1974-Venice Beach

APPENDIX A Venice. The police were informed that, in the absence of specific anti-nudity legislation, BFUSA would challenge any arrests in court. That first weekend was a smashing success with perhaps a hundred nudists enjoying their new beach. Even a Los Angeles Times editorial supported the idea of sharing the beach. However, word spread rapidly and within a few weeks, the nudists were vastly outnumbered by gawkers and the media. Property was trampled, and traffic slowed to a stop. The nudists appealed to the LA City Council to pass 1976 NATIONAL NUDE DAY MARCH TO VENICE BEACH a law legalizing the beach, and the proposal received a favorable 90-minute hearing followed by a 10-3 1974: HOW VENICE positive vote. The nudist community was overjoyed. BEACH ALMOST But since the vote was not unanimous, the item had to come back to the council for a second reading and BECAME LEGALLY vote two weeks later. NUDE During those two weeks, those opposed to the beach By Gary Mussell, launched a suffocating campaign aimed at reversing the decision. Archbishop Roger Mahoney (not May 4, 2015 yet a Cardinal) urged all Catholics in the city to As the 1970s dawned, the Counterculture Age began oppose the nude beach and to write letters to their to discover the joy of sunbathing nude. Beach nudists city council members. Law enforcement officials got their first big break in June, 1972, when the and other local “experts” were interviewed on news California Supreme Court unanimously decided in programs warning of increased crime and vandalism the Chad Merrill Smith case that mere nudity if the nude beach was approved. unaccompanied by lewd intent was not a sexual On the day of the second reading, with approval in offense. doubt, speakers before the council spoke passionately When the impact of this decision sunk in, the police for both sides. found themselves without the legal authority to arrest beach nudists, although deputies continued to cite nudists for “disturbing the peace.” But on July 31, 1973, the Appellate Department of the Superior Court, Los Angeles—no doubt influenced by the Smith decision—ruled that nude sunbathing could not be prosecuted as a violation of Section 415 of the penal code. As a result, the LA County District Attorney said that arrests for nude sunbathing would no longer be prosecuted unless there were additional complaints for drug abuse, offensive or lewd conduct, etc., if the complaint was made by a private citizen, not the deputy. Now the number of nude beaches along the Southern California coast starting to grow exponentially. Early Finally, a man named Robert Opel stood to address in 1974, Eugene Callen and other leaders of a local the Council. Opel, if you know your trivia history, is nudist club, Beachfront USA, set their sights on the man best known for streaking the Academy establishing a legal nude area at Brooks Beach Awards in 1974. The 35-year old stood at the podium alongside the Venice boardwalk. Venice was a well- and proceeded to take off all his clothes, and he dared known eclectic community just south of Santa the Council to oppose the beach. They did. By a 12-1 Monica with a live-and-let-live bohemian culture. decision, the council reversed their earlier preference A thousand flyers were printed by BFUSA and and gave law enforcement an enforceable code for distributed at other popular nudist beaches such as legally allowed beach clothing. Los Angeles Police Pirate’s Cove/Zuma, Smuggler’s Cove (Palos officers dressed in blue shorts and T-shirts soon were Verdes) and County Line (Pt. Mugu). The flyers visible all along the 100-mile county coast enforcing included a map and invited all nudists to come to the new law: “No person shall appear any place under the jurisdiction of it was preempted by the Chad Merrill Smith court the Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners…in such decision. a manner that the genitals, vulva, pubis, pubic, symphysis, pubic hair, buttocks, natal cleft, perineum, anus, anal region, On July 13, 1986, two members of the club, Dave or pubic hair region of any person, or any portion of the and Suzy Davis, removed their clothes on Venice breast at or below the upper edge of the areola thereof of any Beach and were arrested for public nudity before they female person, is exposed to public view or is not covered by could run into the ocean. They were released without an opaque covering." Subdivision (x) further provides: "This charges being filed. subdivision shall not apply to children under the age of 10 A month later, on August 31, Dave and Suzy were years.” back, attempting to lead a nude march down the The following summer, Los Angeles County, which beach. Police were ready for them. As soon as they now claimed operational jurisdiction over all the removed their clothes they were wrestled to the sand, beaches in the county, made one of their first orders handcuffed, and literally dragged away. This time of business the passing of a similar ordinance to the they were charged with resisting arrest and battery on one passed by L.A. City. The effort was led by an officer (although Suzy and Dave seemed to have newly-elected Supervisor Mike Antonovich, all the bruises). who is also known to nudists in Los Angeles as the man who led the 25-year (unsuccessful) crusade to close Elysium Fields in Topanga Canyon. The nudists did not go quietly. During the weekend of the 1976 National Bicentennial Celebration, nudists again tried to rally and establish a beach of their own, this time at Pirates Cove, the remote 100-yard long stretch of sand in Malibu near Zuma Beach. The rally – a march down the coast from Zuma Beach to Venice Beach – was widely advertised in the underground press and on radio stations. An estimated 1,200 clothed nudists showed up early for this “National Nude Beach Day,” but more than 8,000 were prevented from joining them by midday They were found guilty, but the case was appealed to as police blocked nearby roads and surrounded the the California Ninth Circuit Court, which, to adjoining hillsides with officers in squad cars, in Beachfront’s surprise, upheld the city and county helicopters, on motorcycles, on horseback, on foot, laws, stating: and even in boats. The intimidation worked, and very few people disrobed. Those that did were quickly “…The appearance of some persons utilizing said parks and beaches by appearing thereon without clothing and with the arrested and removed from the beach. private parts of their bodies exposed, unreasonably In the early 1980’s, Beachfront USA set up an interferes with the right of all persons to use and enjoy said information table at the Venice Beach Boardwalk on parks and beaches by causing many persons to leave, and weekends for a while, attempting to gather enough others not to come to said parks and beaches….We therefore petition signatures to rescind the city and county conclude that the ordinances on their face do not infringe ordinances. But interest seemed to wane among the upon the rights of freedom of speech or expression but are valid regulations of conduct." general public, both the table and the petition were abandoned. It was the last time any large organized effort was made to establish a nude beach in Los Angeles During the 1984 Olympic Games, many European County. During the next few years, clone ordinances tourists came to Venice to enjoy the beach and of almost identical language were appearing in many removed their clothes, as they were used to doing in municipalities and other counties across Southern their home countries. The police were instructed not California. to enforce the law, lest there be an international incident. Local nudists who were aware of the And that, boys and girls, is why there are no nude moratorium, happily mingled with the Europeans beaches to this day in Los Angeles County, despite during those three weeks. 100 miles of beautiful and beckoning coastline! Seeing this more relaxed attitude by law enforcement Throughout the mid-80’s the newspapers published toward beach nudity, Beachfront USA decided to test stories of women being cited at Venice for removing the constitutionality of the ordinance on the grounds the tops of their bathing suits, although if the women simply rolled onto her stomach, the officers let them be. This is still the custom today, and women (and men) may also wear string bottoms without harassment. Venice Beach remains the place to see surfer stores, muscle-bound bodybuilders lifting weights, art vendors, showmen juggling chain saws, and women in string bikinis roller skating among the tourists and skateboarders. Each August, there is a march down the boardwalk by women wearing band aids or pasties in the shape of nipples across their areola, demanding bare chest equality with men. The current “Free the Nipple” campaign, sparked by certain celebrities wanting top-free equality with men, has ignited new interest in Venice Beach. But so far, local politicians have indicated no interest in joining the cause. Thanks to Cec Cinder and Ricc Bieber for much of the background material. This article first appeared in the SCNA Newsletter, May, 2015. Reproduced with permission. Photo taken by future SCNA member Robin Martin at Venice Beach in 1974. Police patrol sand near topless sunbathers. .

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