Supervisor Scott Wiener recently introduced an ordinance that would prohibit public nudity in San Francisco. NBC reports that the state of California does not have any laws against people being naked in public. The state does have “lewd” public behavior laws but its up to individual cities to enforce nudity bans.

The Huffington Post reports that Wiener decided to introduce the legislation because of the rampant nudity in the Castro District.

Wiener said in a statement:

“While most people in San Francisco, myself included, have no problem with occasional public nudity, we’ve seen a shift in public attitude because of the over-the-top situation at Jane Warner Plaza and elsewhere in the Castro … Until recently, public nudity in our city was mostly limited to various street festivals and beaches as well as the occasional naked person wandering the streets. What’s happening now is different. Jane Warner Plaza is the only usable public space in the Castro and serves as the neighborhood’s town square. Use of this small but important space as a near-daily nudist colony, while fun for the nudists, is anything but for the neighborhood as a whole.”

The Huffington Post notes that Wiener’s ordinance would not affect festivals, nude beaches, or parades. People will also still be allowed to be nude outside if they are on private property.

If the SF nudity ban becomes a law nudists could see fines for walking around the city without clothes on. A first offense would cost $100 while a third offense would see a $500 fine.

What do you think about the proposed SF nudity ban?

Nudists in San Fransisco have started a petition on Change.org. The petition reads:

“The general acceptance of public nudity is one of those cool only-in-San-Francisco things and we want to encourage the City Leaders and Elected Officials to resist giving in to a few anti-nudists who would like to impose a total citywide ban … That’s totally un-San Franciscan!”

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