Will X. Walters, the man who tried suing San Diego police over a public nudity arrest at a gay pride festival, has reportedly committed suicide.
His body was found Wednesday evening at his Hillcrest apartment, according to authorities.
The death comes only two weeks after a federal jury ultimately sided with the police.
Chris Morris, Walters’ attorney, says his client was “shocked” by the December 13th verdict, and fled the courthouse immediately after the announcement.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
The San Diego Union Tribune reports that Morris hadn’t heard from Walters following the verdict, despite trying to reach him several times. Friends also tried checking in, to no avail.
Police were called to his apartment by a neighbor on Wednesday evening.
Currently, the time of death isn’t known.
Related: The 7 Rules of Public-Nudity Etiquette
“Will Walters was a valiant warrior for his cause,” Morris said, “and he will be missed by those who knew him and the community he fought for.”
Walters felt his civil rights were violated in the 2011 arrest at the San Diego Pride Parade and Festival at Balboa Park.
He was arrested for wearing a custom-made gladiator outfit, with a kilt that didn’t completely cover his buttocks.
When he refused to cover up despite requests from the police, he was arrested for public nudity and taken to jail, where he refused to sign his misdemeanor citation.
Related: Full Frontal Nudity Is As Safe As Helmets For City Cyclists In PSA
The case went to trial in early December after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Walters.
The case went to trial earlier this month after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Walters’ favor. Originally, the lower court agreed with the city, dismissing the suit with a summary judgement.
Walters felt he was being discriminated against because of his sexual orientation, but the jury ultimately disagreed.
It was reported that Walters had racked up roughly $1 million in legal fees.
“He was a young activist,” said Nicole Murray-Ramirez, city Human Relations commissioner, “and many of us thought he had a bright future in our community, and it’s a loss to our community.”
She says Walters hoped the case would educate the public and law enforcement officers, despite the ultimate ruling.
ChrisK
I feel sorry for the guy but of all the issues to fight for and end up with 1 million in legals I don’t get. The publicity should’ve been enough.
Paco
He didn’t need to end his life over this. Surely a fund could have been set up to help with his legal expenses.
DuMaurier
I’m aware that a Federal Circuit Court can define the legal issues in a case and then send it to a lower court for actual trial, but the process and how it worked here specifically could have been much better explained in the article (or explained at all, actually)
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
Very sad. He shouldn’t have committed suicide. There’s all kinds of gofundme things and this could have fueled his anger to remove that stupid law. Hopefully somebody else picks up his torch. RIP.
NCSilverBear
Disgusting, outdated, sexist (women bare their asses all the time), backward ruling. If there is a way to do it, I hope his family (or someone) sues.
sfcarlos65
Tragic!
Heywood Jablowme
What a ridiculous issue for an “activist” to waste his time and money on.
“he will be missed by those who knew him and the community he fought for.” What “community” is that – mentally ill naked perverts?
@NCSilverBear: “sexist (women bare their asses all the time), ”
They do? Really? News to me.
He BGB
What is the law? But must be covered at all times in public? One reason I ask is that one Halloween in West Hollywood I wore a thong with sheer black pants but you could still see my behind. I got whistles and cat calls but I could have been arrested like a fool. Maybe WH laws are different from SD laws. That was years ago too. On TV buts are always blurred which I don’t get. No cracks, please.
ChrisK
@He BGB: Take Folsom for example. Forget about being covered. People were having sex right in front of the cops. Right..right time.
ChrisK
Right place..right time.
Brian
Women show their gross asses at the beach all the time. Why aren’t they being arrested?
It seems that men are treated differently to women when it comes to public nudity. Why is this even legally possible?
Liberalism in California has created some very ugly double standards that favor women. Time to jump ugly on these double standards, folks.
zipperzone
The lawyers to whom he owed the one million $$$ must have known that his financial circumstances would make it impossible to pay the debt. If they were that lax then its their own fault.
Heywood Jablowme
@zipperzone: Yeah, his lawyer seems quite magnanimous about it considering he’s out so much money! Even calls the guy a “valiant warrior for his cause” (whatever the hell his “cause” was).
@Brian: “Women show their gross asses at the beach all the time.”
They do? Where the fuck do you people live, a French Caribbean island?
I go to the beach fairly often and I never see any of this stuff that you guys are so sure happens “all the time.”
SFHandyman
I don’t think GoFundMe allows fund raisers for criminals to recoup legal costs.
This wasn’t worth racking up millions in debt. It is very sad he ended his life over it. He probably could have discharged it through bankruptcy (I feel sorry for the people stuck with unpaid bills though).
San Diego is one of the more conservative than LA, WeHo, SF. They banned butt cheeks and he was showing too much skin.
I don’t mind public nudity. It just isn’t a big deal.
The Tower of Power
I don’t have a problem with public nudity either — IF YOU ARE DOING IT IN A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CONSENT TO IT.
I’ve been to nude beaches several times and it is understood it is accepted there. He was doing it on a public street where not everyone wants to see it. This is why he was prosecuted. I agree with the decision.
There is a time and place for everything, and I agree it was inappropriate for him to expose himself on a street like that.
Go to a nice beach or a strip club if you want to take off your clothes in public.
The Tower of Power
@Brian: The arrest took place because in a public park where children could be exposed to it against their will. If you go to a nude beach, you won’t be arrested because that’s expected. I agree with the verdict.
gfmsoccer
It’s a real tragedy. Obviously more to the story about this guy than what we’re being told. He must have had issues beyond just a lawsuit. It seemed like an odd cause to be an “activist” for. Fighting for your right to walk around in public naked? really?, at a family event like a Pride Festival, that’s where you think you should be able to parade around families naked? I understand what Folsom is, and it’s reputation. This is very different. A Pride Festival, that specifically encourages families and kids to attend, was not the right place for his nudity cause. If you want to fight the system, there are much better causes to spend your time & money on.
Heywood Jablowme
Suggestion for what to put on his headstone:
WHAT AN ASS!
Brian
Women always tend to show more flesh than men in public streets. Just look at what they are allowed to get away with: mini-skirts, ultra-short shorts, cleavage-revealing tops. It’s a litany of smut.
Now, I’m not saying that the human body is smutty. Far from it. However, there is a time and place for everything. I agree that the guy in this article should not have been showing his ass in public but was it really that different from some of the stuff that women wear all the time?
Women seem to think they can get away with anything these days. They’re flaunting the double standards in our faces. It’s a pity that you gay guys are so far up women’s asses, you refuse to see it.
Tête Carrée
With all those sl*ts in Hollywood (and probably elsewhere) showing off their “side boob, under boob, over boob” and everything but the kitchen nipple, what difference does a little under bum make? He was in a park not the Academy Awards. He wasn’t in an expensive restaurant where you’re forced to look at those things while you eat.
To the heterosexual trolls here, yes women do show off their “for sale” asses all the time. Just look for “bikinis” on Google images or if you really want to be ill, YouBoob er YouTube. They are just thongs with a triangle patch of material ABOVE the ass just to say it’s legal. Those aren’t for nude beaches even though it’s very close. So yes, @The Tower of Power: “innocent, helpless” little breeder children will be exposed to it but it won’t be “against their will boo hoo boo hoo”. Little American boys will be dreaming of grabbing them by the pussy and the future Kardashian girls will be planning their wardrobes. At least Willy X wasn’t required to get a Brazilian Was before he went out.
@Heywood Jablowme: “– mentally ill naked perverts? ” You’re not the first hetero to say that about the Pride parade but never fear, Trump is here. They probably won’t even be allowed anymore. For a constipated prude, you sure have a vulgar name.
Heywood Jablowme
@Tête Carrée: lol – I’ve never been called a “prude” before – certainly not HERE where the monogamy Church Ladies are always upset at me.
Not all Pride events are alike and you seem to think they are. As “gfmsoccer” says above, “I understand what Folsom is, and it’s reputation. This is very different. A Pride Festival, that specifically encourages families and kids to attend, was not the right place for his nudity cause.”
If you want to be an “activist” for this silly cause, be our guest. Apparently ALL the other problems of LGBT life have been solved!
Heywood Jablowme
@Tête Carrée: HEY – If you’re gay, why are you looking up “bikinis” on Google Images or YouTube anyway? 🙂
That’s not everyday life, that’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. Some commenters here are saying stuff like “women show their bare asses all the time” etc. and I’m saying YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING. WHERE? I never see anything like that. (Perhaps because I’m gay and therefore not looking for it, but still….) I don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. Where do these commenters live? Maybe this is a “sunbelt” thing? But the women down South are all so fat; nobody wants to see that.
@Brian: As usual you seem a bit confused. So do you want those women to cover up more, or are you saying men should dress just as smutty as women do? (The women where you live, anyway. I seem to live in an area where sartorial standards are higher!)
The Tower of Power
@Brian: I remember in 2004 FOX paid millions in fines because Janet Jackson exposed her breast on TV for less than 10 seconds. It basically killed her career. I don’t think she should have been arrested for it, but the principle applied to her is the same as applied to this guy.
The government mainly cares if you expose yourself to people who are unwilling to see it.
In fact, I think women are hurt far more by these laws than men are. Men can walk down the street with no shirt anywhere in the US. Women can’t. If anything, women’s bodies are pressured far more than men are to cover up.
The Tower of Power
@Tête Carrée: It is against the will of the parents and the kids. As a gay man, I would not want anyone exposing themselves to my nephew in a park.
If he had gone to a beach and dressed like this, I wouldn’t have had a problem because that is an appropriate place to do it. And parents can avoid it if they don’t want their kids to be exposed.
Brian
@The Tower of Power: I don’t agree on the chest comparison. Women’s chests are totally different from men’s. They are part of her sexual-reproductive system. A man’s chest is not.
The different standard applied to women regarding chest exposure in public is just that – a different standard. It is NOT a double standard.
If women and men had identical chests but only women were forced to cover up, then that would be a double standard.
As far as the guy who is now deceased, I saw a picture of what he was wearing. I didn’t think it was too revealing. I’ve seen women wear less in public, and they do it far more often than men.
Brian
@Heywood Jablowme: I’m not confused at all. I’m simply saying that women are allowed to get away with flaunting it in public whereas men are not. We in the West haves social conventions that gives privileges to women.
I don’t mind nudity at a nude beach. There, everybody can flaunt it, and one gender does not have an advantage over the other.
However, in public day-to-day living, we should not be giving women special privileges to flaunt it. It creates an inequality that diminishes men, including gay-identifying men.
I personally find it outrageous that women can enter public bars wearing tiny skirts while men are told to wear long slacks. Don’t deny that women exploit this to their advantage.
Heywood Jablowme
@Brian: “Outrageous”? You sure have a lot of time on your hands.
Well, I suppose I find it amusing that so many women nowadays dress like hookers on “casual Friday,” and then they complain when straight men LOOK at them (gasp!), and then they complain they’re cold all the time, etc etc etc. But it never occurred to me that it’s some terribly unjust double standard.
You ARE still confused. Everything you say is possibly an argument for women dressing better. (Although there would be no way to legislate that.) But it’s not an argument for men going butt-naked in retaliation!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Public nudity is the slippery (also coagulated) slope to “free bleeders”
The Tower of Power
@Brian: That is not true in some western countries.
In 1991, Gwen Jacob was arrested for walking in a street in Guelph, Ontario while topless. She was acquitted in 1996 by the Ontario Court of Appeal on the basis that the act of being topless is not in itself a sexual act or indecent.The case has been referred to in subsequent cases for the proposition that the mere act of public nudity is not sexual or indecent or an offense. Since then, the court ruling has been tested and upheld several times.
Nude sunbathing has also been found to be acceptable in Canada.
Heywood Jablowme
@The Tower of Power: The New York Supreme Court has also ruled that women can go topless. Almost a moot point, since almost no one does it. (And if they did, they’d complain that men were looking at them!)
I still don’t see the “double standard” that Brian and others here see, because we’re not discussing toplessness, we’re discussing bare butts. Outside of nude beaches (San Diego has one, btw) or a rare event like SF’s Folsom where it’s allowed, it doesn’t happen and no one here has managed to name a place where the supposed double standard happens.
dwes09
@Brian: “I don’t agree on the chest comparison. Women’s chests are totally different from men’s. They are part of her sexual-reproductive system. A man’s chest is not.”
All mammals produce milk to feed their young. This has nothing whatsoever to do with their “sexual reproductive system”. Breasts are not genitals, God!! you are such a twit. Men can bare their nipples, women can not, end of story.
As for “sexy” dresses, bare shoulders and such, this is not because of some double standard that favors women but because women are overwhelmingly seen by straight men as primarily sex objects. Your misogyny is so deep and sick your mother must have been a monster! You remind me of Norman Bates!! Even though you occasionally feign a warped sort of support for women when your anti-choice agenda demands it.
Brian
@dwes09: Lol -are you clueless?
If you think men and women have identical chests, you’re either a jester by choice or in dire need of education.
Brian
@Heywood Jablowme: He was never butt naked. He had a cover over his crack.
nitejonboy
I have two opinions about this: 1. It’s hypocritical…women can wear thong bikini’s which show their asses off anywhere they want and not get arrested, so it’s sexist and he never should have been arrested. But 2. It’s a really stupid cause to rack up 1 million dollars in legal fees over..he should have just taken the citation and moved on, then he’d still be alive today. These ditzy, young impulsive queens don’t think before they act and they end up regretting it.Have some common sense and know when to stick your neck out and when not to.
Brian
@nitejonboy: It’s outrageous that women can get away with wearing thong bikinis but men can’t. It’s clearly a double standard. I am almost motivated to call this a hate crime where the perpetrator is a woman and the victim is a gay man.
The problem with women is that, once you give them equal rights, they don’t know where to stop. They start demanding privileges.
.
seaguy
Suicide is never the answer and it is said that he felt it was. So he lost the court case and had legal fees file for bankruptcy then but don’t take your life. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 if you’re feeling suicidal.
seaguy
@seaguy: said=sad
Brian
Why didn’t the gay media help this guy?
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
“These ditzy, young impulsive queens”.
He was doing what he felt was right. But, we have to remind him of his place by using feminine pejoratives, even dead openly gay men.
The Tower of Power
@nitejonboy: Women do expose their butts in public, but at places like the beach or at the gym. Never in my 35 years have I ever seen a woman walk around with a bare butt in public places in the USA.
Put yourself in the shoes of the state for a second. The event was held in a park, where there are usually playscapes and ball fields. It is a place where kids are usually playing and parents don’t want anyone exposing their private areas to them.
As a gay uncle to an 11-year-old, I would probably give someone a bloody nose for exposing himself or herself to my nephew.
By the way, I am a moderately liberal Democrat, but I know the appropriate venues for nudity. A park isn’t it.
Danny279
Anyone who publicly parades around in a dog collar and a sexual fetish outfit is not of sound mental and emotional health. I doubt that this suicide had anything to do with the verdict, which was 100% correct and justified. If some exhibitionist, oversexed people want to have a Mardi Gras, then let them throw a separate event. Gay Pride is not about sex fetishes and public nudity.
As for him “racking up $1 million” in legal fees, that’s BS. There is no way that the law firm would have let him run a $1 million bill without making payments. What that number represents is the amount that the law firm would have tried to collect from San Diego if Walters had won the lawsuit. But there is no way that Walters was on the hook for that amount.
DuMaurier
Wow, a lot of comments since I left one complaining that the article was uninformative (not to say incoherent) about the judicial progress of the case. Since then I’ve actually looked it up; Walters’ case was summarily dismissed in court and he appealed to the 9th Circuit, which overturned the dismissal and remanded it back for trial (where, as we know, he lost) precisely because he DID show evidence that the new ‘nudity’ policy was concocted for and directed specifically against the Pride event, and that “beachgoers and attendees of other special events in San Diego were in violation of the new nudity enforcement policy, but that SDPD did not increase enforcement anywhere
except the Pride Event.”
I don’t know how the policy and its application were (successfully) defended at trial, but the 9th Circuit obviously did not accept the double-standard-for-the-beach argument some posters are making here.
Heywood Jablowme
@DuMaurier: Thank you for the paralegal detective work. (Not sarcasm; I do appreciate it!) The article was indeed uninformative on many points. And… he still lost at trial. And it was all a colossal and ridiculous waste of “activism.”
Heywood Jablowme
Oh dear. I may need to re-think my attitude on this subject, since I see that Danny279 (the second-worst poster on this site) and I are essentially in agreement, while Brian (the undefeated World Champion worst poster on this site) disagrees with me.
It’s quite a conundrum. … But can you EVER go wrong disagreeing with Brian?