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 started writing to his local MP and the Home Office questioning the law regarding public nakedness. The law was unclear thus he asked if public nakedness was illegal, why was it illegal? Anybody who has attempted to change bureaucratic viewpoints will gladly testify to officialdom’s unwillingness to listen. 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 recourse to achieve justice. Police and parliamentarians were both unwilling to address this issue therefore this battle for nakedness rights was initially named The Campaign For The Destruction of Society. Inhuman-capitalist-bureaucracy prompted a defiant campaign name. Public nakedness is about expressing your humanity, therefore the phrase Destroy Society was born because civilisation is very inhuman when naked people are persecuted. Widespread humanness (skin freedom) will inevitably result in the destruction of our inhuman society. Public nakedness is a natural antidote to the 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 he 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 around 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 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. A 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

1999 was the year when The Freedom To Be Yourself was born. References to destroying an inhuman society were diplomatically phased out. The purpose of The Freedom To Be Yourself was to focus 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 and smashed 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) and Vincent did not disrobe due to strict bail conditions, so instead he wore a cardboard box to conceal his nakedness. The first protest in year 2000 was 4th of June in Brighton and this was when The Freedom To be Yourself first made front page 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 eventually put their clothes back on to avoid criminal charges). On 17th December 2000 Russell Higgs joined Vincent being continuously naked: Russell was then put into the prison cell next to Vincent.

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■ LEGAL HISTORY

Vincent made legal history on 10th Jan 2001 by being the first defendant to be naked in a courtroom throughout his trial, furthermore he was found not guilty! This trial was due to a protest on 13th August 2000 where Vincent had disrobed and vowed to remain naked until there was a favourable legal resolution. The criminal charge (relating to 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 (in 2001) they would continue to persecute naked people. Prejudice towards naked humans 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 that 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 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 Richard Collins) willingly took part in a fashion shoot selling 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

SKIN FREEDOM is for the human race... for humanity!... For every-BODY. We seek the FREEDOM to uncover all our SKIN in all public places.

In 2003 The Freedom To Be Yourself was renamed STOP RACIST HUMAN SKIN PHOBIA because this clearly explains the irrational prejudice towards unclothed human bodies. Skin Freedom is about rejecting racist-human-self-hatred. The reason why publicly naked humans are sometimes arrested and imprisoned is that self hatred causes clothed humans to hate naked humans. This nakedness is an issue of race, namely the human race. Self-hate and self-disgust motivate clothed humans (who hide their naked racial identity) to persecute those brave people who refuse to hide their human flesh. Someone who thinks the human body is disgusting or offensive is 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. Phobia often manifests as hate, which results in persecution for the naked person. Haters have an irrational fear about exposure. Haters are terrified that their own disgusting identities will be exposed. Criminalisation of the naked human body is racism (racial hatred) towards the human race. This issue is comparable to persecuting someone because they have black skin. Persecution of naked people is discrimination based upon the genetic visual identity of the human body. We seek skin freedom. Humans (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 all our 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 and he 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 and 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 are seeking 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

Lack of mass support, combined with problematic people such as Steve Gough, has led Vincent to retire from the public eye. Vincent also suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and anxiety due to periods of imprisonment when he was naked awaiting trial. Nakedness in public is stressful in itself therefore various instances of public nakedness combined with harsh prison conditions have caused a deep and disabling sense of futility for Vincent. Journalists are also problematic because their belittling reporting leans towards titillation of this human rights issue. 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 and recover from the stress of prison and his sense of futility regarding civilisation.

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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.

FOR THE RIGHT TO BE NAKED IN PUBLIC

The antidote to dehumanisation is underneath our clothes

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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:

➨ Stop Racist Human Skin Phobia

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