TheNGINE is currently in the process of archiving the history of the gay naturist movement. Here's a little bit of information we have from the treasure trove of documents that we are sorting through.



The founding of gay naturism



Founded in the spring of 1984, Gay and Lesbian Naturists (GLN) was organized as a Special Interest Group (SIG) of The Naturist Society (TNS). A group of gay and lesbian members of TNS met together for the first time at the Solair Conference in 1983 hosted by TNS and suggested that there was a place for gay and lesbians within the larger heterosexually-dominated naturist community. Out of that desire to create a safe space for gay and lesbians nudists, two individuals - Murray Kaufman (New York) and Cheryl Auger (Rhode Island) - founded GLN in 1984. Murray was the founder of Tri-State Metro Naturists (TSMN) in 1981 and Cheryl headed up the gay and lesbian SIG within the New England Naturists (NEN). With the assistance of other volunteers, GLN began to host nude parties in the New York area. Prior to the formation of GLN, there were only four (4) other gay naturist groups known including Lambda Soleil (Springfield VA), Key West Naturists (Key West FL), Everglade Rawhides (Miami FL) and The Gay Bares of Philadelphia (Philadelphia PA) but each of them existed independently; it was the aim of the newly founded GLN to create a network of gay naturist groups whose mission was to promote nude recreation and share resources among other groups.



The first "Statement of Purpose" of the newly formed GLN was adopted from the Everglades Rawhides:

"Our basic purpose is to provide an atmosphere of social, nonsexual nudity for gay men and lesbians in a variety of outdoor and indoor settings. We welcome the membership of any gay male and lesbian interested in communal nudity. There is no screening process and we do not practice discrimination, the only exceptions being those who insist on overt sexual behavior in public or those who heavily abuse drugs or alcohol in situations that might cause injury to individuals or the groups' reputation."


Sheldon Seidman, also a founding member and officer of Tri-State Metro Naturists, believed in full equality for all gay men and lesbians and fought to ensure that gay rights were observed by TSMN and GLN. But he also organized many of the gay social activities for TSMN and believed that naturism should be fun; it was that inspiration he brought to GLN. Sheldon passed away at the young age of 31 from Hodgkin's Disease after a four month battle in the spring of 1984, just weeks after GLN was founded. Sheldon was to be a coordinator of GLN but never assumed the duties due to his illness leaving most of the organizing of GLN to Murray and Cheryl.



We won't forget the lessons that you taught:

• To be open about what we are and to fight for acceptance on our own terms.
• To be loving and caring and to treat all others as real human beings worthy of respect.
• And to know that the individual efforts matters.



"It was Sheldon's belief that if you left it to the next guy, it wouldn't get done. And with that in mind, I'm 'doing it,' we're 'doing it,' finally, and Gay and Lesbian Naturists has become a reality."



It was due to these pioneers - these visionaries - gay naturism was born.