STOP RACIST HUMAN SKIN PHOBIA

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● HOW THIS CAMPAIGN FOR SKIN-FREEDOM BEGAN ► Click here to read Vincent’s ideology

During a very hot June in 1997 Vincent Bethell began writing to his local Parliamentarian, the Government, and the police. Vincent was questioning the law regarding public nakedness. The law was unclear thus he asked: IF public nakedness is illegal why is it illegal? Anybody who has attempted to change bureaucratic viewpoints will gladly testify to officialdom’s unwillingness to listen. Public nakedness was particularly problematic for officials because the honesty of nakedness is the antithesis of bureaucratic repression. Correspondence with bureaucrats was futile. Naked protests were the inevitable pathway for Skin Freedom. Every bureaucrat contacted was unwilling to address this issue therefore this battle for nakedness rights was initially titled The Campaign For The Destruction of Society. Inhuman-capitalist-bureaucracy prompted a defiant campaign name. Public nakedness is about expressing your humanness therefore the phrase “Destroy Society” was born because a society that persecutes naked people is very inhuman. Widespread skin freedom (humanness) will inevitably cause the destruction of our inhuman society. Public nakedness is a natural antidote to cruel social mechanics of an inhuman civilisation.

6th June 1998 is the date of Vincent’s first naked protest, which took place at Piccadilly Circus London, and Vincent was arrested but not charged. July 1998 at the Houses of Parliament was when Vincent and three other protesters stripped naked: they where all arrested but released a short time later when the police dropped all charges. After four additional solo protests at various locations in central London Vincent concluded the protesting of 1998 in August, with a protest where he stripped naked in the National Gallery (London) and painted a pound sign (£) onto a Rembrandt self portrait.

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● THE POUND SIGN PROTEST - 4th August 1998, National Gallery, London

A pound sign (£) was painted onto a Rembrandt self-portrait to highlight neurotic self-phobia prevalent within our alienated society. The unreality of nudity in films and art is acceptable whereas real humans in real life are prohibited. It’s very neurotic to prohibit nakedness in real life and only allow it within unreal, alienated formats. Materialism reveals how civilisation alienates and represses humanity. Money corrupts. Material inequality (an imbalance of power) arises when the profundity of human existence is ignored. Money is power therefore a pound sign was painted onto Rembrandt to highlight the inhuman (materialistic) inequality of power regarding true human existence. The pound sign illustrated the inequality of power which prohibits our right to be naked in real life. The profundity of human existence was reasserted. This pound sign painted by a naked protester was an existential triumph over the dehumanising aspect of clothes and society. It is important to note the Rembrandt in question was a self-portrait and Rembrandt was fully clothed. This protest was naked existentialism verses blatant materialism (alienation). Another point to note is that during the subsequent court case the painting was valued at £66 million. Sadly a drab Rembrandt was deemed more valuable than real human life. Vincent was sentenced to 8 weeks in prison for damaging the Rembrandt. Vincent asserts he was repairing damage done to Humanity. Diplomatically, Vincent has subsequently refrained from criminal damage.

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● THE FREEDOM TO BE YOURSELF ► TFTBY is dead, click here for info

The Freedom To Be Yourself began in the year 1999. References to destroying an inhuman society were diplomatically phased out. The Freedom To Be Yourself focused on the positive aspects of nakedness. The first protest of 1999 was on 8th June at Buckingham Palace: 5 People protested, 4 were arrested, and the police did not press charges. Protesters from TFTBY attended the June 18th Carnival Against Capitalism, which was frightening because a stockbroker launched an unprovoked attack on Vincent smashing his “PROTEST NAKED” placard. A protest on 28th July 1999 at the Royal Courts of Justice was very important because this was the first occasion when a female protester stripped naked (a total of 5 people protested at the Royal Courts of Justice). A protest at St.Paul’s Cathedral on 21st August 1999 saw only one person disrobe (Nick Collier); Vincent did not disrobe due to strict bail conditions so instead he wore a cardboard box to conceal his nakedness. A protest in Brighton on 4th of June 2000 was the first time The Freedom To be Yourself achieved front page national news. Next a protest at New Scotland Yard on 15th July 2000 was important because dedicated activist Russell Higgs became involved (activists: Russell, Vincent, Ash Eldritch, and Tony Pitman were all arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour relating to the July 15th protest). On the 13th of August 2000 Vincent took off his clothes and vowed to remain naked until there was a favourable legal resolution (two women and six men joined Vincent naked on August 13th but they re-clothed to avoid criminal charges); Vincent was remanded to the Segregation Unit of Brixton Prison. On 17th December 2000 Russell Higgs joined Vincent being continuously naked: Russell was then interred in the Segregation Unit cell next to Vincent.

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● LEGAL HISTORY

Vincent made legal history on 10th Jan 2001. He was the first defendant to be naked in a courtroom throughout a court trial, furthermore he was found not guilty! This trial was due to the protest on 13th Aug 2000 where Vincent disrobed and vowed to remain naked until there was a favourable legal resolution. The criminal charge for this historic court case was: CAUSING A PUBLIC NUISANCE BY REFUSING THE WEAR CLOTHES ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS BETWEEN THE MONTHS OF JUNE AND AUGUST 2000. After five months in prison awaiting trial, the abovementioned court case took place at Southwark Crown Court London and the jury returned their UNANIMOUS VERDICT stating Vincent was not guilty of any crime. Vincent left court naked but reclothed shortly afterwards. Russell Higgs was also in prison at this time due to various occasions of public nakedness throughout December 2000. After Vincent’s acquittal all charges were dropped against Russell Higgs. 2nd of Feb 2001 saw another court triumph because activists Ash Eldrich, Russell Higgs, and Tony Pitman had their names cleared on appeal in relation to their arrests and convictions (disorderly behaviour) from the New Scotland Yard protest 15th July 2000.

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● ANOTHER NOT GUILTY VERDICT

1st July 2001 saw the largest protest by The Freedom To Be Yourself. This protest included 12 protesters (male and female of various ages) walking naked around central London for 50 mins before the police warned them to re-clothe. Two protesters (Vincent and Russell) refused to re-clothe thus they were arrested and consequently found NOT GUILTY at their trial on 2nd October 2001 (Bow Street Magistrates' Court London). They were charged with Disorderly Behaviour in relation to Section 5 of the Public Order Act. Clearly a Jury or Magistrates’ court would now most probably find Vincent and others not guilty for being naked in public. Despite these legal victories the police stated verbally (in 2001) they would continue to persecute naked people. Prejudice towards naked human skin is boundless.

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● STEVE GOUGH - NAKED RAMBLER ► Click here for more details about The Rambler

The Freedom To Be Yourself has influenced the Naked Rambler Steve Gough. Prior to Steve's first naked hike in 2003, Steve visited Vincent for advice about the law and the media. Vincent initially supported Steve but it quickly it became clear Steve is primarily interested in being a celebrity. Vincent Bethell is no longer connected in anyway to Steve Gough and Vincent does not endorse Steve's activities. Steve is a former member of the Moonies religious cult but he was kicked out of the Moonies due to his excessive sexual activity. Vincent Bethell considers Steve to be an attention seeker who is using public nakedness to enhance his ego. Mr Gough has also on one occasion expressed the view that there is nothing wrong with sex in public. Despite Vincent's wishes Steve Gough and his supporters have hijacked The Freedom To Be Yourself campaign name. Vincent believes that although Steve does believe in public nakedness he is primarily using public nakedness to gain fame and fortune, which is somewhat proved by the fact that he (and a naturist: Richard Collins) willingly took part in a fashion shoot promoting clothes to the approximate value of £8000. The fashion shoot was in a major national newspaper, and it is somewhat ironic that Steve should use public nakedness to advertise clothes. Steve Gough has also been quoted in the media saying that if everybody was forced to be naked he would then protest for the right to wear clothes, which implies he doesn’t have a fundamental interest in nakedness.

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● STOP RACIST HUMAN SKIN PHOBIA ► Click here for more info about Human Racism

We seek FREEDOM to uncover all our skin... IN ALL PUBLIC PLACES.

SKIN FREEDOM is for the human race, for humanity, for every-BODY.

STOP RACIST HUMAN SKIN PHOBIA clearly highlights the irrational prejudice towards unclothed skin, which is why in 2003 The Freedom To Be Yourself campaign was renamed. We want everybody to have the freedom to choose public nakedness. Compulsory clothing prohibits free-choice. Self-hatred causes clothed-humans to hate naked-humans. Self-hatred is the reason why publicly naked humans are sometimes arrested and imprisoned. SKIN FREEDOM rejects racist-human-self-hatred. Self-hate and self-disgust motivate clothed humans (who hide their naked racial identity) to persecute honest people who refuse to hide their human flesh. People who think our naked human flesh is disgusting or offensive are prejudiced by their own feelings about their own bodies. No rational explanation exists for the non-sexual naked human body being offensive therefore being offended by naked people is a phobia. Phobias often manifest as hate, resulting in persecution. Haters are consumed by irrational fears. Haters of naked skin are terrified their own disgusting identities will be exposed. This nakedness is all about the human race. Criminalisation of naked human flesh is racism (racial hatred) towards the human race. This issue is comparable to persecuting people because their skin is black. Persecution of naked people is discrimination based upon the genetic visual identity of the human body. Members of the human race are currently persecuted because of their skin irrespective of skin colour! This is about the human race, it’s not about seeking-attention or trying to become a celebrity. It’s about all our bodies, everybody, freely baring skin. Stop Racist Human Skin Phobia seeks skin freedom for EVERY BODY!

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● THIS IS NOT NATURISM OR NUDISM

Vincent Bethell has never described himself as a naturist or a nudist. Vincent considers such labels damaging to message of skin freedom for every-BODY. This issue concerns the entire human race. This is about unity: one race, every body, no clothes. This is about our common racial identity: Skin Freedom for the Human Race. Divisive labels such as: nudist, streaker, stripper, or naturist stem from fear and hate therefore these labels are detrimental to this cause. Even the word naked is a negative word but until nakedness becomes natural it is necessary use the word naked. Divisive labels regarding the unclothed human body are tantamount to calling a black person the N-word. We are simply humans; our true state is with FREE SKIN. This skin freedom issue is applicable to all humans. We are not concerned with sub-groups or specific individuals. We seek skin freedom for the entire human race because all humans belong to one race - the human race - and we all have a genetically determined racial human identity. This is our unifying commonality. We are all human underneath our clothes.

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● CURRENT SITUATION ► Click here for Events

August 2001 - Present. Vincent suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and anxiety due periods of imprisonment regarding his naked protests. Public nakedness is stressful in itself therefore various instances of public nakedness combined with harsh prison conditions caused deep and disabling futility for Vincent. Vincent has taken an indefinite period of recovery because the emotional strain finally became too much. Hopefully one day he will find peace of mind allowing recovery from the stress of prison. Before Vincent began protesting he had a deep sense of futility regarding civilisation therefore his mental anguish is now extreme. Lack of mass support also caused Vincent to retire from the public eye.

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Site last updated: 8th February 2010

Copyright ©. Contents of this site are copyrighted. The slogan and campaign name Stop Racist Human Skin Phobia is copyrighted intellectual property belonging to Vincent Bethell. Anyone is welcome to use this slogan providing they are not attempting to make money from it, and providing they are not using it for personal aggrandisement. Permission to use this slogan is not absolute and can be revoked without justification via the authority of Vincent Bethell. Refusal will not be discussed. Vincent’s decision is final.

People often conceal their skin when the environment is inhuman

but concealing your humanness makes the world more inhuman...

Stop the inhuman fear of skin. Liberate Your Skin.

Vincent Bethell founded The Freedom To Be Yourself in 1999, and then in 2003 Vincent renamed the campaign:

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► Stop Racist Human Skin Phobia

FOR THE RIGHT TO BE NAKED IN PUBLIC

The antidote to dehumanisation is underneath our clothes