Nude Family Values

Like any boy who has felt the furnace of a June afternoon in the South, 16-year-old James Gordon knows the pleasures of stripping nude for a swim. But a couple of weeks ago at his summer camp, Gordon was nude just about 24/7. He sang Kumbayah around the campfire naked, gave a speech to the entire camp naked and played the violin in a talent show naked. Which is what's expected when your camp is organized by the American Association for Nude Recreation (A.A.N.R.). Gordon was one of two dozen young people, ages 11 to 25, who attended the camp, which ran from June 5 to June 13 in sweltering Lutz, Fla., outside Tampa, at a secluded place known as the Lake Como Family Nudist Resort.

All the campers had, like Gordon, been raised in families that routinely visit--or reside at--places like Lake Como (there are 259 A.A.N.R. resorts and clubs). Gordon says he has been a nudist since he was 2, "and now we come out [to the local nudist resort] every Sunday after church." (Gordon and his parents attend a conservative Christian church, and because it's a congregation that may not welcome nudists, we have changed his name.) Despite his religious background--in fact, partly because of it--Gordon sees nothing wrong with nudism. "God created all of us," he says. "He made our bodies, and we shouldn't be ashamed."

Gordon is old enough to know that many people disagree. Some even think he--or, rather, A.A.N.R.--should be not only ashamed but also investigated. Congressman Mark Foley, a Florida Republican who is planning a run for the U.S. Senate, bitterly attacked the A.A.N.R. youth camp last week. "I have no way of knowing whether illegal behavior is taking place in this camp," he told Governor Jeb Bush in a letter. Nonetheless, Foley asserted that the camp was "exploiting nudity among minor children to make money." He worried that the campers were in danger of sexual abuse. And he asked the Governor to help determine whether the camp is legal.

Though the summer camp was in its 11th annual incarnation, Foley hadn't heard of it until last week, when he read a story in the New York Times. As it happens, I attended the Florida camp, as a (fully clothed) reporter invited by A.A.N.R. The group hoped to publicize its effort to expand nudist camps for kids across the U.S. A weeklong camp for young nudists opened last week in Ivor, Va. (Conservatives in the state, including the attorney general, promptly criticized the camp and promised to monitor it.) Another A.A.N.R. youth camp is set to start in New River, Ariz., in July; yet another is planned for Texas as early as next summer.

In some respects, Foley is right to be worried, but he's also less informed than he could be. Foley seemed to fear that adults would see the young campers naked, but nudist adults see naked kids--their own and the children of other nudists--all the time. All three A.A.N.R. camps this summer are being held on campgrounds of larger resorts full of adult nudist visitors--RVers, foreigners, locals--many with their own nudist kids. There's a fair amount of intermingling. At Lake Como, for instance, A.A.N.R. campers used the same pool as regular Lake Como visitors. For the most part, there were no problems.