Out of the closet and out of their clothes: The history of Gay Naturists International

We appreciate the feature, @planetnude.co! Checkout the history of GNI in the link below ⬇️

GNI took the naked gay man—a concept that a puritanical society had sexualized, criminalized, and shamed—and placed him back into the hands of nature. @gaynaturists.bsky.social www.planetnude.co/p/out-of-the...

Happy 190th Birthday, Arkansas! curtisatkins.substack.com/p/going-natu...

A look at the largely forgotten history of nudism in Arkansas by @newgymnosophy.bsky.social

Writing this one was a special experience for me. Check it out on @planetnude.co. www.planetnude.co/p/going-natu...

Toronto's famous nude beach is losing its sand www.planetnude.co/p/torontos-f...

Reading this classic 1977 book at an appropriate locale.

Reminiscent of the strategy used to defend Hanlan’s Point beach in Toronto a few years ago.

Industrial archaeology

Before Boone www.planetnude.co/p/before-boone

What was once an informal nude beach known mostly to Seattle locals has become one of the most closely watched public nudity disputes in the United States—and on May 27, it goes to trial. www.planetnude.co/p/the-case-f...

Uncovering lost history: While researching a new article, I learned that my hometown in Arkansas was a central battleground in the nudist wars of the 1950s. Article coming soon!

It’s almost beach season… Looking forward to summer days at Hanlan’s Point.

“The barbarians of capital will keep circling, tightening their grip, until they pour through the gate and redevelop every square inch into something with more return on investment than human beings who enjoy their own skin.” slate.com/life/2026/04...

“It was one thing to witness the casual nudity of strangers and another entirely to be confronted with my friends’ naked bodies…. Hundreds of years of American body conservatism swelled within me on the beach in Mexico.”https://www.them.us/story/nude-beach-friends-etiquette-first-time

Sunrise silhouette

Early American nudism promised freedom—but only for those deemed acceptable. Liberation and legitimacy came with invisible borders drawn around whiteness, heterosexuality, and domestic propriety. Too many of these boundaries persist in the movement today. www.planetnude.co/p/original-s...

I originally wrote this for Going Natural, magazine of @fcnaturists.bsky.social. Planet Nude picked it up, and now I’m sharing it on my own blog, New Gymnosophy. curtisatkins.substack.com/p/going-natu...

In gay spaces, gay men are just as much the focus of the male gaze as we ARE the male gaze…. It’s a two-way mirror. Gay men sit at both ends of objectification, so there’s no one else to blame for the culture beyond ourselves. Likewise, for the freedoms.” so.gay/everything-e...

Rediscovering NYPenns www.planetnude.co/p/rediscover...

Jurgen Wittdorf (1932–2018) holds a special place in gay cultural history because he quietly created some of the most empathetic, coded & emotionally charged images of gay young men in East Germany, at a time and place where open queer expression was dangerous or outright prohibited. #gay #art #men

My latest article on @planetnude.co. A brief history of Canada’s leading naturist magazine — Going Natural, the official voice of the Federation of Canadian Naturists. @fcnaturists.bsky.social www.planetnude.co/p/going-natu...

A year after it was first published, @planetnude.co has brought back my article on East German nudism. So, here it is: The story of how one country nationalized nakedness. www.planetnude.co/p/fkk-in-der...

New poll reveals American attitudes toward nudity www.planetnude.co/p/new-poll-r...

Burlington outlaws public nudity www.planetnude.co/p/burlington...

Fenced in at Denny Blaine www.planetnude.co/p/fenced-in-...

NEEDED: More naturism — “Nature connectedness is now accepted as a key root cause of the environmental crisis. It’s important for our own mental health as well. It unites people and nature’s wellbeing. There’s a need for transformational change.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

National Nude Beach Day button from August 8, 1976 — 49 years ago today. This button is a throwback to a campaign initiated by Lee Baxendall and other forerunners of The Naturist Society. @naturistsociety.bsky.social

Waiting for a sunrise that never came.

Summer morning

Idaho’s indecent exposure law is so strict, it even bans your "truck nuts" www.planetnude.co/p/idahos-ind...

AI “nudify” tools: A world of synthetic bodies, generated for profit and humiliation, is not the future we want. Real nudity demands consent. Naturists show what body autonomy looks like when it’s not stolen but shared. www.planetnude.co/p/the-fake-n...

Nature walk

There’s big trouble in Seattle.

Naked Club Sail Away 2025 - soaking up the sun with some naturist friends on a cruise around Lake Ontario. July 6, 2025.

Happy Nude Recreation Week! You can also join us for The Gathering (AKA Another Nude Recreation Week) in August! Www.gaynaturists.org

Happy Fourth of July! — “I WANT YOU to feel free to be nude!” Nude & Natural, magazine of the @naturistsociety.bsky.social , 1991.

Only Fan: I’m not usually a fan of these fans, especially when hundreds of people are clacking them simultaneously. But when I saw this being handed out at Pride last weekend, I had to grab one.

Hanlan’s Point in Toronto, Canada, has been officially designated as the world’s oldest legal nude beach by the International Naturist Federation @worldnaturism.bsky.social. Here are a few pics from Naturist Beach Day at Hanlan’s - June 21, 2025. @gaynaturists.bsky.social @fcnaturists.bsky.social

Burlington takes first step toward banning public nudity www.planetnude.co/p/burlington...

I’ve just finished up two years as editor and layout designer of Going Natural, the magazine of the Federation of Canadian Naturists. Eight issues, and I’m pretty proud of them all. Good luck to those who take it from here!

Suns Out, Buns Out: Naturist Beach Day at Toronto’s Hanlan’s Point Nude Beach, this Saturday. @gaynaturists.bsky.social

Bringing this one back for Pride month, but now it’s featured on my own blog, The New Gymnosophy. open.substack.com/pub/curtisat...

“This was a painting born from upheaval. And yet, it didn’t emerge as propaganda. Delacroix didn’t paint a banner or a leader or a martyr. He painted the people, and he gave them a body to follow. Not a uniform. Not a crown. A body.”

We will be sailing Lake Ontario in a few weeks. There’s still time to join us.

If you happen to be in the Toronto area… streetsoftoronto.com/travel/here-...

Just the tip (of the iceberg).

My latest blog post, featuring the most recent article I wrote for @planetnude.co open.substack.com/pub/curtisat...