The bare truth: Nudity laws around the country

Crime, Bizarre, NakedLaw, Rights

Thinking about showing some skin? Before you bare anything, check out these strange laws that could make going au naturel a tad challenging—or offer legal cover (so to speak).

Keep your pants on

Many communities have laws against public display of one’s buttocks. But Flint, Michigan takes it a step further, handing out disorderly conduct citations for those who wear saggy pants that make their underwear visible. If you live in or visit the area, it’s best to invest in a belt. And some bottled water.

Keep your top on, too

Nudity is not allowed in Sanford, Florida, even for strippers. The city has a law that makes baring nipples a crime, unless it’s done as part of the arts. This means strippers in area clubs can’t actually strip, at least not enough to go completely topless. Of course, that exception for the arts offers a significant loophole—one strip club actually got around the ban with a naked staging of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

It’s not just nipples that cause problems apparently. Springfield, Missouri, has a law banning the exposure of underboob or side boob.

Where to bare some skin

If you like to feel the air on your skin—on all of your skin—then you might want to head to California. It’s legal to hike nude in any of the state parks, if all you’re doing is hiking (no hanky-panky).

Meanwhile, if you’d like to nakedly enjoy all of the festivities in New Orleans, you’re in luck. True, nudity is illegal in Louisiana, but only if there is lascivious intent. When the law was passed, legislators even specifically made it clear that streaking does not fall in that category and would continue to be legal.

If you’re female and would like to go topless, New York state is the place for you. Female toplessness is legal anywhere male toplessness is.

And if you like to swim nude in the moonlight, the Red River in Fargo, South Dakota, is your place. Skinny dipping is illegal there, but only between 8 am and 8 pm.