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Naked in the Bay Area
The Bay Area has a great history of public nudity. Fisherman's Wharf had its famous naked yoga poser and UC Berkeley had Andrew "The Naked Guy" Martinez, who insisted on attending class in the nude before he was expelled. Additionally, there are dozens of nude beaches and events such as the Bay to Breakers Race, Halloween in the Castro, and the Folsom Street Fair that are always peppered with au natural attendees. Throw in a few annual nude protests for saving trees or against the war and you've got a lot of skin on public display.

Pictured above is a photo (photographer unknown) from 1961 of poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso. San Francisco's Ginsberg had a reputation for getting naked in public, be it a poetry reading or a cocktail party. The reason I include this photo is its striking similarity to a 1995 photo of then-San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan posing naked in a shower with two morning radio show hosts. The mayor's questionable judgement in posing for the photo contributed to his not being re-elected. When even the mayor gets photographed naked you know its a different kind of town.


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