Nudists Fight Law on Youth Camps

Va. Restriction on Children Insults Parents, Some Say

Dorothy Hardee, right, and others play volleyball at White Tail. Hardee is a plaintiff in a suit challenging a Virginia law restricting youths at such resorts. (Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)

IVOR, Va. -- In the two decades since they staked their claim to 50 leafy acres southeast of Richmond, the patrons of White Tail Park nudist resort have worshiped at Sunday services, bronzed themselves at the pool, mingled over potluck dinners and generally kept to their bare selves.

And like everyone else who prefers to spend his or her time in the buff, the White Tail nudists have heard the jokes that members of what they call the "textile world" make about nudists being eccentric and even depraved.

Usually, they take such ribbing in stride. But when the Virginia General Assembly joined in on it this year and passed a law requiring that children who attend youth nudist camps be accompanied by their parents, grandparents or legal guardians, the naturists' good nature soured.

That law, they say, implies that they do not know what is best for their children. So in June, the resort and three families filed a suit challenging the law, which they argue violates parents' constitutional rights to bring up their children as they deem appropriate -- even if it includes shipping them off to a camp where naked talent shows and water polo are on the agenda.

The lawsuit is pending, although last month a federal judge in Richmond denied the nudists' request to suspend the law until a final ruling is made. That meant two-thirds of 35 campers who had signed up for White Tail's weeklong youth camp in July could not go, so the American Association of Nude Recreation, the camp's sponsor, moved it to an undisclosed location in a nearby state.

"They are taking away our rights as parents," said Norfolk resident Dorothy Hardee, 38, who is a plaintiff along with her husband, Kenny, 42, and two of their children. "They think that we are some sort of deviants," Hardee said. Although they, like the other plaintiffs, are identified in the suit only by their initials, the Hardees agreed to talk with a reporter.

The suit was filed on the plaintiffs' behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

The law's influence has spread. Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) is pushing for a similar restriction in his home state, where a youth nudist camp has been operating for a decade. And the International Naturist Federation, a sort of United Nations of nudism, is planning to discuss a boycott of Virginia at its convention in Croatia this month.

Del. John S. "Jack" Reid (R-Henrico), who sponsored the legislation after fielding calls from alarmed constituents, said he meant no offense to nudists. But Reid, a former middle school principal, said he is certain that nude adolescents experiencing emotional and physical change need parents nearby.

"I just do not think that environment is a productive and safe environment and a healthy environment for young people," he said.

Reid also said he was concerned that youths who are reluctant nudists might not have the courage to tell their parents if they did not want to spend a week naked in the woods with peers.

White Tail parents said that their children are willing participants. However, "If they at some point say, 'I'm not going to do this anymore,' I'm not going to force them to do it," Dorothy Hardee said.

Parents and campers at White Tail said they are especially angry that no Virginia lawmakers visited the park, where 25 families live in homes year-round and others stay in trailers or tents on weekends. They said they and the other 50,000 members of the nudist association are free-spirited but far from irresponsible. The Florida-based association also sponsors the youth camp in Florida and another that has been held in Arizona and California.

A 2000 survey by the marketing group Claritas found that the association's most loyal members are suburban, professional Republicans who shop at the Gap, drive minivans and have children. About 80 percent of the 600 members of White Tail are current or former members of the military, and many are doctors or lawyers, park owner Robert Roche said.