests and beaches for clothing optional access has been posted at WH.gov for several days now. At last check the petition has 330 signatures. I personally am acquainted with several hundred nudists and naturists. There is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 AANR members and some 20,000+ members of TNS. The point is, it's an obvious conclusion to arrive at that there are lots and lots of nudists and naturists who are now aware of the petition but for different reasons haven't signed it.

I decided to start this thread to discuss some concerns some have shared with me for why they feel reluctant to sign the petition. Frankly, if any of the same reasons apply to you I hope to change your mind. But regardless, I will respect your decision either way. To hopefully keep things interesting I'll discuss a new objection each day until I run out of topics or until the window closes on the petition on February 12. If you have a concern that isn't addressed please feel free to post it and I'll do my best to address it. What I really hope to do beyond giving people a reason to sign the petition is to eliminate some of the concerns people have that keep them from signing. Here is the first concern to get things started.

I haven't signed because neither AANR or TNS is officially supporting the petition.

It is true that neither of the national organizations have lent official support to this initiative but that shouldn't be surprising for a couple of reasons. First, this has been by intention from the start a grassroots effort where the narrative is driven by individuals like you and me speaking in a collective voice asking for positive change. Neither AANR or TNS was asked for support before the decision was made to go forward with this effort. Certainly if either or both should decide at some point to officially put their official weight behind the initiative they would be more than welcome to do so. But even if that should happen, individuals not organizations are going to continue driving the narrative.

One of the most important responsibilities of AANR and TNS is representing and protecting nudist and naturists rights from the government. Personally, I believe both organizations do a much better job of that than many rank and file nudists and naturists give them credit for. But they have their own protocols, strategies and operating procedures. They look at things from a national macro view rather than the micro view that I have as an individual nudist at the local level. Whether everyone might agree with it, I think it is fair to say that both national organizations do their best to avoid controversy by following a don't rock the boat, don't get anybody mad at us philosophy. Quite obviously petitioning the Obama administration to designate portions of federally-managed park lands, forested back country and national seashores for clothing optional access could be considered a bit confrontational. It might rock a few boats and might make a few people angry who aren't supporters of nude recreation. So you should be able to see that it might not be such an easy decision on the part of the national organizations to lend support to this initiative.

Also, not to be critical of either organization, but no one wants a deck chair aboard the Titanic. From my perspective as an individual I'm not really risking much by backing this petition. If it fails I don't really stand to lose anything. If the petition is successful I might actually gain more freedom to enjoy my lifestyle. If it fails I am not going to be any worse off. So why not take the chance? But from the perspective of AANR and TNS, they may be unwilling to risk at this point buying into this sort of effort because they worry that if it tanks it may hurt their credibility and lower their prestige. I have no doubt they will wait to see whether this effort gains any real traction before they will decide to support it officially, if they ever do. I'll be frank here and tell you that AANR and TNS do not believe that any significant number of nudists and naturists will sign a petition for change. I've actually had people tell me as much. They don't think we will as individuals stand up and act collectively for the common good which is one reason they don't use petitions as a strategy. I would wager that they are likely surprised to see even 300 plus have signed the petition so far. Well, here is your chance to prove them wrong. A chance to say I'm tired of being ridiculed, slandered, demonized and criticized by the prudish majority because I enjoy going nude while pursuing normal, everyday outdoor recreational activities.

In the final analysis, every person has to decide for himself or herself how important it is to them whether AANR and TNS supports this effort in order for them to feel comfortable signing the petition. Maybe it is just time that we all stood up for ourselves and did something as individuals that might give us a little more freedom to live in a way that we find meaningful and enjoyable. This petition is about far more than an attempt to gain a little more clothing optional access, it is about normalizing nude. Nudism is never going to go mainstream until that happens. It doesn't ask much from a person to sign a petition about something that they should care about and that affects them. A petition is what activists call an "easy lift" -- with just a little bit of effort, you can generate attention and momentum around an issue, grow a community of advocates and pressure policy makers to act. An initiative like this can help raise the visibility of this culture and potentially we could gain new members. Isn't that worth just a few minutes of your time?

Please consider standing with the 330 nudists and naturists that have already done their part. Please go to the website and sign the petition ---->http://wh.gov/lIUyG