Since
the debate regarding the nudists in Castro is still ongoing, I feel
obliged to put together a post explaining my opposition to the proposed
ban, and I will be doing do by relating a story from when I lived Salt
Lake.
The state corrections facility in Utah is located in Draper, a community on the south end of Salt Lake Valley, which in recent years has been developed with large homes in the foothills overlooking the valley, replacing the former ranching land that used to exist in the area. Developers as well as residents for some time had attempted to pressure the state to relocate the prison due on one hand to developers looking to further raise property values, as well as greedy for the additional 700 acres they could utilize, as residents expressing concern over the safety of their children and families. In the end, the state denied the requests to move the facility quoting both the expense in building a new prison as well as reminding
The state corrections facility in Utah is located in Draper, a community on the south end of Salt Lake Valley, which in recent years has been developed with large homes in the foothills overlooking the valley, replacing the former ranching land that used to exist in the area. Developers as well as residents for some time had attempted to pressure the state to relocate the prison due on one hand to developers looking to further raise property values, as well as greedy for the additional 700 acres they could utilize, as residents expressing concern over the safety of their children and families. In the end, the state denied the requests to move the facility quoting both the expense in building a new prison as well as reminding
the new Draper residents that the prison had been there long before
their new, expensive homes, and, being built in 1951, was there before
many of the new residents were even born.
While this story may seem unrelated, my point is this: those currently living in and complaining about the nudists have no ground on which to stand. The nudity that exists there has been around since before many of us have ever lived in this city, and is a part of the fabric of who this community is and what we stand for. If you don't like the nudity in the Castro, many options are open to you for dealing with it. The most obvious: no one is forcing anyone to live in or go to the Castro. You can go, and simply ignore it. Don't let it get to you. Or, you can choose the tactic that conservative republicans have chosen for things such as gay marriage and abortion which is: I don't agree with it, so let's make it illegal. That last choice makes us no better than the people who are fighting against us for the rights we hold so dear, and really makes us the close minded majority seeking to use law to impose our view of morality.
While this story may seem unrelated, my point is this: those currently living in and complaining about the nudists have no ground on which to stand. The nudity that exists there has been around since before many of us have ever lived in this city, and is a part of the fabric of who this community is and what we stand for. If you don't like the nudity in the Castro, many options are open to you for dealing with it. The most obvious: no one is forcing anyone to live in or go to the Castro. You can go, and simply ignore it. Don't let it get to you. Or, you can choose the tactic that conservative republicans have chosen for things such as gay marriage and abortion which is: I don't agree with it, so let's make it illegal. That last choice makes us no better than the people who are fighting against us for the rights we hold so dear, and really makes us the close minded majority seeking to use law to impose our view of morality.
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