Brisbane

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Next ride

Date: Saturday 29 March 2008
Time: assemble at 10 a.m.
Location: Undisclosed inner-city area

Ride Details

Everyone is expected to be at the given site at 10 a.m. to sign in. Only those who fully confirm they will be there on the day will be given the venue's location.

The ride will be clothing optional. Please wear a g-string if you are apprehensive about showing your genitalia.

Here are a few tips:

• 1) Wear plenty of sunscreen and a helmet as well as some sensible shoes for the ride.

• 2) If for any reason the police converge on this event and try to arrest you, *do not* resist arrest or obstruct them in any way. After all, this is a peaceful, non-violent demonstration.

For the most part, you will be showing them up to be the bigots and bullies they are - and we will be having people with camcorders filming the whole time.

• 3) If you find the crowd jeering or heckling you, then smile, laugh, and wave them off. Girls: *don't* put your tops back on if the cops order you to - you are well within your biological and legal right to demonstrate bare-chested at this event, and if the cops want to take the matter to court, then we will. Remember: "good" women rarely ever make history!

• 4) No sexual behaviour of any kind will be tolerated during this event. We are out to show people that we support public morality as far as sexual mores are concerned. Anyone who tries to exploit this event for sexual opportunism such as swing clubs, or makes unwanted advances towards any other punter whether they are naked or not will be ordered to leave instantly.

• 5) Do not lie to any journalist or reporter about your thoughts on naturism or this event - it will come back to haunt you later.

• 6) If you wish to photograph anyone, ask permission from them first. Do not photograph anybody under 16 who may at the event without securing permission from their chaperone.

Planning

Dario Western has volunteered to organise the WNBR in Brisbane in 2008 and welcomes offers of help with this task. People interested in participating or helping organise the 2009 WNBR in Brisbane should join the discussion group and watch the page. Important: we do not have the WNBR in exactly the same location every year.

Media enquiries

Please contact Dario Western, the WNBR Brisbane organiser.

Publicity: flyers, posters, images etc

These are the current flyer, poster and BIG POSTER to be used for the WNBR Brisbane 2008 to help promote participation. Please print these and stick them up where people will see them. Why not colour one in and stick it to your refrigerator?

Flyer

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  Flyer

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  Poster

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  BIG POSTER

Superceded publicity: flyers, posters, images etc

Superceded flyer, poster and BIG POSTER

History

2008

Date: Saturday 8 March 2008
Time: 3.15 Location: North Wynnum Esplanade, Elanora Park, Wynnum

WNBR Brisbane 8 March 2008

The 2008 ride was the second time Brisbane had participated in the ride. Unlike 2007, this year was a more sombre and subdued event with an even stricter police presence than last year. Dario assembled the film maker, photographers and body painters at the cul-de-sac in Crown Street at 2.45 before two friends had alerted him to six police cars already being assembled in the park.

The ride did not start until 4:20 pm in which five men and one woman rode. The police threatened all the riders with arrest if they went nude, including the woman going topfree. In the end, the riders backed down and took to the track wearing their shorts and sandals with various slogans more pertinent to naturism than oil dependency painted on them. One girl in her late teens tried to join the ride 10 minutes after take off and removed her top but was shouted down by the police, and eventually left the site 15 minutes later. Dario chose not to ride as a protest against the small turnout and the lack of female participants.

Dario did some brief filming of the participants, including film maker Charles McFarland and assistant Eleanor Embury.

There was no after ride party as the local pubs were reluctant to hire out a private bar for dress optional functions (unlike the Regatta last year).

The World Naked Bike Ride has received quite a lot of negative remarks with traditional nudists and naturists in Brisbane regarding the 'shock' value of public nudity to draw attention to political and environmental causes. With the exception of Free Beaches Australia and several festivals where nudity is allowed or at least tolerated, the Brisbane WNBR will no longer be reaching out to anyone who is involved with the nudist community.

Dario is planning to host an alternative bike ride on March 29th which will only be promoted via word of mouth to college and university students, social activists, feminists, and underground media like Brisbane Times and The Independent including 4ZZZ radio and The Australian Naturist magazine. The venue will only be revealed to those who fully confirm their presence there on the day via email or SMS.

This will largely protest against the burning of fossil fuels, the current public nudity laws in Queensland and the legal right for girls and woman to go topfree in the same social environments and contexts that guys are outside of beaches.

The event will only go ahead if at least 100 riders will confirm they will be there on the day.

2007

Date: Saturday 10 March 2007
Time: 4pm
Location: ABC Studios, 600 Coronation Drive, Toowong

ABS Studios Coronation Drive Toowong

The 2007 ride was the first for Brisbane.

The Indooroopilly police were assembled on Coronation Drive at Toowong at approximately 3.10pm with the photographers and film makers turning up half an hour later. The riders started to arrive about after 4pm for body painting as well as talking to the people at 4ZZZ radio, Channel 10, and the Westside News. 32 riders participated.

Post-ride party

We all had our post ride party at the Regatta Hotel afterwards. The duty manager kindly reserved the Cellar Bar downstairs for us. We discussed plans for next year's ride as well as impromptu public nude stagings and plans for starting a young adults naturist group in Brisbane this year. At one stage, some of us nuded up for a photograph. One young lady took part in the photo, but she was not comfortable with going the full monty just yet. Nevertheless it was a great opportunity to renew some old friendships and forge a few new ones too. Byron Bay film maker Charles McFarland attended the event and included 10 minute footage on his latest DVD "Lily's Fantastic Summer 1" available from his site at http://www.synetechvideo.com The video contains two girls from the bike ride, Lily Barlow and Laura Kearns having fun at his place and riding their bikes fully naked down the main highway in Byron.

Photos

2007

• Photos at WNBR Australia (official site) © Tony Robertson
• Flickr: Photos by Tony Robertson Note: all the flickr photos are on the WNBR Australia (official site) and you need to sign in to flickr to view the flickr photos.

Media coverage

• News.com.au, 12 Feb 2007: "Nude cyclists to ride Brisbane streets"
• Sunday Mail, 13 Feb 2007: "Riders told to cover up"
• ABC Brisbane, 15 Feb 2007: "Nude bike ride divides Brisbane"
• H&E Naturist, Apr 2007: "Socks appeal" (p44, in Nudes, Prudes and Attitudes section)
• CCN Online, 28 Mar 2007 Nudists take Brisbane for a ride

Links

Website/s

• WNBR Australia

Discussion group/s

• WNBR Brisbane Yahoo! group
• WNBR Brisbane Facebook group

Location information

• Wikipedia: Brisbane
• Wikipedia: Queensland