Cr Humphrey misses the point…. again.
In the latest media outburst from our favourite Surf Coast Councillor, Cr Ron Humphrey tries yet again to make a point and fails dismally. Not for any lack of trying though!! In this latest article in the Geelong Advertiser titled “Nude beach fight hots up” (Click here to read), what started out as a somwhat reasonable discussion of some of the issues to be raised during the community consultation process was devalued by Cr Humphrey’s inaccurate and inappropriate ramblings (yet again).
Cr Ron’s latest arguments on this issue all seem to be surrounding issues relating to the gay community. Yes, you heard it here first (well, actually it’s about the fourth time now) – Cr Ron seems to think the content of a gay cruising website is the glue that holds together his flimsy “if we ban the nudists then the inappropriate activities in the car park toilets will be solved” argument.
Here’s a quick analysis of what Cr Ron had to say in the article:
the beach needed to be shut down immediately after he was sent information on a website promoting it as a gay haunt
Interesting… Although the article does not provide details of the website Cr Humphrey is using, a search conducted by FBA members and interested people in the nudist community only found one website that was close to the type of site Cr Ron refers to. Sure enough, it is a listing for gay “cruising” locations. Turns out there are 455 locations listed in Victoria, and approx 40 are coastal. Wow, that’s quite a few locations for Cr Ron’s new “shut it down immediately” policy to be applied to!!
Cr Ron (and the media) seem to miss a key point here – what’s this got to do with nudists? As users of the beach, we are just as concerned with reports of inappropriate activity, just like McDonalds patrons are concerned when they hear of fights and stabbings in their local McDonalds carpark on a Friday night. Cr Humphrey is deliberately sending mixed messages every time he opens his mouth, by trying to link the nudist community with the gay community, both of which do not support illegal/indecent/anti-social behaviour in ANY location!!
the website … was proof of the “atrocities” that occurred there
Also fascinating… Although we’re not specialists in “evidence gathering”, we think the police might disagree that a website has the kind of evidenciary value Cr Ron is suggesting. Still missing the point though – can someone tell us how closing the beach to nudists will stop inappropriate behaviour in the car park toilets from occuring? As a NSW report on beach management suggested, the most effective methods for curbing inappropriate behaviour is with better facilities and monitoring, to encourage more beach users, not by excluding the only group of users who adhere to a code of conduct!!
The public needs to be assured that if they go to nude beaches they will not be confronted by the type of people who visit this global, pornographic website
That statement almost sounds like Cr Ron recognises the problem is not related to nudists, since nudists also don’t want to be confronted by inappropriate behaviour of any kind on our beaches, clothed or otherwise! As members of the public and users of the beaches, the nudist community wants the support of the Surf Coast Shire council and local authorities to agree on plans to manage risk and increase safety. We hope the consultation process will bring forth proactive solutions that can be implemented and supported, so that all parties can benefit.
Everyone needs to remember that nudists are not supporters of inappropriate behaviour – simply being nude does not automatically mean you are a nudist. And engaging in inappropriate behaviour of any kind, particularly sexual, is contrary to the nudist code of conduct and is obvious proof that the people involved are not nudists. The nudist community are supporters of legal and appropriate behaviour on our beaches. Inappropriate and/or illegal activity should be dealt with the same as on any beach – report it to the authorities.
As a side note, we have been constantly disappointed with the various journalists who have been reporting on these issues. We are yet to see any journalist actually take Cr Humphrey to task, and question the validity of his arguments. While his quotes do make for entertaining reading, we’ve yet to locate a single verifiable fact in any of the commentary he’s ever made. You only need to do 5 minutes of research to quickly see that Cr Humphrey is not the most popular councillor on the Surf Coast block – he got this unpopular for a reason (actually, many reasons)!!
