YEAR IN REVIEW

Protests, Pranks And Prohibitions: The Year In Public Nudity

University of Warwick Boat Club

From Prince Harry and KONY leader Jason Russell to D.C. AIDS activists and San Francisco’s nudist demonstrators, 2012 was the year to be naked.

Click through for Queerty’s roundup of notable nude moments in 2012

 

KONY 2012 founder goes on nude rampage in San Diego
Within weeks of the “Kony 2012” viral campaign hitting the Web, blond savoir Jason Russell went on a bizarre naked rampage through the streets of San Diego. He was eventually arrested for vandalizing property and masturbating in public. Why? His wife claims Jason’s wild ride was a “brief psychotic episode.”

 

 

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Protestors show some skin in the Senate
Less than a week before World AIDS Day, seven activists charged into the DC offices of Sen. John Boehner, stripped naked and demanded a meeting with the the Republican Speaker over proposed AIDS funding cuts. Instead of carrying placards, they painted their naked bodies with slogans like “AIDS Cuts Kill.”

 

 

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The Castro covers up for good
In November free-ballers in the Castro District were disappointed when San Francisco passed a ban on public nudity, after complaints about exposed erections and cock rings. Above, demonstrators protested the measure by getting naked inside City Hall.

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Porn-star pedestrians strip down
Maybe SF’s nudity ban was sparked by the epidemic of gay porn stars walking around the Castro with their junk hanging out? First there was Jessy Ares and then Marc Dylan (Anthony’s Weiner) released a blurred-out version of his escapade on YouTube, which was subsequently taken down (it’s up on the NSFW  Queer Porn Nation).

 

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Miami men get to show the Full Monty
In North Miami, Swinging Richards struck a blow for free speech—and man candy—when owner C.B. Jones won a lawsuit claiming the city only enforced the ban on nudity at bars when he opened his gay strip club.  The city relented and decided to allow nude dancing in the club.

 

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We started caring about calendars again
The gay Internet went gaga when the fine lads of the University of Warwick Boat Club released their 2013 naked calendar and accompanying video, (PS, if you like what you see, you can order the calendar here.

 

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Censorship comes to Fort Lauderdale
The Stonewall National Museum in Fort Lauderdale, the largest LGBT museum in America, canceled a photography exhibit immediately after the artist’s reception when the institution’s board of directors decided it was overly graphic. The institution had originally planned to exhibit four images from Jeff Larson’s “Men in Living Rooms” series.

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Couple caught in flagrente on the Love Boat
In March, two gay men were arrested for having sex on the balcony of an Atlantis cruise ship docked on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Witnesses viewed their lovemaking from the piers and summoned police, who charged them with indecent exposure.

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Stage nudity comes to off-Broadway
The farce The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side returned to New York over the summer, bemusing audiences with a tale of polyamorous bisexual hipsters sharing an apartment and fending off gentrification. Pipers raised eyebrows (among other things) for featuring the only fully erect penis on the New York stage.

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Censorship comes to Austria
The Leopold Museum in Vienna teased its new exhibit Naked Men by festooning local kiosks and bus stops with art depicting nude males. After a series of complaints, organizers agreed to cover the privates in public.

 

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Prince Harry plays naked billiards
And we end our roundup of public nudity with our favorite moment: England’s Prince Harry made our summer when he got photographed playing naked pool in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Photo: TMZ

 

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