Hay all! Don't let the "username" fool you, why would I do that to ya? Very useful forums here, and I enjoy looking. Yes, I'm pro-nudist (you can be that, and conservative). My question is quite simple, and it's in relation to some of the "incidents" that have occurred in different states where a "nudist" was simply "nude" in the home, and was ultimately seen by a "neighbor", and after 1 thing leads to another, the "pervert" is arrested, and convicted for "public indecency". The "short of it" is that you can no longer be nude in the home without big trouble visiting you in the form of peepers, and ultimately, the criminal court system. Here is my main issue with the law in Oregon: It seems that when they crafted this law, the thought process was that you are only involved in a sexually intimate relation with the other person to get out of being charged, otherwise be careful about getting out of the shower, or am I reading it wrong? I have a bit of a problem with this section as it relates to "reasonable expectation of privacy". Scenario A: I am nude in my home with the front door just less than half open, and the neighbor walks by with her dog at any particular time of the day and notices me (she has to really do more looking around "things" to get a look). Traumatized, she calls the cops & the cops come by and "talk" with me. Scenario B: I'm in the back yard locking the gate after I take the garbage cans out, and the neighbor on the other side of the 6' fence is in her sunroom on a chair fixing the light bulb, and "notices me" taking out the garbage. Traumatized again, the cops come over and "talk" with me. Scenario C: I am fresh out of the shower, and the phone rings, so without thinking for another second, I walk fast over to the phone and answer it, and talk with whomever is calling me for an "extended" period of time while pacing back & forth from the living room to the kitchen via the family room & the dining room while closing the door to the garage (from inside the house). The same neighbor walking a different dog (She hires the Bush Baked Beans dog as an expert witness) sees me, and you guessed it, the cops come by and "talk" with me. I won't torture with Scenario D. What are your thoughts on what is supposed to be OK, and NOT OK? Thanks for reading, and take care!
You seem to be ignoring the words "with the intent of arousing the sexual desire of the person or another person". What that says is, if it's not done with a sexual purpose, it's legal. The kind of accidental exposure that you talk about simply isn't a crime. You could stroll down to the corner store and pick up the newspaper, bare naked, if you wanted--so long as you aren't doing it for a sexual thrill. Read this story about recent events in Ashland, Oregon: http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/12/14/ashland-nudity/ You can see there's talk about local laws, but everyone seems to agree that there's nothing in state law that makes nudity illegal. Of course, the police might come and "talk" to you. But all you need to do is make it clear that you just enjoy being naked, and that the law says it's OK. Because that is indeed what the law says.
None of the scenarios you have discussed show a conscious, deliberate attempt to titillate people — passersby — who just so happen to glance you being naked in your own home or backyard. I would be very surprised if the police made an issue of it given that it occurred in a private residence where you have a reasonable expectation to privacy and it could be proved that your privacy was invaded by nosey neighbours. Ashland, Oregon is a world away from Victoria, Australia, and seems a very progressive (not backward) community in terms of nudity, even if the town is a little divided on public shows of it. I hope it works out in the positive.
