Should Hamilton become a clothing optional city?

An advocate for a nudist lifestyle is urging Hamilton council to end what he calls the "segregation" of nudists and allow them to live openly, out of "the closet."

That's the call from Donald Vermithrax, whose letter asking Hamilton to allow nudists "into the mainstream of Hamilton society" will come before city council on Friday

Declaring Hamilton a clothing optional city will give us nudists a place to live our lives openly, not in the closet. - Donald Vermithrax

Vermithrax says Hamilton should be clothing optional, and "stand against the federal policy of segregation against us nudists, relegating us to out of the way nudist beaches and resorts for those of us with money."

"Hamilton doesn't even have a nudist beach anyway," Vermithrax adds, "and we have nowhere to go." Besides, he said, "the mere sight of a person's genitals harms no one."

Vermithrax goes even farther in the letter, likening nudists having to wear clothes to being "forced to wear the chains of slavery."

There's not much of anything we can do on that file. - Mayor Fred Eisenberger

"Declaring Hamilton a clothing optional city will give us nudists a place to live our lives openly, not in the closet," he said, "and will put Hamilton on the front lines of civil society's struggle to advance the cause of inclusiveness for minority groups."

Mayor Fred Eisenberger says city council will receive the letter — the default action of acknowledging that council has seen it — on Friday, but that's probably about it. The ability to go nude in public isn't even a municipal issue, he said.

"There's not much of anything we can do on that file."

As for whether he'd be interested in examining the issue farther? "No," he said.