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By Scott Christianson


BRATTLEBORO, Vermont (Reuters) - Some have appeared
naked in a downtown parking lot. Others rode their
bicycles or simply strolled the streets in the nude.

Teenagers in the quaint Vermont town of Brattleboro
are raising eyebrows this summer with brazen displays
of nudity.

So far they haven't been arrested or ticketed: public
nudity isn't illegal in the town of 13,000 people,
unless it's done to arouse sexual gratification.

Vermont has a live-and-let-live tradition, allowing
skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing. Brattleboro, the
first permanent English settlement in the state in
1724, is home to a community of writers, artists and
musicians as well as transplanted entrepreneurs from
Boston and New York.

When the weather grew hot this year, a couple of dozen
teens took to holding hula hoop contests, riding bikes
and parading past the shops wearing only their
birthday suits.

Nobody, including the police, seemed to take offense
until one local, Theresa Toney, went before the town
government in August to complain about a group of
youngsters naked in a parking lot.

"The parking lot is not a strip club," she said. "What
about children seeing this?"

Town officials asked their attorney to draft an
ordinance to ban such displays for the Select Board to
vote on in September. When the teens heard about it,
some staged a nude sit-in.

"I don't see why it's such a big deal," said Alec
McPherson, a recent high school graduate as he sat at
a coffee shop table, browsing a thick volume of
artwork from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
"Everyone's naked in this book."

His companion, Jeremiah Compton, a high school junior
who plays in a local metal-and-punk band, agreed.
"It's just that we're bored and expressing our right,"
he said.

"We have a nuclear power plant a few miles away and a
ridiculous war in the Middle East, countries getting
bombed," said Ian Bigelow, a 23-year-old who had
gathered with some of his friends outside a bookstore.
"So why's it such a big problem if we chose to get nude?"

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
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