Man Dragged by Park Police, Arrested for Nudity at Gay NYC Beach

U.S. Park Police carry a man away from the gay section of Jacob Riis Beach by his towel. 

www.advocate.com/crime/2016/7/05/man-dragged-park-police-arrested-nudity-gay-nyc-beach

The Importance of Being Counted (Thanks, John Cena)

A new public service announcement reminds us that numbers matter.

www.advocate.com/media/2016/7/05/importance-being-counted-thanks-john-cena

PHOTOS: Toronto's Trans Pride Blows Up the Binary

www.advocate.com/pride/2016/7/05/photos-torontos-trans-pride-blows-binary

Eerie Christians Pose As Pot-Lovin’ Zombies At Toronto Pride

We certainly love a good prank — the more drawn-out, mean-spirited, and reality-bending, the better — but our idea of a perfect hell involves being punk’d by a gang of uppity, characteristically tone-deaf Christians.

Unfortunately, that’s the fate suffered by attendees of Sunday’s Toronto Pride parade, which found a portly crew of antigay Christians inadvisably donning green, skintight body suits and rainbow-themed accoutrement to “infiltrate” the festivities and hand out sheafs of insipid propaganda.

Related: This Pride Meme Is Pissing Off A Lot Of Gay People

This fledgling bit of performance art was spearheaded by Christian extremist Bill Whatcott, who tellingly was found guilty of hate speech by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2013 for handing out antigay pamphlets.

The marauding horde of milquetoast miscreants registered to march under the name “Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association.” They trudged through the parade holding a banner with the group’s name, and they’re even listed as participants on Pride Toronto’s website.

Related: Guys Confess Just How Naughty Or Tame They Were At Pride

Talking to Christian website Lifesite News — which we’ve accidentally forgotten to link to because it’s the day after Fourth of July weekend and we’re braindead — Whatcott crowed, “I asked them if they wanted ‘Zombie safe sex.’ Everyone loved it.”

But, if you try to give out a Gospel pamphlet, they swear at you and throw slushies on your forehead. But, give them some wackadoddle [sic] thing that looks like a condom, and they really can’t grab it fast enough. I had three thousand out in 20 minutes.”

The stunt is in accord with a similar schtick he pulled in 2014 at the Vancouver Pride parade under the alias of Matthew Davidson, where he registered the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

He also threw together a Heterosexual Pride Day parade in Regina back in 2001, but it wasn’t renewed for subsequent years due to its floridly antigay sentiment.

Back in 2002 he was featured on “The Daily Show”, where he complained of being discriminated against for being heterosexual and talked about the Regina Heterosexual Pride parade event.

Whatcott posted photos of himself and his half a dozen or so fellow Christian activists at the Toronto Pride parade to his blog — which we’ve accidentally forgotten to link to because we’re preoccupied with a number of personal problems — as well as links to the pamphlet they handed out to unsuspecting attendees who thought they were getting condoms and safe sex tips.

The pamphlet instead featured graphic images of sexually transmitted infections and antigay and anti-trans hate speech.

It also criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for marching in the Pride parade, as well as going after other pro-LGBT politicians. Trudeau was the first Prime Minister to march in a gay pride parade.

Watch footage of him marching below.

h/t: LGBTQ Nation

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“Help Me!” Naked Gay Man Arrested On Queens Beach For Dropped Towel

Queen’s Riis Park is a bona fide beach paradise for misfits, and an obligatory destination on 4th of July weekend for gays who didn’t feel like going to Provicetown or Fire Island. Popular among boozed-up men clad in stars-and-stripes posing trunks — and women who want to canoodle topless without dealing with dueling, drooling bros — Riis and its relative remoteness has given it the reputation of an unselfconscious, carefree safe haven.

Related: Men Decry NYPD’s Gay Prostitution Stings

On Monday, a Brooklyn-based photographer named Krys Fox found himself unexpectedly tackled by police after his towel dropped off his waist. Fox, a gay man, was working on an Instagram photo series while his wet bathing shorts dried in the sun.

Related: Gay Man Says NYPD Broke His Ribs, Called Him A ‘Faggot’ At Pride

Speaking to the Daily Dot, Fox reports that police were patrolling the beach all day. They were “on horses, in uniform, undercover” — “everywhere.” Whether the NYPD were on the lookout for particularly heated volleyball tournaments or transgressive body board maneuvers remains unclear. Nevertheless, the last thing Fox expected was to be arrested due to a mild towel malfunction.

Related: No Punishment For NYPD Vice Cops Conducting Porn Shop Prostitution Sting

“I just didn’t wrap my towel around my waist tight enough,” he tells Daily Dot, “and it suddenly slipped down and I literally got sent to jail for it.”

Here’s an eyewitness account, which was shared on Facebook:

Because Riis is a National Park Service area and not a city beach, the rules are far more lenient. Alcohol is served in booths, and many sunbathers are nude — to the point that casual onlookers would assume it’s actually a nude beach.

Related: Did the NYPD Just Ignore Another Gay Bashing?

Fox certainly thought it was.  “I’d always heard that it was a clothing-optional beach,” he said. “I keep running it over and over in my head, and I can’t even begin to answer why they chose me. I wasn’t causing a scene, I was just shooting a photo of someone like I always do.”

Related: NYC Cops Keep Arresting Gay Men For Cruising. But Cruising Isn’t Illegal!

The photographer also describes himself as “shy;” the type of person who “would never run around naked.” As anyone who goes to Riis with any regularity would know, he’s in the minority as far as that’s concerned.

Related: NYC Police Commissioner Says No Apology Is Needed For Raid That Led To Stonewall Riots

On social media, people are insisting cops were only patrolling the gay section of Riis, and are comparing the incident to gay bar raids and bathhouse crackdowns. There’s a general concern that, in a post-Orlando world, the NYPD will use their increased presence in gay spaces to not so much protect the queer community as monitor and antagonize them.

Related: Male Model Loses His Mind, Gets Naked In Times Square, Screams At Cops

As The Daily Dot reports, a friend of Fox’s commented that “his naked body is seen as more dangerous than a gun.”

Talking to The Huffington Post, Fox described the incident as “very quick and very scary.”

It’s the worst moment of my life. My biggest problem is that Riis is my safe space and I’ve been going there for almost a decade. I got married in 2011 almost exactly where I was arrested. I shoot there all summer long and was working on a photo project I was devoting to the Orlando victims.”

Watch footage of the arrest’s aftermath below:

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Police Tackle and Humiliate Man After ‘Towel Slip’ at Crowded NYC Gay-Friendly Beach: VIDEOS

Krys Fox, a 37-year-old NYC photographer, was spending the 4th of July holiday at Riis Beach in the Queens borough of New York City. The beach is known as a destination and safe place for LGBT people, and also for its tolerance of nude sunbathers.

But that tolerance may be evaporating. On Monday, Fox was photographing a friend at the beach when his towel slipped off, and Fox found himself suddenly surrounded by police officers, DNA Info reports:

He said during the photo shoot in the area — a favorite location for him — his towel fell down, which he didn’t consider a big deal because the beach has had a clothing-optional reputation for decades.

“I thought it was a clothing optional beach,” said Fox, who lives in East Flatbush and said Riis Park is his “special place” — so much so that he got married there and visits frequently throughout the summer.

But he said within seconds he was tackled by undercover National Park Service officers who he said didn’t say a word until after they shoved his face into the sand.

“They shoved my face in the sand in front of hundreds of people, I was humiliated,” he said. “I got an arm around my neck and they threw me to the floor and was literally surrounded by like 11 cops.

“They didn’t read me my rights, they handcuffed me.”

Fox was carried off the beach by a group of officers in front of crowds of people while screaming “help me! please help me! Film this. Please film this!”

The Huffington Post also reported on the incident:

A bystander, Mariel Reyes, captured the whole scene on video. She described the incident as, “Absurd, excessive, f**king ridiculous.”

“It’s the worst moment of my life,” Fox said. “My biggest problem is that Riis is my safe space and I’ve been going there for almost a decade. I got married in 2011 almost exactly where I was arrested. I shoot there all summer long and was working on a photo project I was devoting to the Orlando victims.”

Fox has never been arrested before or had any run-ins with the law. “I’ve never even gotten a ticket,’ he said.

The officers were supposed to be focused on illegal vendors and narcotics, according to the National Park Service. DNA adds:

NPS officials said a plainclothes officer observed Fox nude and standing by the fence and went over to ask him to cover up. They said he refused to do so, and did not have any ID, and the officer arrested Fox after he became “uncooperative.”

Fox was charged with disorderly conduct and public nudity, officials said. They said he will either be asked to pay a fine or appear in federal court.

Nude sunbathing was made illegal by state law in 1983, but so rarely enforced that Riis Park has become known as a safe destination for those who wish to do so. Fox says he spent three hours in a jail cell after the arrest.

Watch video of the arrest:

Fox posted a photo of himself relaxing at the beach to Facebook on Tuesday.

Said Fox: “I’m still an American. And I still love my country. No matter what. But I’m going offline for a while::: I’m overwhelmed and need to rest..”

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