SAN ONOFRE BEACH News & Recreation

A press release from the  Sacramento Bee was posted earlier this morning that falsely accuses recreational  nudism of holding responsibility for  online personal ads  posted by men  seeking other men for illicit encounters on State Parks land (article: San Onofre State Beach, San Diego County). Nudists who frequent, San Onofre State Beach are heading into their two year legal  battle vs. the California Department of Parks and Recreation, due to the State Parks decision to prohibit nude sunbathing as a valid recreational freedom, just 39 years after it was made available by President Nixon.  Even while nudists continue to use this small portion of the land, at the far end of the beach on Trail 6, they find themselves uneasy for what lies ahead while being tagged as the State Park scapegoat when in actuality they are  not the source of the problem.

The Sacramento Bee’s posted article makes their readers assume that the State prohibited nudism under the pretense that it is not a valid sun recreational activity in addition to putting blame on the nudists for any misconduct within the State Park System.  What the readers should know is that this accusation is a direct contradiction of what the State park Spokesman, Roy Stearn, said about the nude sunbathing in his recent interview with  OCLNN:

“For many years it was a very remote, mostly isolated trail and there weren’t many complaints about the clothing optional part of the beach; however, in recent years as Orange County grew it just wasn’t the same remote place, and began to draw gawkers and lurid activity,” Stearns said.

“The area was attracting an element that was rather unsavory — not the nudists themselves — but an element that seemed attracted to that,” Stearns said. “We were finding sex toys in the bushes and other kinds of things, and sex acts here and there, and it became apparent we needed to do something about it.” (Source)

To sum up what Stearns said the entire legal battle banning nudity was simply based on the law of attraction; given this into account, it should be noted that “element” he speaks of,  does not necessarily limit itself to the State Parks lands nor nude beaches. Within a week prior to this article, SanOnofreBeach.org discovered an international  website designed for gay men to find local public locations where they can engage in sexual activities with other men. This site included detailed tips, maps and comments of suggested places all throughout the state of California, some of which include a Borders Book Store, lifeguard tower in Santa Monica, Griffith Park, Echo Park, San Antonio College Main Library and many other various restaurants, schools and beaches (Source). Immediately after finding this site, the county authorities were notified for the sake of protecting our public lands, including San Onofre. These issues should be dealt with directly by the governed authorities and the punishment should not be inflicted on the surrounding lifestyles of any bystanders, including the nudists in the San Onofre case.  It if difficult to believe simple nudity would be more provocative then a bathing suit, while clothing leaves more to the imagination.

Friends of San Onfore Beach advised us that “no citations have been issued since May 14, 2010.” Since the removal of the Cahill Policy, a total of 4 misdemeanor citations have been handed out to men for public nudity on Trail 6. Two of which were issued to sun bathers while another was issued to a volleyball player. With these numbers and no known illicit activities reported, we can only assume that crime has not been escalating at San Onofre SB.  According to the most recent crime report, dated 1999-2008,  the majority of the lewd conduct took place in more common areas such as the parking lot, restrooms or outside the State Park Ranger jurisdiction on Camp Pendleton. The rangers continue to patrol the areas and will often be found overlooking the bluffs to monitor the activities on both sides of the fence along trail 6.  There are no further reports of crime reported to date.

Criticisms, that began  the nude sunbathing ban, all started due to a sexual harassment claim filed in 2007, from a maintenance worker at San Onofre, who stated on behalf of herself and co-workers that they were working in a  hostile environment. An additional sexual harassment claim, was filed separate from the Britto case and recently settled March of this year in the case of Jennifer Donovan vs. the California Department of Parks of Recreation. This sexual harassment lawsuit, brought in August of 2008  by Donovan, a State Park Ranger, argued that she was harassed and experienced gender and sexual-orientation discrimination from her co-workers and direct supervisor during the six years she worked at San Onofre and San Clemente State Beaches. View the side by side comparison of the NAC and Donovan case vs. the Department of Parks and Recreation.

On a positive note, nudists really have contributed much to help support the State Parks. In fact, some stories of community service have included and are not limited to the maintenance of the goat trail at trail 6 as well as regular beach cleanups.  it is also important to read more about clothing optional beaches; some of the best researched and documented literature was done by The Resources Agency of the State of California in a State memorandum, dated January 23, 1979.  In this  document the State of California identifies that nude sunbathing was a valid form of recreation after receiving public input by clothing optional beach groups, local citizens and local District offices in affected areas.  Their conclusion is as follows:

By law, the California State Park System is operated under the California Administration Code, which states: (Read Section 4322)

The wording “. . . except in authorized areas set aside for that purpose . . ” is assumed to mean areas authorized by the Director for use as clothing optional areas.

….It is the recommendation of F.C. Buchter, Statff Councsel for the Department, “. . . that the Department not establish clothing optional beaches within jurisdictions which have an ordinance prohibiting nudity”

In conclusion to this document, it was recommended was further recommended that a  trial period was to be given for two beaches to have this designation…one up North and the other one San Onofre.

Click here to view and comment on the referenced  article: “San Onofre State Beach, San Diego County”   by Marjie Lundstrom with the  Sacramento Bee

A petition is circulating right now to re-establish the rights of the people who have contributed much to help preserve our Sate Parks. This is a petition to allow the designation of clothing optional beaches in the State of California. If you are interested in helping restore the rights of the people of San O and other parks, you can do so here.

Learn more about the bare the facts by visiting the Naturist Action Committee.