Group gets judge’s OK to parade nude in S.F.

Gypsy Taub, dancing in front of City Hall in support of nudism in August, said the group will be exercising its freedom of expression this weekend. Gypsy Taub, dancing in front of City Hall in support of nudism in August, said the group will be exercising its freedom of expression this weekend. Photo: Brandon Chew, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Brandon Chew, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Group gets judge’s OK to parade nude in S.F. 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

It’s illegal to go naked in public in San Francisco, unless you’re part of an event with a city permit, like a parade. And that’s what 50 to 100 nudists plan to do on city streets Saturday, with an assist from a federal judge.

The parade, held the day before the city-permitted, X-rated Folsom Street Fair, is being led by the same group of unclad activists who unsuccessfully challenged San Francisco’s antinudity ordinance, which took effect in February 2013. They’re calling it a “Nude-In March” and “Declaration of Body Freedom” in protest of the ordinance, starting at noon at Jane Warner Plaza at 17th and Castro streets, down Market Street, over to City Hall and back.

The leaders applied to the Police Department for a permit in July and got turned down. Police officials said the event was too small to be a parade and could instead proceed on the sidewalk, without the need for a permit.

But without a permit, they would have to wear clothes, said Gill Sperlein, a lawyer for the nudists. He said street parades are also more visible than sidewalk marches.

The go-ahead came Friday from U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, who ordered the police to issue a permit.

San Francisco’s parade ordinance contains 12 reasons for denial of a permit, including the likelihood of physical injury or property damage, serious traffic disruption or interference with firefighting equipment or scheduled street maintenance work, or the prospect that the parade would last more than four hours. None of the conditions mentions the size of the parade group, Seeborg said.

City lawyers said the sidewalks can safely accommodate a couple of hundred marchers and that police prefer to keep them off the streets. But Seeborg said the ordinance “does not authorize (the police chief) to withhold approval on grounds that an applicant’s proposed event will have too few participants.”

“Now we’re going to be able to exercise our constitutional rights and our freedom of self-expression unobstructed by the police,” said Gypsy Taub, a leader of the nude activists. She said members of the group have been arrested at protests and other unclothed events since February 21013 after applying unsuccessfully for permits.

There will be no arrests this time as long as the paraders stay within the boundaries designated by the permit, said Officer Carlos Manfredi, a police spokesman. He said clothed families with children should be aware that “they might want to take a different route if they don’t want to see any nudity.”

Matt Dorsey, spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera, said the Police Department’s earlier denial of a permit had been based on traffic and safety considerations.

“This is not a large crowd of people, and we’d rather not be shutting down a major thoroughfare,” Dorsey said. “The judge felt differently. ...It’s just another weekend in San Francisco.”

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko