NIFTY’s first official meeting was held in 1993, and we began renting Vancouver’s Templeton Park Pool for monthly clothing-optional swims in 1998. Since then, our membership has grown significantly, and several thousand people have been NIFTY members at some point over the years, with about 500 up-to-date members at any given time.
Permanent link to this article: http://niftynude.org/nifty-history-p-2/
All decisions at NIFTY meetings shall be made by consensus if possible. In the event that consensus cannot he achieved after reasonable attempts, a vote shall take place, with majority rule carrying.
Established by BC Supreme Court, 2000 June 8
(Citation: Maple Ridge v. Meyer, 2000 BCSC 902)
“We had a legal opinion and its very clear she is correct. It is not a crime.” – Terry La Liberte, Vancouver Police Board
“Deputy [Vancouver Police] Chief Doug LePard said he would notify the training session of the department to issue a bulletin for police officers.” – Vancouver Courier, 2007 Feb.28
NIFTY is first and foremost an activist political entity. Although organizing and engaging in social and recreational activities is necessarily part of our function, our primary focus must always remain on political organization towards full clothing-optional rights in all public spaces in Canada.
(NIFTY Constutution, Paragraph 2)
NIFTY has held many events over the years: topfree and clothing-optional parades and marches, topfree picnics and book readings, clothing-optional dances and movie nights, and more. We also usually host a clothing-optional picnic following the Vancouver portion of the annual World Naked Bike Ride. While these events are celebratory in nature, they also serve to educate the public about the harmful effects of suppressing the natural body, and to advocate for clothing-optional rights.
Lady Godiva
Lady Godiva was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. In 1043 Leofric founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry. People of Coventry were suffering under her husband’s oppressive taxation. Lady Godiva asked her husband to remit the tolls. Leofric said he would grant her request if she would strip naked and ride through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word and, after issuing a proclamation that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode through the town, clothed only in her long hair. Just one person in the town, a tailor ever afterwards known as Peeping Tom, disobeyed her proclamation in one of the most famous instances of voyeurism. In the story, Tom bores a hole in his shutters so that he might see Godiva pass, and is struck blind. In the end, Godiva’s husband keeps his word and abolishes the onerous taxes.
Pavel Popov was born in 1966 in the city of Perm. In 1994 he entered the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, studied at historical painting workshop led by Professor Glazunov. Pavel is a Member of the Moscow Union of Artists.
Notwithstanding (7) above, to amend the NIFTY constitution, a two-thirds majority vote at a legitimate NIFTY meeting shall he required. Notwithstanding (7) above, to amend these bylaws, a simple majority vote at a legitimate NIFTY meeting shall be required.
NIFTY recognises the fundamental decency, beauty, and non-obscenity of the natural human body. Further, NIFTY affirms the spiritual, psychological and physical health benefits of nudity and body acceptance for the individual and for society. A major part of our mandate is to educate the public about these benefits, and about the harmful effects of our cultures censure of natural nudity. NIFTY is an egalitarian group which always promotes equality of all humans, without regard to sex, race, colour, creed, age, national origin, sexual orientation or any other attribute.
(NIFTY Constutution, Paragraph 4)
The name NIFTY arose because we wanted an acronym for the group’s name, and came up with NIFTY as a “temporary” moniker until we could decide on a “real” name; however, people seemed to like the name and it was decided to keep it as the group’s permanent title.
NIFTY also maintains the NIFTY library, a collection of over 600 magazines, books and videos related to the fight for clothing-optional rights.
NIFTY is an organization of people who oppose the legal ban on public nudity in Canada, and who are interested in organizing politically towards the abolishment of that ban.
(NIFTY Constutution, Paragraph 1)
Vladimir Fedotko is a photographer from St. Petersburg, Russia. He is known for his talent to magically combine traditional drawing, photography and computer processing. Fedotko creates unique photos and fills them with fairy-tale characters. His images are bright and elegant. The artist shows a variety of stories that combine surrealism and fantasy.
Digital art appeared about 15 years ago and is very popular today among both beginners and professional photographers. Vladimir creates amazing images full of beauty, and mystery. Most striking in his work that it is not clear where is the photo, and where is the drawing. The artist takes into account everything – color, shade, and the texture of the object. You could say – this is magical realism in photography.
All public NIFTY events shall be open to anybody without discrimination. There shall be no quotas of any kind, and people can be asked to leave or barred based solely on their own behaviour. Such behaviour must have predictable negative consequences.
Attention Newcomers:
Your first NIFTY swim is only $1. Please click on the image below, print, photograph or save the discount coupon on your smartphone or camera and present it at the next NIFTY swim. We accept the coupons on paper, digital cameras and smartphones.
All NIFTY events shall be clothing-optional if possible. No NIFTY event or function shall he nude-only or clothed-only unless it is absolutely unavoidable
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1. Nudist resorts and events are places where sexual activity is strictly prohibited.