Spoilsports!

[Waldo]

A week after a naked, elderly tourist freely strolled through the center of town, a Vermont community that has become known for public nudity is under orders to keep its pants on.

On Tuesday town officials in Brattleboro passed - by a margin of just 3 votes to 2 - an emergency rule banning nudity on the main roads and within 250 feet of any school or place of worship, among other places.
Naked violators could face a $100 fine.

Brattleboro began flirting with a nudity ban last summer after a group of teens started hanging around a downtown parking lot naked. As you do.

Last week, the Select Board decided it had seen enough.

'People have a reasonable expectation that when they are going out, they're not going to run into any nude people,' said spoilsport board member Dick DeGray, who wrote the ordinance.

Next month, Brattleboro will hold a public hearing on whether the ordinance should be made permanent.

The ordinance defines nudity as the showing of genitalia, buttocks or female breasts; a provision allows breast-feeding.

Board member Dora Bouboulis, who voted against the ordinance, worried about the precedent it would set.

'I understand a lot of people find it uncomfortable to be faced with someone nude,' she said, but added, 'We're careful not to legislate morality.'


I can understand this for the old folk - but fit young men running round nude wouldn't bother me at all