Nudists are beached

City bureaucrats have ordered a group that tries to police sex, the Hanlan’s Beach Naturists, to shut down an info table after volunteers allegedly asked sun worshippers for membership money.

“They were in violation of the parks by-law and the regulations we have against soliciting in the beach area without a permit and without permission,” says John Macintyre, the director of Toronto Parks And Recreation.

But Dave Fleming, founder of Hanlan’s Beach Naturists, says he never asked for money nor suggested people join his group.

“I just asked if they wanted more information about HBN,” he says. “If they wanted it, they were given an envelope which they were to take home and mail in. Most of the time was spent greeting people and providing them with the free beach etiquette flyer.”

Fleming says he also regularly tracked sex on the nude beach, located at Hanlan’s Point. He says there is a conspiracy to allow gay sex.

Fleming says that he’s given parks and rec six reports of naughtiness in the dunes, but they’ve all been dismissed “because of the influence of people who want to see a sexual-style beach.”

Macintyre says Fleming sent such e-mails on Aug 8, and matters were turned over to the police the next afternoon. “Our staff are not equipped or authorized to deal with Criminal Code offences,” says Macintyre.

Fleming says the purpose of his table, with its easily identifiable blue canopy, was to act as a help station for problems without involving the police.

“Some people are in sensitive jobs and don’t want to get involved in a confrontation,” says Fleming. He feels others prefer to deal with things themselves so they won’t give the beach a bad name. Parks and rec doesn’t see it this way, however.

“The HBN has taken on the unauthorized role of being the security presence on the beach,” says Macintyre. “They should not consider that they have the authority to enforce the by-laws.”

Fleming says he’s needed. “Some TNT members want to allow sexual activity.”

Totally Naked Toronto Men Enjoying Nudity board chair Richard Westgate says the group is absolutely not advocating sex on the beach.

“That’s not what TNT is about,” says Westgate, of the gay-oriented group. He says there’s no problem with the other nudist group’s presence on the beach, but “we’ve said from the beginning that taking on a police-like role is not appropriate.”