Court says officials too prudish over skinny-dippers
Posted Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:32am AEDT

A Canadian judge says a Vancouver suburb cannot bar nude swimmers from holding a private gathering at a local pool and chided town officials for being a bit too prudish.

"For those who came of age in the 1960s, skinny-dipping would hardly seem to be a threat to the moral fibre of western civilisation. Not so, however, for some of the good burghers of Surrey," Justice Paul Williamson said in a ruling.

The nudist group had rented an indoor town swimming pool in suburban Surrey in British Columbia in 2002 and 2003 for late-night members-only gatherings, but the permit was cancelled after a newspaper story prompted public complaints.

Surrey argued that nude swimming might be a health hazard and said it was unfair to make lifeguards protect swimmers "not in suitable bathing attire", since those who objected for personal reasons would lose potential overtime income.

The judge dismissed those arguments and noted that since the swimmers could not be seen from outside the building, any complaints would be from people "shocked by what they had neither seen nor heard, but suspected".

- Reuters

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