Sex For Fun

Renee Sankey is the owner of Utopia, the first adult swingers club that has had to make a development application on the Gold Coast.

With its mirror ball, UV lights and pool tables, Utopia is like any other nightclub on the Gold Coast.

Until you leave the dance floor and walk in to a room with a freshly made bed, lubricant in a dispenser on the wall, condoms on a side table and a giant hanging leather swing where adults' sexual fantasies are regularly carried out.

Utopia is based in Burleigh Heads and a few months ago was forced by a complaint to make a development application to the Gold Coast City Council.

Unsure what category to put it under -- it doesn't hold a liquor licence -- the application was eventually filed under indoor recreation and is sailing smoothly towards being approved.

Mrs Sankey said the club catered mostly to mature couples in their 30s or 40s who were comfortable enough to talk to each other about their fantasies and about 60 couples attended each weekend.

The annual Hallowe'en Nude Pumpkin Run in Boulder, Colorado, was called off this year because participants feared being labeled sex offenders.

For the last decade, dozens of men and women have taken part in the stunt, in which naked people run around the main streets of Boulder, Colorado wearing nothing but pumpkins on their heads.

But this year, 100 police officers were stationed around the town and members of the public were warned they faced arrest and charges of indecent exposure if they participated in the run. If convicted, that could lead to them being placed on the sex offenders register.

Bouder police chief Mark Beckner said the event had gotten out of hand and had become a "free-for-all", so he decided to stop it.

The American Civil Liberties Union accused police of violating naked runners' constitutional rights.

On its website, the group running the event, warned that violation of the Western societal more, enforced by law, of unclothed public exposure can indeed land you legal consequences. Furthermore, the decision to participate is yours and yours alone.

On Saturday evening, as Hallowe'en festivities unfolded in Boulder there was no sign of naked pumpkin runners and only one arrest was made.

Police told over 50 girls to cover up after they stripped down to their underwear to win free outfits.

A new Joy store in North London had offered to give away clothes to the first 25 customers who came to the shop dressed only in their undergarments. Over 50 style lovers stripped down to their underwear to win a promotion for free clothes

Would-be fashionistas queued ahead of the midday opening in a light-hearted bid to win the trendy items. But five miserable police officers dashed to the scene to tackle the partially clothed girls - and even ordered a shop assistant to cover up a raunchy picture in the window display.

Maureen O'Brien, buying director for Joy, who have 21 branches nationwide, said: I think there's been a sense of humour failure on behalf of the police.

We've done this in the City by St Paul's Cathedral, by the Tate Modern, in shopping centres in St Albans, Glasgow, Edinburgh - this is the only place in the country where they haven't allowed us to do it.

A Met Police spokesprat said: Police attended a clothes shop in Upper Street at around midday. They advised the owners against holding a promotion whereby people were asked to come to the shop in their underwear in order to receive free clothing. The officer decided that we had a duty of care to the public and that with the variety of different people on the street, which included children and the elderly, this could be seen as inappropriate.

An Iranian couple were arrested for having sex openly on the Jomtien beach.

At 4.30 am, Friday, September the 4th, a Police Captain was riding his motorcycle to perform routine checking on the Jomtien beach. When he was about 100 metres away from the Chaiyapruk station, he spotted a crowd watching something on the beach and some of them were shooting video clips with their mobile phones.

Police Captain Chamrasthong then rushed to stop the couple and told them to put on clothes and took them to the Dongtan police station.

The Iranian man and his girlfriend, who were obviously drunk, claimed that they did not know it was illegal to have sex in public place.

Even the punishment was a bit of fun as the fine was set at 500 Baht (£9).

But one can't help but feel the fun may end when they leave Thailand and go home to Iran. Being unmarried, drunk, and having sex in public easily add up to enough to get themselves a sentence of being buried up to their waist/chest and being stoned to death.

Update: Hacked Off

10th September 2009

As is typical in the Thai Press, pattayadailynews.com ran the story with detailed names and photos of the arrested couple. As mentioned above, the offence is very serious in Iran and is surely something that should be treated with caution when publishing details.

And according to TeakDoor.com, Iran hackers took matters into their own hands and forcibly removed the photos from the pattayadailynews.com site.

Sanctimonious Moi?

Zack Hyman, who made US headlines earlier this week with his subway snaps of naked girls on the L train, is in the news again.

This time, he didn't get away with it. Or rather, his model, Kathleen Neill was popped at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for stripping off amongst the nudes. Hyman practiced his usually strip-and-snap routine, but for the first time, the model was caught by police.

As Neill moved to leave the museum, she was detained by an employee until police arrived. The guard explained (without a hint of irony in a museum full of nudie cuties ): I had to make sure that girl was turned over to the police. There were little kids in here watching the whole thing.

Hyman wasn't charged, but his model was, with public lewdness.

Hyman asked, Why is this wrong? There were thousands of people in the Met today looking at nudes as art, but as soon as there is a real nude, it's a big problem.

Neill had the same question, which she posed to the security guard who detained her. She told me there were naked statues everywhere, the guard said: I said, ‘Those statues are 400 years old. You're from the 21st century.'

Comment: Sanctimonious twat

From Alan

Sounds to me as if the museum employee deserves Esther Rantzen's Jobsworth Trophy. What an officious, sanctimonious twat - and what a pity his name isn't all over the internet for exposure to public ridicule!

The Government Equalities Office, which is overseen by Labour's deputy leader Harriet Hatemen, is promoting claims that devotees of naturism suffer prejudice equivalent to that experienced by gays, ethnic minorities and the elderly.

A submission written by British Naturism has been included in a review into discrimination: Naturists encounter prejudice in employment. This is a particular problem for people in the caring professions and education. Any occupation requiring an enhanced Criminal Record Bureau check is potentially a serious problem.

Naturism has spawned a thriving leisure industry referred to as the buff pound . As well as more than 100 naturist-friendly campsites across the UK, there are an array of luxury cruises where clothing is optional. In November Alton Towers, the Midlands theme park, will host its fourth naturists only weekend.

British Naturism has 16,000 members but claims there could be 1.2m naturists in the country, with many choosing to cover up their hobby.

It is urging the government and other authorities to make affirmative statements in favour of naturism and combat the financial penalties endured by those who pursue clothes-free leisure pursuits. Entry to naturist nights at council swimming pools is often twice as expensive as admission on other nights.

The website says all the submissions are very helpful evidence and will form an essential part of a National Equality Panel report, to be published in November. But the rumour is that naturism has already been ruled out of scope for the report.

A self-described club for erotic adults in Ocala, Florida was forced to shut its doors early Saturday when law officers raided.

Around 12:30 a.m., members of the Multi-Agency Drug Enforcement Team, Marion County sheriff's deputies, and officials from the Division of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco went to serve a search warrant at the Hot Tropics Hideaway.

Conducting an undercover operation, agents said that, while they did not observe any evidence of prostitution, they did notice several illicit activities including illegal gambling and drug use.

As they made their move early Saturday, officials wound up arresting three people including Jay A. Judge, accused of keeping a gambling house and operating an illegal bottle club.

Judge, owner of the establishment, was slapped with the operating an illegal bottle club because the state's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco is the only entity authorized to issue bottle club licenses in Florida. Their records show, according to officials report, that no such license was issued to the location or to Judge or to any individual or corporation or entity affiliated with Judge or the business.

For now, officials say the business is closed.

Using archival footage and interviews, American Swing tells the story of how a guy from New York named Larry Levenson became an unlikely sexual icon by opening America's first heterosexual swinger's club, Plato's Retreat .

For about a decade starting in the mid-'70s, Plato's was a popular destination for sexually adventurous couples of all shapes and sizes, curiosity seekers, porn stars, and even well known celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr. The club boasted swimming pools, hot tubs, an orgy room, and even a free buffet for the truly daring. For roughly a decade, Levenson reigned as the self proclaimed King of Swing until a combination of changing times, bad judgment, and the AIDS outbreak finally toppled his empire in the eighties.

American Swing is well paced and edited, and manages to cover just about all you'd want to know on the subject in a little under an hour and a half. There's also about 30 minutes worth of deleted scenes that, while rightfully left out of the feature, are nonetheless worth a look. American Swing is unrated, but would probably get an NC-17 for nudity, sexual content and language. This is a fun and fascinating time capsule of a moment in time when America's sexual attitudes were changing.

South Korea's first swingers' club has made a roaring debut, leaving police who want to close it down struggling to respond.

The club opened earlier this month in Seoul's prosperous Kangnam District where business appears to be thriving, with many visitors writing favourable comments on its website about their experience.

The club only accepts adults who have booked online. Couples watch or have sex with one or more partners.

Law experts told us there is no legal basis to crack down on this club, where consenting adults have sex in a closed space, one of its unidentified owners was quoted as telling the Yonhap news agency.

Police admitted that it would be difficult to apply existing laws banning prostitution or obscene performances in this case.

A recent round of staff reductions at Disneyland could result in the return of a bit of fun and public nudity at the Disney theme park.

Way back in 1997, a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times chronicled a scintillating phenomenon involving the theme park’s Splash Mountain log ride: Photos of women flashing their breasts at an automatic camera that snapped souvenir photographs during the final 50-foot drop were flashing their way around cyberspace, earning the ride the nickname Flash Mountain.

At the time, Disneyland officials blamed a rogue employee for leaking the obscene pictures of topless women onto the Web and instituted tighter photo censorsing procedures to prevent further breaches.

Over the ensuing decade, objectionable pictures of breast-baring women were washed away by Splash Mountain photo editors before they were projected on preview screens at the end of the ride, according to David Koenig, author of More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland.

Now in May 2009, the Splash Mountain photo editor positions will be eliminated as part of cost-cutting measures at Disneyland, according to MiceAge columnist Al Lutz.

Admittedly the numbers of young ladies (term used loosely in this case) who lift their tops for the cameras for their shot at Flash Mountain infamy has lessened over the years, wrote Lutz, who reports that the photo editing positions were eliminated months ago at the Splash Mountain ride in Florida.

Disneyland officials confirmed that Splash Mountain photo screeners would be redeployed to other positions as of May 3. A Disneyland spokesperson said: Ride photos will continue to be monitored by cast members at the point of sale. In addition, the current screening system will remain intact to provide the option for management to initiate image monitoring if necessary.

A tiny Baltic Sea community is working to stop swinging outdoor sex parties at a nearby hidden beach, Altenhof Mayor Hilmar Marohn told The Local.

Aschau beach, near the resort town Eckernförde in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, is just hidden from view along the B76 motorway and has long been a popular Freikörperkultur (FKK), or nudist, swimming site. But last summer, it somehow became a magnet for a more hardcore set of visitors who began having swinger parties.

Initially residents thought the excitement would die down, but a warm start to the spring brought more fun activity to the beach.

On April 20, local authorities met and concluded that the problem warranted attention from the Office of Public Order (Ordnungsamt). Now those caught in the act face fines.

In their first visit to the beach, officers took down personal information from three people, Marohn said. He added that they’d be back when the weather improves to see if the initial operation had made an impact on activity. This is not an attack on the normal, totally harmless FKK that has been tolerated in the area for years. We are not prude ...[BUT]... This has to do with activities like gang bangs that then get posted on the internet – we cannot tolerate this.

An amorous couple stripped naked and had sex in a park within sight of Windsor castle.

Witnesses say the couple were enjoying a picnic on the lawn, but appeared to have too much to drink and began having sex on their blanket.

The Queen was at home in the castle at the time, but it is not known if she witnessed the spectacle.

An employee at the Harte and Garter Hotel, which overlooks the castle, said: People were shouting things like 'what are you doing?' but the couple didn't seem to care at all. It was going on for about 10 or 15 minutes, which is quite a long time, considering the location.

The couple carried on until police intervened. A witness said: The officers told them to stop and the sight of the uniforms seemed to snap them out of it. They were unsteady on their feet and the guy pulled his trousers up and helped the girl put hers back on.

A spokesman from Thames Valley police confirmed that two people had been arrested and cautioned for outraging public decency.

The couple now fear their drunken romp could cost them their jobs. They are worried their employers will give them the sack for bringing their companies into disrepute.

Voters in the Swiss Alps have passed legislation banning naked hiking after dozens of mostly German nudists started rambling through their picturesque region.

By a show of hands, citizens of the tiny canton of Appenzell Inner Rhodes voted overwhelmingly at their open-air annual assembly to impose a SFr200 (£120) fine on violators. Only a scattering of people opposed the ban.

The cantonal government recommended the ban after citizens objected to encountering walkers wearing nothing but hiking boots and socks.

The reactions of the population have shown that such appearances over a large area are perceived as thoroughly disturbing and irritating, the government stated.

A similar legal move is expected in the neighbouring canton, Appenzell Outer Rhodes.

German naturists are about to get their very own holiday heaven, a completely clothing-free hotel.

The Hotel Rosengarten, in the aptly named Black Forest town of Freudenstadt (Town of Joys), will mark a new frontier for the homeland of Freikörperkultur (FKK), meaning free body culture . A handful of German hotels have accommodated naturists up to now, but the management at Rosengarten plan to take a hardline anti-apparel stance.

That is where the beach towels come in. Even before the hotel opens strict house rules have been published, among them the stipulations that all guests must be naked at all times, and all must put towels on chairs and loungers before using them. Lest anyone get the wrong idea, it is also made clear that there is to be strictly no sexual harassment of fellow guests and no smutty behaviour in communal areas. Those who disobey will have to put on the ultimate badge of nudist dishonour — clothing — and leave.

Frieder Haferkorn, the naturist behind the plan, said: We hope that all kinds of people will come to the hotel, including families, and we are building a playground in the hotel grounds.

The grounds of the Hotel Rosengarten will soon be another small oasis of nakedness if things go according to Haferkorn who hopes to complete the purchase of a 31-room hotel soon.

MSPs have heard an appeal that adults who indulge in consensual bondage, sado-masochism and similar practices should be exonerated from the threat of prosecution.

Patrick Harvie, the Green MSP, told a Holyrood committee the present law was an anomaly.

But he dropped a bid to change the law after Kenny MacAskill, the justice minister, and other MSPs said lifting the threat of prosecution could provide a 'loophole' for those charged with domestic abuse and sex crimes.

Harvie made his plea when the justice committee scrutinised the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill. If passed, the bill will radically overhaul existing law on rape and other sex crimes, and will redefine consent as free agreement.

Under Harvie's amendment, consensual BDSM acts between those over 16 carried out for sexual gratification would not be considered as assault if both participants agreed.

Harvies tabled the amendment to trigger debate and enable MacAskill to explain why a change recommended by the Scottish Law Commission was not included.

Residents in Westmore, Vermont., have voted down a measure to allocate $25,000 to enforce a nudity ban.

The proposal would have been the first in a two-step process banning nude bathing at Lake Willoughby.

For decades a section of the lake has been clothing optional. Last summer the select board turned down a proposal to ban nude sunbathing in part because there would be no way of enforcing it.

A members-only club of self-described swingers has gotten the backing of the City of Edmonton against opponents who wanted to see them shut down.

The city's development appeal board rejected an attempt by a community revitalization committee to stop a development permit for 4-Play, a dance and social club for sexually open couples and single women.

Several 4-Play members said the club has been operating discreetly for the last decade.

We were pretty much invisible, said Mike B. The only reason they know we're here is because we had to move out of our old location, four blocks away from the new one.

The appeal was based on the argument that there wasn't enough parking, but it became clear at Thursday's hearing that wasn't the real reason for the opposition.

Les Halpert, who works at an accounting firm next door to the club, said that having a swing club there would undo 15 years of hard work to clean up one of the city's roughest areas: I'm outraged that the same city (that's behind the revitalization strategy) would throw this back in our faces.

The SwingFest 2009 Convention has been cancelled despite reports of a successful 2008 convention and unprecedented media exposure.

As much as the SwingFest staff would like to unveil a bigger and better 2009 convention, we just don't have the funding, said Greg Freeman, marketing director for SwingFest 2008.

A company press release said sources close to the event attribute the lack of funding for the 2009 convention to allegations about the misappropriation of revenue.

Freeman said. When the dust settles, and all the damage has been assessed, we'll review the possibility of a SwingFest 2010.

After having reportedly organised more than a hundred swingers parties during the past three years, a British man was arrested along with his Thai wife at a Bangkok hotel. With them were five Thais and 16 foreigners allegedly having fun in a wife swapping party.

Christian Richards has been charged with procurement and commercial sex advertisements. The parties are advertised through www.Bangkok.CraigsList.co.th where Richards' wife goes by the name of Duang. They charge each participant Bt3,000.

The victims of the police raid were a mix of Americans, French, Indians and Chinese. The Tourist Police arrived at the hotel suite to find the party just warming up and discovered condoms, 30 Viagra tablets and pornographic movies.

The police caught Richards in January at a party for about 50 people in a Huay Kwang hotel area but he claimed it was a birthday party and charges were pressed.

Tourist police commander Archayon Kraithong said that the police investigation suggests such activities have been going on for three to four years, attracting 25 to 30 people from many countries to each party.

The foreign and Thai participants were released after paying fines, while Richards was still being questioned by police yesterday. If found guilty, he faces a jail sentence of up to 10 years or a fine of up to Bt20,000.

Nutters have caused the end of a swingers venue in  Calamvale, Brisbane, Australia.

On January 20, council issued the organisers notices to show cause why the parties should continue at the Calamvale location, giving them until February 20 to respond.

But the  Hot Optionz venue posted the following message on their website:

Due to exposure by the forces of evil (judgemental local paper looking for a sensational BS story) the Hot Optionz venue is no longer operating.

However, most of the groups that used the venue are still operating in various forms around the town.

Please contact each group individually using the contact details on their page to find out what they're up to.

You can't keep a great concept down for long, Hot Optionz as an umbrella for the groups will be back, bigger and better, stay tuned

Til then we hope you continue to enjoy your lifestyle and will see you soon.

The Hot Optionz Team

When the first nude walkers came over the border the tranquil, neutrality-loving Swiss tried to pretend it wasn’t happening.

Now the Swiss authorities are trying to fend off hordes of German ramblers dressed in nothing more than a rucksack and walking boots. The influx appears to have been started after a German mountaineering website declared the Swiss wilderness a paradise for naked ramblers.

We have been receiving many complaints, Markus D๖rig, a spokesman for the government of the Appenzell Innerrhoden canton, told The Times. The local people are upset and we in the government share their concern. How would one feel if one was to go walking in nature and suddenly came across a group of naked people?

When police in the eastern Appenzeller region arrested a group of German nudists they had to apologise and let them go as there was no law against rambling in one’s birthday suit.

Swiss legislators have spent the winter trying to find a solution and now they are ready to act. A law stipulating that naked walking is a crime is expected to be enacted this spring. A fine will leave nude ramblers ฃ120 out of pocket — providing they have any — or facing further legal action if they are unable to pay on the spot.

The Bill will be approved by the local parliament on February 9 and should come into force on April 26, when the canton’s citizens gather at the Appenzell town square for an annual vote on legal amendments.

Germany, where freik๖rperkultur — free body culture — is a respectable pastime, is aghast. The tabloid Bild Zeitung wrote a sniffy editorial about Swiss intolerance and listed nudist alternatives around the world, hinting at a boycott of Switzerland as a tourist destination.

Proper bathing suits

County officials in the St. Petersburg, Florida, area are considering rules that would ban beachwear leaving too little to the imagination.

While officials say the change would make Pinellas County beaches friendlier to families, detractors say the rules might actually drive tourists away.

It's certainly going to have a negative impact, because it's going to turn people away who want to wear less bathing suit than their grandmother does, said Ken Kushman, secretary of Tampa Area Naturists.

The regulations would ban thongs and G-strings for women at Fort De Soto, Sand Key and Fred Howard Parks. Men would have to wear proper bathing suits.

Malaysian police said that they will not press sex offence charges against 26 people who were arrested in a private apartment during a New Year bash in Kuala Lumpur.

The case has been transferred to the Narcotics Department instead as drugs were found in the 3.30am raid.

Those arrested included a woman TV newscaster, an actress, a disc jockey and several students, according to newspaper reports. When police stormed the 11th floor apartment in a building close to the Petronas Twin Towers, the occupants were all fully clothed and the few condoms found had not been used.

However, the media had dubbed the gathering as a sex party , and claimed that couples had been found in each of the three bedrooms.

The revellers were highly intoxicated and some broke down when arrested, the New Straits Times daily had reported. It said the apartment was fitted with disco lights and loud music was playing, and condoms, beer cans and half-eaten pizzas were strewn all over the floor.

A New Year's Eve party at a Texas swingers club in Amarillo caused an uproar among area churches.

About 20 nutters  from area churches joined to take a stand against what they say is an immoral club that promotes deviant sexual behavior.

They say about thirty people entered the Amarillo building for what they believe is a swingers party. Protesters used prayers and Bible verses as their weapons.

The City of Amarillo says the people legally have the right to gather and hold a party. They say they have inspected the building and it is up to city code. As far as they know nothing illegal is happening. The owner of the establishment will not comment.