#Nudenotlewd.
That’s the hashtag being used by a gaggle of activists petitioning to reinstate the clothing-optional policy at a popular gay-friendly bar in New Orleans.
For over 35 years, the Country Club has been popular haunt for gay travelers. It first opened in 1977 and boasts a large saline pool, hot tub, sauna, deck, garden, two bars, and a restaurant. But perhaps the club’s biggest selling feature has always been its clothing-optional policy. Until recently, that is.
Last summer, a woman claimed she was drugged and sexually and assaulted while relaxing there. As a result, the city’s Alcohol and Beverage Control Board offered the Country Club an ultimatum: Make its patrons cover up or lose its liquor license. Rather than put up a fight, bar owners caved to the request, much to their longtime customers’ disappointment.
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Now a group of them have banded together to campaign for the Country Club to allow nudity again.
“We should be able to read, smoke, swim and drink naked,” Dillon Henderson told WGNO News. “To me they got rid of the policy, and I want it back.”
He continued: “The reasons why it went away are irrelevant to me. That’s why we thought why not organize a petition and see what kind of response we get and then go from there. We are hoping that people sign the petition and get involved on social media using the hashtag #nudenotlewd.”
Henderson and other supporters have been working to gather signatures for their petition by promoting it online as well as by canvasing in local parks.
“I’m not a nudist,” he said. “I’ve been there dozens of times, and I’ve only been naked a handful of times. It’s not about me running around naked. It’s the option and the principle here.”
So far, the Country Club has not released any comment on the campaign.
Related stories:
Iconic Clothing-Optional Bar In New Orleans Ends Its Nude Policy After A Customer Gets Raped
Carrying a Condom in New Orleans Could Get You Arrested for Prostitution
Anne Rice’s Former New Orleans Mansion Is Everything You Want It To Be
Sluggo2007
She wasn’t raped. Click on the links above and get the whole story. She’s just a slut who had her car stolen.
JaredNorthcutt30
I love the smell of gay misogyny in the morning.
Giancarlo85
@JaredNorthcutt30: Yeah that’s common on here. Blaming the victim is also another popular mentality in many of the comments.
As far as this gay bar, I doubt I’d go visit… I wouldn’t want to see a bunch of fat old men naked… if they ever bring the clothing optional policy back.
nudenotlewd
QUEERTY ADMIN: please ADD our change.org link onto this article. Email me at [email protected] if needed.
This is our petition URL: http://is.gd/VkBqSt
ANYONE is eligible to sign so long as they support our #nudenotlewd movement. Be sure to RT Twitter account @dillhenderson for latest #nudenotlewd updates, and be sure to use the #nudenotlewd hashtag. Instagram is @dill_does , check it out and comment and repost the campaign’s literature and photos!
Express your solidarity with us and help support positive change at the community level, all from the comfort of your own home.
Best,
Dillon Henderson / James Migliore
#nudenotlewd
Taskebab
@nudenotlewd: Bitch, you LITERALLY said in your interview “The reasons why it went away are irrelevant to me.”…A WOMAN WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED!!! Keep your fucking clothes on and hang your heads in shame, THAT is what you’re supposed to be doing, you misogynistic rape-apologetic pig!
Taskebab
If I had my way this fucking club would be burned to the fucking ground…a woman is raped and all these depraved homo’s care about is “oh I want to walk around naked”!?!? How dare they!! And that previous article on this subject, the patrons of this club even went as far as to shame that woman!? These disgusting pigs need to go to JAIL, not be on this website advertising their disgusting petition!!!
LandStander
They had my support until the “reasons why it went away are irrelevant to me” comment….Hopefully that was just a very poor choice of words, or I am missing something…
Ummmm Yeah
@Taskebab: The homo’s didn’t rape her now did they? This is yes another thing ruined by breeders coming in and taking over then acting like fools.
Taskebab
@Ummmm Yeah: No but the homo’s are the ones blaming her and acting like it’s no big deal and desperately making it all about them. This whole petition is disgusting, it just shows just how little respect these people have for this woman and women in general.
Saint Law
@Giancarlo85: “I wouldn’t want to see a bunch of fat old men naked.”
So you keep saying.
jwtraveler
Rape is a terrible, violent crime that should be taken seriously. Women are too often blamed for the crimes committed against them. That said, this woman’s rape was not caused by a bunch of gay men hanging out naked. That should be evident to everyone, even the Alcohol and Beverage Control Board. I’d guess they’re just using this as an excuse to stop gay men from taking off their clothes. My question is this: if this rape happened in a crowded bar, why didn’t anyone see it and do something about it? I’d hate to think that a barful of gay men stood around and did nothing while a woman was being raped.
Giancarlo85
@Saint Law: Yeah, sorry that pretty much rules you out, wouldn’t you say?
enfilmigult
So they got rid of the clothing-optional policy…because as we all know, women don’t get roofied in any other type of bar. Yeah, I can see why they’re trying to get it back.
enfilmigult
@Taskebab: You were apparently so busy working up a case of outrage that you managed to ignore the words of the rape victim herself when you read that earlier article: “Rape has nothing to do with being naked or the clothes you wear. I feel like them going after the nudity policy is further sending out a bad message.” How about you go tell her what a misogynist rape apologist she’s being.
Chris
I fail to see the connection between nudity and someone’s being raped; if anything, it would seem to me that the perp(s) had to be wearing clothes with pockets.
Aside from redoubling their efforts to catch the person(s) who committed this crime, the bar and police should take steps to reduce the likelihood of it happening again. I’ve been to bars where there are prominent signs warning people not to accept drinks or even food from people they do not know or just met; increased vigilance to find and help people who have been drugged seem called for. But banning nudity seems more for symbolic purposes than anything else.
jwtraveler
@Giancarlo85: If this type of business doesn’t appeal to you, you are free to avoid going there. There’s no reason to be insulting to the patrons of the establishment. Your attitude doesn’t really agree with your otherwise progressive ideology.
dhmonarch89
I see the nudenotlewd guy hasn’t been back or willing to explain the ‘irrelevant’ comment.
Taskebab
@enfilmigult: How does her comment even in the slightest make it ok for those gays in that club to publicly shame this woman and make comments like the one in this article that her being raped is “irrelevant”…I honestly don’t care about if those gays wear clothes or not…what I do care about is that these gays very clearly believe that their desire to be naked in clubs is more important than preventing women from being raped. The issue for me is not if wearing clothes or not causes rape, because it’s a bullshit excuse that blames the victim…the issue for me is the horrendous, arrogant, misogynistic position that these gays make, saying they’re the victims just because their nasty asses have to wear clothes now, while meanwhile a raped woman is being called “irrelevant”
Taskebab
Update! The petition has been ended:
“Ending #nudenotlewd . . . Regrets & Reflections
Dillon Henderson
New Orleans, LA
Mar 13, 2015 — there is no easy way to say this, but i am removing our ?#?nudenotlewd? petition from change .org. Just as soon as i figure out how to delete the damn thing.
After hearing this afternoon from the rape victim whose assault preceded the clothing-optional controversy, I can no longer in good conscience support this cause. While we still believe that the clothing-optional policies do not necessitate sexual violence, I cannot continue to support this business so long as it remains under the same ownership that oversaw this woman’s abhorrent experience there.
I know that means a lot of my “friends” in NOLA are going to be extremely angry with me, but I cannot let their reactions influence this.
Please head to my Facebook to see screenshots of the email messages that have necessitated this sudden shift:
https://www.facebook.com/dillon.henderson.9216”
Looks like there might be hope for this guy yet!