The Legality of Nudism

The following does not constitute legal advice. In order to arrive at legal understanding, it is necessary to know much more than the words in the criminal codes (some of which have been around for well over a hundred years) or those contained in excerpts from court opinions.

Of course whether practicing nudism can be done legally, and where it can legally be enjoyed are issues that vary dependent upon where a person lives. At the present time at least, in my home state, Texas, public nudity is lawful on private property at the several nudist resorts and venues within the state. These are open, advertised locations and not operated in any secretive, clandestine manner. But even at these sites, nudity must be confined away from locations where people outside the facility might view and be offended by nudity as this could result in criminal complaints.

In the Texas the statute that is most of interest with respect to nudism is found in Section 21.08 of the Texas Penal Code. Here is the statute in its entirety.

INDECENT EXPOSURE (a) A person commits an offense if he exposes his anus or any part of his genitals with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person, and he is reckless about whether another is present who will be offended or alarmed by his act. (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

The language of this statute does not per se criminalize public nudity. As the law reads, a person exposing his (her) anus or any part of his (her) genitals is only guilty of an offense if he (she) does so for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of “any” person. But a couple of things need to be considered. First, “any person” includes persons exposing themselves and second, while intent can never legally be assumed but is an element that must be proven in court, for some reason, unlike other laws, enforcement officials will often impute the intent when it comes to the indecent exposure statute. In other words they will often assume the reason a person would expose his (or her) anus or genitals in public is because they were seeking to arouse or gratify their own sexual desire and are not at all hesitant to take enforcement action (i.e. make arrests). As a result, a person is well served by erring on the side of caution in Texas and refraining from engaging in public nudity anywhere other than resorts or other clothing optional venues where it is known to be lawful conduct.

Other jurisdictions are more lenient and some more restrictive on where a person may engage in public nudity. In California for example, the California State Supreme Court has ruled that nudity alone is not illegal or criminal unless accompanied by acts of lewdness. Again what constitutes “lewdness” varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but again from the Texas Penal Code, here is the governing statute from Section 21.07.

PUBLIC LEWDNESS (a) A person commits an offense if he (she) knowingly engages in any of the following acts in a public place or, if not in a public place, he (she) is reckless about whether another is present who will be offended or alarmed by his (her): (1) act of sexual intercourse; (2) act of deviate sexual intercourse; (3) act of sexual contact; or (4) act involving contact between the person's mouth or genitals and the anus or genitals of an animal or fowl. (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

I and I think the majority of nudists do not wish to offend anyone or force other unwilling persons to observe us in the nude. At least for me, having other people see me naked or seeing other people naked is not a part of what nudism is about. I for instance simply want access to locations where I can enjoy simple, normal, every day activities in the nude; like sunbathing, swimming, hiking, running, etc. Certainly I am not an activist when it comes to pressing the issues and winding up on the wrong side of a public exposure or lewdness complaint. So I do refrain for the most part from enjoying time spent in the nude anywhere but within the privacy of my own home or at recognized venues where public nudity is lawful. At times I may enjoy spending time nude in remote backcountry areas when camping or backpacking, but I certainly take reasonable precautions like keeping a pair of shorts handy that I can quickly put on should someone happen along who might be offended.