An Essay on Gay Naturism

Essay On Gay Naturism

by H.S.

My first introduction to gay naturism was around age 60. The effect was immediately electrifying. The feeling of free abandon in the out-of doors and in the presence of like-minded others was something I had always craved yet not as yet experienced. But there was more to come.

I soon realized that naturists are very tranquil people. They are also more altruistic in personal ways: helpful, kindly, benignly pleasant. They never seem to grow angry about anything, never cursing one another out, or become garrulous. When naked, one chooses to be basically defenseless: you cannot steal, fight, or carry on in an unseemly way, when you cannot easily vacate yourself from a self-created unpleasant situation. You present yourself to your fellow man in an unguarded way. You trust him and he trusts you to be well behaved and well disposed.

About exposing one’s genitals, to a gay man, these are an adornment – not something to be disguised or hidden from view. And the feeling of gentle zephyrs and warm sunshine to your body’s most sensuous area make one more aware of his physical self and that of others. The occurrence of erections is also not to be disapproved of, for it is a natural periodic occurrence to be taken in one’s stride and not shunned or apologized for. And it is most appreciated when other nudists show the same neutral reaction.

I am convinced that there would be less domestic and inter-personal violence in this world if everyone participated periodically in social nudism. And, on a larger scale, that there would be less pugilism, mayhem, fewer murders and fewer wars. Life for everyone would become more peaceable.

Maybe future years will see more acceptance of naturism for everyone. Why should it be illegal to be one's natural self in the open? Let’s go for it!

NYC Has a New Men's Nude Group

Shai Long, organizer of the Nude Events group, posted a guest blog post on Young Naturists of America about a new nude group he's formed for the NYC area. Check it out. 

Options for spending vacation / holiday in the nude

View the article posted on the Independent for options on how to holiday in the nude.

GNI Announces Trae Crowder to Perform at the 2017 Annual Gathering

2017 Entertainer – Trae Crowder, a.k.a The Liberal Redneck is coming to perform!

You heard it first at the 2016 GNI Gathering! Trae Crowder will be performing LIVE for GNI at the 2017 GNI Gathering! 

Recently earning national attention (or notoriety, depending on your viewpoint) for his “Liberal Redneck” series of viral videos, Trae Crowder has been performing his particular brand of Southern-fried intellectual comedy in the Southeast and beyond for the past six years. Trae is also a writer and is currently a member of NBC Universal’s Talent Infusion Program after being invited to their prestigious Late Night Writer’s Workshop in 2015. 

He has a busy touring season performing comedy around the country and GNI is thrilled to have him perform at our private event on Sunday, August 20, 2017! Invite your friends – this is a show you won’t want to miss!

Click here to view Trae’s personal video announcement to the GNI crowd…

Ralph Bruneau is Named Mr. GNI Leather 2016

Ralph Bruneau shared these thoughts on his Facebook profile after being named Mr. GNI Leather 2016 at the 31st Annual Gathering in August. (Posted here with permission.)

September 4, 2016

Dear Friends, I’m imagining a word or two by way of explanation might be useful. A few weeks ago I attended the GNI yearly “Gathering” in the Poconos. GNI stands for Gay Naturists International. GNI is, as yet, not that well known in California but very well known in the mid-west, east, and internationally. It’s a large organization of gay men participating, supporting, and protecting social nudity. We have a yearly event called "The Gathering" at a large retreat center (summer camp) in the Poconos. This year we had about five hundred gay men in attendance - tons of activities, workshops, dancing, and entertainment in a truly beautiful environment. Every year the Gathering holds a competition for Mr. GNI Leather to compete at IML. IML is International Mister Leather. It takes place in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend with about 60 finalists from all over the US and abroad competing. I will be among them.

Some/many of you might be thinking, “Ralph? Naturism? Leather?” These are lifestyle choices/expressions that, for me, are decades old. Posting about them on social media is new. I only ventured on to Facebook a couple of years ago. As a psychotherapist, I had been trained to try to limit my personal exposure to keep myself as blank a slate as possible for client interaction. As a postmodern psychotherapist, however, who got into this field through the Shanti Foundation and AIDS activism, there are times when I feel personal expression is important. In my twenty years as a clinician I have been a founding member of California Therapists for Marriage Equality, creator of AAMFT-CA certification for LGBT-Affirmative Psychotherapy, a vocal advocate against Conversion/Reparative therapy, educator, supervisor and sex-positive/kink positive therapist. My work and my life are inextricably bound.

Next week, in Indiana, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy is honoring me for my contribution to the field of marriage and family therapy in the state of California. The following week I will attend my first event as Mr. GNI Leather, taking the stage with other titleholders at Folsom in San Francisco. I am excited, honored and humbled by both opportunities – different threads of my life being knit together. Having the courage to be seen for all I am has long been in the making. I’ll be 64 in a few weeks. Many friends and lovers of my age cohort are decades gone. I’m not ready to wind down and become invisible and irrelevant. I wanted you, my friends, to know more of who I am and what I’m up to. Looking forward!

Ralph B. selected as Mr. GNI Leather 2016. Photo Credit Paul H.

Members Represent GNI at Belleville Canada Pride

Belleville, Canada Pride
by Paul Rado

On July 23rd, 2016, Brian (my partner) and I took part in Belleville, Ontario pride celebrations where we set up a booth to promote GNI. Belleville is a small town in eastern Ontario. The event was very well attended in thanks to a well-run Pride Committee and progressive community leaders. The weather was picture perfect. It was a very festive day with a colourful and loud parade and a "village fair" with several vendors and various organizations. Many people showed interest in our GNI booth. This was a great opportunity to introduce people to GNI and the Gathering.  While we would have loved to have been naked at the event, Brian and I decided that public nudity would have been a bit much for a small town like Belleville.

We did, however, have GNI Gathering promotional postcards to hand out, a large GNI poster to proudly display, a GNI promotional video on my laptop, and a GNI information binder I put together including a past newsletter, information on the Gathering and GNI, and printed Gathering registration forms. Our table was adorned with the 30th Anniversary GNI towels. Brian and I put on our Canadian charm and talked up GNI and the Gathering event to the many people who keenly stopped by our display.

We hope to have attracted people to GNI by our presence at Belleville Pride. We also hope to have a booth again at Belleville Pride next year, and perhaps others pride events in Eastern Ontario, such as in Kingston, where a larger pride event happens every June.

Brian T and Paul R represent GNI at Pride.

The Gathering 2016 - At A Glance

The Gathering - At A Glance

With just days to go before the start of the 31st annual Gathering, this article is a recap of the exciting things we have planned this year. There is still time to register for all attendance options, so don't delay!

We'll be kicking off the week with a special performance by Shawn Ryan from Los Angeles on opening Sunday. He has a special troupe of performers in tow. Don't miss this! On Monday, our in-house talent, Jon Poupore, will delight the audience with sounds of classical music - karaoke style. He has a few surprises, too. Just exactly what does he have up his sleeve? On Tuesday evening, the incomparable Stormy Weather will host her annual (talent?) show. What can you expect from her except a great time (but on the near side of the lake, I mean, really)? On Wednesday evening, we will launch our first Karaoke Contesthosted by long-time member Ray Brackett. Bring your own music or find one in our library of 3000+ songs to choose from and enter the contest for a $100 credit to the 2017 Gathering! On Thursday evening, we'll have the Mr. GNI Contest hosted by Paul LaDuca. Sign up to compete when you arrive and if you win you'll hold the title until 2017. Did I mention the winner receives FREE full week entrance to The Gathering next year? On Friday evening after a two-year hiatus, Adam Sank will be returning to tell us about his gay (and naked?) escapades over the past couple of years. Adam is excited to return to see his friends and get naked with us again. Finally, we'll end the week on Saturday evening with the Miss Lace Pageant hosted by Trixie May and Hazel. While I don't know much about the evening pageant, be prepared for lots of red, white, and blue stuff and something, something, something about the upcoming national election. It's going to be a hoot, for sure!

Follow the link to the blog
 post for more details

New this year, we've scheduled two white water rafting trips down the nearby Lehigh River. About 40 men will partake of this off-camp excursion; there is still availability so if you want to go, see Rick when you're at camp. It's going to be a great, wet time! LeatherWerks returns selling their leather and kink supplies while offering a wide range of classes this year. Dan has submitted an article providing a lot more detail. Check it out.

Speaking of this years' schedule, you can open a link to our web app on your mobile device. Go to http://www.eventmobi.com/gni2016/ to access our online schedule. And for those that want a printed schedule, this year we are installing a Print Kiosk that will be available 24/7; you can print the schedule to carry with you every day. Any changes in the web app will be made in real time in the kiosk to capture the most current listing available at the time you print. We hope this will keep everyone happy and we look forward to providing this new service to all of our members.

In an ongoing marketing effort, we will have an opportunity for guests to be interviewed in a number of videos to be released over this upcoming year. Don't be alarmed; the video camera is approved by GNI and only those that want to be interviewed will be recorded. See a Board or Staff member or David our videographer for more information.

Body Electric has a full class this year sporting the largest "Celebrating the Body Erotic" group yet! We wish them much success and look forward to interacting with their members. Say hi!

Also new this year, we've scheduled three nights of karaoke in the dining hall to just kick back and have fun. We've also added a Naked Twister activity and have our own custom 20’ x 20’ twister board that will hold dozens of men. Who doesn't want to get entangled in all of that male naked flesh? At the end of the week, there will be a Naked Twister competition for prizes, but in this activity we know everyone wins.

Every evening, we'll have our nightly social hour with great themes. Check them out online. To keep the party atmosphere going, there are two scheduled cabin parties - Rainbow Place Happy Hour and Viv's! Annual Salsa Party. If you want some quiet time, relax with early morning yoga and other yoga classes scheduled throughout the day, play games like chess, bridge, Texas Hold 'Em Poker, or other board games found in the Arts & Crafts Building. If you're looking for more physical activities to keep that physique in tip top shape, head over to aerobics, oil wrestling, front runners, kayaking around the lake, drag races, the regatta, tennis, body painting, Country Western / Line dancing, hip hop dance, or play volleyball daily with our group of seriously devoted volleyball players.

We have a number of discussion groups that you're welcome to join covering topics like massage, PrEP, gay fatherhood, music theater, tech tips, rock music, heart circles, Friends of Bill W., and a number of naturist-related discussions presented by Bob Morton of Naturist Action Committee to name a few. Sing with the GNI choir, spend two evenings singing your heart out in Judy's Piano Bar, manscape your business, get temporary tattoos; enter one of the contests - Mr. GNI Leather, or Mr. Bare Bear for great prizes and titles. Sell your wares at our Crafts Fair throughout the week. Then finish off your night sweating with hundreds of other naked men in our world-class dance club, MERCURY. And if these things can't keep you busy enough, you'll always find things to do Across the Lake, day and night. We won't tell you what's happening over "there" but you probably get the idea of what you might find. Those activities are listed in in our web app, too, but you can only join in the fun if you register and come.

Be prepared to have fun; download and print your Gathering Confirmation documents found in your online profile in the Member Directory to speed up your check in when you arrive at camp. Cabin assignments are also posted on your profile; use the Advanced Search feature to find your friends and the men you want to get to know.

There is so much going on during the week that an article can't even begin to cover everything nor can you appreciate how much fun you will have without experiencing it firsthand. Don't be shy; sign up, drop trou, and join in the fun. You'll be happy you did and it will change your life. What better way to take a break from life by getting naked with your brothers! If it's your first time or if you've been away for a few years and are coming back, everyone is welcome. Bring a friend, too. All we need is for everyone to bring only one friend for the first time and we will double our numbers!

This is only the beginning. We'll have more exciting announcements throughout the week that you won't want to miss!

One last thing, the Board and Staff of GNI would like to bid a fond farewell to Board member, David Bowman. David recently resigned from the board due to increasing responsibilities and scheduling demands at his new job. David's valuable input and contributions to the board along with being Rick’s administrative assistant for a number of years will always be appreciated and we wish him much success in his new career endeavors. Mark Bivings, past board member has been appointed to fill David's position until the next election which he has happily accepted. Welcome back, Mark!

If you can't make it this year, save the dates for next year - August 18 - 27, 2017. We've already started planning! Be sure to check out our next blog where we will have even more exciting announcements for 2017 and beyond. We hope to see (all of) you there!