Kentucky House bill 438, introduced in mid-February 2007, was meant to strengthen that state’s child pornography laws, but its wording was so flawed that it would have ended-up criminalizing mere non-sexual nudity in the presence of a minor. Thus, should the bill have passed as is, naturist families would have been confronted with an impossible situation, and even parents in their own homes could have faced criminal charges.
The Naturist Action Committee (NAC), the legal and political wing of The Naturist Society (TNS), has been at the forefront of a grassroots campaign to quash the bill, and on March first proclaimed victory in the matter. A substitute bill was introduced in its place, one whose legal language corrected all the original’s deficiencies.
We reached Bill Schroer, NAC board member, at his office in Michigan. Schroer’s responsibilities include overseeing naturist interests in Kentucky. He admits that bill 438 probably would not have been approved as legislation in its original form, but as naturists “We couldn’t take that chance”. Kentucky is not a very nudist-friendly state to begin with, Schroer points-out. A quick check shows that the state has absolutely no landed clubs, while neighboring Ohio has eight. Kentucky naturists, supported by the NAC, contacted state lawmakers en masse to draw their attention to bill 438’s defects. This intervention was the decisive factor, Schroer claims.
Rarely do laws target nudists directly, Schroer explains, but new legislation typically sideswipes naturists when attempting to deal with simple nudity, just as bill 438 did. This case further demonstrates the need for American naturists to join the Naturist Society and thus be well informed of new threats to their lifestyle, as well as helping finance the NAC through their membership contributions.

Related Stories:

• Interview with Naturist Society

Related Links:

• NAC information page about bill 438