Nothing butt
a smile

It seems pretty clear to laymen. Seven men arrested for being naked at the Toronto Gay Pride parade were undressed. Hairy asses and man-on-man members marching their equality down Bloor and Yonge. Where’s the ground for debate? To the delicate language of the legal system, however, the issue was a little trickier. The men were wearing shoes. To the courts, that made them not naked.

Clad in only shoes and a smile, the men, members of a group called Totally Naked Toronto Men Enjoying Nudity, were picked up and charged with public nudity. Lawyer Peter Simm, himself a member of TNTMEN, made their case, pointing out that under the law the men had to be “absolutely and completely bereft of clothing.” Shoes are clothing. His clients weren’t naked.

“Because everyone wore at least footwear,” Simm explained, “the Crown had to prove indecency and it couldn’t.” All charges against the seven were dropped :