Bare and closeted

The hidden history of queer naturism and what it meant to be naked before you could be out.

There’s a particular kind of irony in the idea of a closeted gay man finding liberation at a nudist club. You’ve hidden your whole identity, carefully constructed a version of yourself that the world finds acceptable, and then you drive out to a campground in rural Pennsylvania, take off all your clothes, and breathe. For a lot of older LGBTQ+ naturists…