Seattle concerns

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Opening statement

The Organic Living/Work Less Party takes all allegations concerning inappropriate behavior by riders associated with the World Naked Bike Ride Seattle events seriously and we do whatever we can to investigate and help prevent future problems of a similar nature in future events. We are also open to suggestions by local government, local groups and citizens to improve our ride and reduce any conflicts. We will also do what we can to see if there are ways that we can be more clear about ride expectations and better enforce these values. We do have a very limited ride marshall program to help steer and pace the ride through the city and better control the actions of cyclists, especially in sensitive areas of the city. Also, all riders are asked to enforce our policies and values during the event and to take those values with them after the ride. People who are making unwelcome lewd or harassing gestures or engaging in criminal conduct against others should be prosecuted, according to the severity of their conduct, during any event, regardless of how they choose to dress themselves.

Purpose

One clarification, WNBR does not seek to "push boundaries" with regard to adherence to traffic laws, criminal sexual conduct or offensive behavior. This is a peaceful, joyful, artistic and non-confrontational event. As a large bicycle ride we do have some practical conflicts with the timing conflicts presented by some traffic lights in getting our riders through intersections and we do have some minor conflicts with beach regulations currently on the books regarding beaches, bikes and buttocks, but we are managing the best we can.

We ride to inspire citizens to make personal and political choices to turn away from oil dependency and car culture and promote positive views of the human body, the most amazing and beautiful transportation vessel and machine of our age. Like Al Gore in his recent film An Inconvenient Truth we believe there is a clear, moral imperative for us to act with regard to these issues. Individuals who act irresponsibly and out of spite to our event's values are not in compliance to WNBR values or its message and tarnish its effort to create a positive experience for our conscientious riders and the general public alike.

Complaints

For our June 10, 2006 ride there were, to be clear, very, very few incidents of what we would call evidence of offense taken by the public (looking away, verbal complaints/exchanges, et cetera) during our ride. However, each incident merits a careful look at whether or not the situation could have been somehow been mitigated or if it was simply an example of a minor culture clash regarding beliefs about the rights of cyclists and the human body. We do understand and respect that some people are offended by cyclists riding two abreast on streets, taking up a lane of traffic and the appearance of human bodies in general. We try to be respectful of these concerns by communicating a set of guidelines to our riders.

We are confused and a bit disappointed by a recent formal SPD Public Disclosure Request letter dated July 5, 2006 by mail which indicated there were no complaints with regard to our ride, which we can confirm is NOT the case based on three complaints I have read thus far:

Complaint 1

A complaint from a citizen at Seward Park, DJ did witness this exchange. It did not seem too intense though, our riders did discuss issues with the citizen, but kept it very light-hearted. The citizen objected to nudity and felt it was only appropriate at home. Some of our riders countered that if we were meant to be naked we would have been born that way. The citizen left and apparently felt the need to call 911.

Complaint 2

A complaint at Madrona Park (visit two after returning from Seward Park) as viewable in the Madison Park Times Police Log section. It is my understanding that police were dispatched to arrest the cyclists and stop the event, however, we were not located at the time and the police either chose not to pursue us or had other priorities. Info is available online [1].

Complaint 3

Complaint from Spanaway resident in the vicinity of Husky Stadium (documented below).

Complaint 4 (internal)

A rider complainted that another rider was using his cell phone during the ride to take close-up pictures of riders, including photos which looked to be focused on the personal areas of female riders. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated.

These clear holes in the reports clearly question the validity that the Public Disclosure Requests have, which I and other event organizers have requested in past years.

Other incidents

In addition to these complaints I also heard of or witnessed the following incidents during our event:

Incident 1

One parent, who seemingly could not stop smiling, directed her children to look away from riders on Harrison Street at the Seattle Center. Several of her children decided for themselves to look anyway, while another toddler had the strange reaction of covering its ears. This curious reaction was documented on our photography page.

Incident 2

An exchange at a very busy Cal Anderson Park where a citizen apparently protested that there were children present in the park, we countered that there was also a child present in our ride and the situation seemed to diffuse. SPD officers at CA were overheard (by some of our friends who were not in the ride) making comments questioning the morality of our ride.

Incident 3

A male yells "idiots" very angrily and loudly from a car stuck in UW Commencement traffic as we passed gridlocked traffic effortlessly by.

That's it. So that is a handful of complaints from a nine hour, city-wide event. That's not too bad, but I believe in the saying "There's always room for improvement".

A successful ride

Overall, our ride was very well received and our riders were very happy to see so much of the city, most areas having never experienced such a ride before. People screamed in support, honked their horns, one driver wanted to join our ride, one reserved family picninc at Madrona Park insisted we sing happy birthday for two family members and on and on. A lot of citizens came up to us and wanted to talk with us about our event and wanted to take pictures with us. One pair of riders this year were newly weds, celebrating their marriage with white flowing headdress and black tie. Our tradition of stopping at the International Fountain was a completely magical experience for all. Our ride along Lake Washington and as participants in Seattle's Group Health Bicycle Saturday and Sunday event was awe-inspiring with sweeping views of the Cascades and Lake Washington. For a third year in a row, the Ride the Ducks of Seattle bus and boat tour has been stalking and following us through Wallingford and Fremont, and we also ran into several other tour buses full of tourists waving, smiling, pointing and taking pictures. This phenomenon is also documented here: [2]

Access to parks

WNBR has requested use of parks to stage artistic and musical components of our event and to allow for body painting. We do put up screens to provide our participants privacy from leering eyes while painting and also to reduce the numbers of complaints from people who are offended by humans.

We have also asked for access to fountains and beaches, because, well... everybody loves to go to the beach and run through fountains...

We also need to use the bathroom, especially when we drink so much water to stay hydrated for such a long bike ride. The easiest bathrooms to use are in parks.

We also scheduled a modified yoga session on Lake Washington lead by a professional yoga instructor midway to help people stretch.

Part of the local adaptation of the body-positive message of WNBR is to support a large ensemble of Northwest groups who are pushing for Seattle to join other cities in providing clothing-optional areas on local beaches. As more people travel and visit other states and countries, they want the same experiences locally that they have experienced abroad. Add to that a new level of desperation with not being able to afford to drive or fly with the high price of gas and you can see what more citizens are encouraging reform. For more information see Seattle Beaches

Children & Nudity

As you may know, there is no study of any kind linking children and non-sexual nudity to any negative effects. There is no harm. Despite this fact, many raise concern about children seeing naked people in non-sexualized contexts. See http://www.fcn.ca/children_2.htm The fact that many children choose for themselves to be naked on many occasions seems evidence enough.

Two of the four annual naked rides in our city do have families participating as both riders and spectators with riders ranging in age from probably two years old to eighty I would imagine. WNBR does not target any particular age group during our rides nor do we intentionally avoid any area of town to avoid children. If you think about it, children are everywhere, they are part of the general population. Expecting us to avoid areas with children is akin to asking us not to ride in any part of the city with deciduous trees or fruit-bearing plants. Beaches have children, and so do parks, shopping districts, streets and tourist areas.

We do not crash school assemblies or religious events, although we have been through weddings and family birthday parties, but not intentionally. I have never seen a child take offense to a naked/painted cyclists in the ten urban naked cycling events I have participated in up and down the West Coast. Children do show interest in painted naked cyclists and people running through the fountain. Indeed, I would be concerned about any ride that was not "family-friendly" and instead advertised itself as "adults-only". That would suggest to me that it was not appropriate for a public environment.

Anybody who has ever been around children of any kind would know that kids whine, complain, cry and throw fits if they are not having fun. Our 10 year old kid who has participated for two years outlasted and outrode many of the adults during our record-breaking 27+ mile ride. He went swimming in the lake when most of us were put off by the cold of the water and clearly enjoyed riding through the city. How that is exploitation is beyond me. Kids are just as capable of enjoying biking and swimming just like anybody else. Its hard to imagine that parents would bring their kids to watch or participate in WNBR or the Fremont Summer Solstice Parade in droves if there was any chance of exploitation or seeing something creepy. It is a serious problem when families instill in their children that bodies are inherently obscene and exist only in the contexts of life support, sexuality and mundane bodily functions. Those are not positive values which we should pass on to future generations. It is troubling for me to hear that parents believe that somehow discussions about the natural appearance of the human body, of which all of us are directly connected with, somehow constitutes a difficult and awkward conversation that someone could resent having with a living being that they gave life to in the first place.

Daniel's closing remarks

It is unfortunate that so much of my dialogue with the city is about concerns about our ride's legality and not our message, which is the whole point. I really believe that WNBR has a very important role to play, even if a small one, of joining other advocacy groups and concerned citizens in instilling a sense of urgency when discussing issues of climate change, the value that cycling has in this regard and instilling positive view of the human body. I truly believe that we are far less offensive than our cycling counterparts Critical Mass by showing that we can share the road and be polite at the same time. Sometimes the tactics that a few riders exhibit during the CM rides are embarrassing and irresponsible. But I also know that a large majority of the riders really do want to create a positive change in their community and inspire people to ride their bikes more often by having large, celebratory bike rides. I have really tried to address a large number of concerns that the city has with the ride because I understand that acting responsibly during our rides, following traffic laws and regulations, will leave a better impression on those who we are reaching out to, the general public.

I look forward to a day when people are judged not by their outward appearance but by the motivations of their hearts.

Thank you,

Daniel Johnson The Organic Living/The Work Less Party USA WNBR Seattle Collective http://WNBRseattle.org http://wiki.worldnakedbikeride.org/index.php?title=Seattle