Stephen Gough, a.k.a The Naked Rambler, the UK man claiming his right to be naked where and when he wishes in his native land, made headlines for years, both for his treks across Great Britain and for his frequent troubles with the law. However, the “Nude Messiah” has been but a footnote since his last incarceration in Scotland in January, 2008, where we can only presume he’s still serving a sentence.
Gough has spent lots of time in Edinburgh jail cells, mainly for contempt by refusing to wear clothes in court. The controversial Englishman even got himself arrested for taking his clothes off aboard a commercial airliner, on what was definitely not a nudist flight. Obtaining recent information on Gough is no small feat: To wit, even the site dedicated to him, nakedwalk.org is severely outdated. If we hear anything, we’ll let you know, and if you know anything, please let US know!
Brattleboro, a pretty little town in Vermont, was also the source of intense media brouhaha throughout the world up until a few months ago, yet has stopped being of interest to anyone since then. If you recall, in 2006 a bunch of teenagers decided, on a lark, to hang-out naked in town, and as there was no legislation to make it a crime, continued with their bold little experiment. Things came to a boil when a few persons not from Brattleboro decided to casually walk naked in the burg, including a man who did so during a local street festival, and another who decided to go to Dunkin Donuts au naturel.
Many citizens clamored for action to stop the rash of naked sightings on their streets. If anyone was to repeat the feat nowadays, they would be accosted by local police and fined up to 100 dollars if they didn’t immediately get dressed. Fact is, public nudity is illegal now in Brattleboro, residents thumbing their noses at the media circus, which had tried to paint it as a “Naked City”.
