A York Region naturist resort said it is concerned for the safety of its guests as the naturism community continues to receive threats online.
Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park said it has alerted York Regional Police after it and other Ontario naturist establishments, including GTA Skinnydippers, faced a barrage of comments on X targeting them.
Commenters claimed the naturism community promotes pedophilia, child exploitation, child pornography, and grooming, which Stéphane Deschênes, owner of the East Gwillimbury park, firmly disputes.
“A misinformed and misleading clickbait social media post has, unfortunately, gone viral and resulted in people making violent threats online toward members of the naturist community,” said Deschênes.
“You never know, with these vigilantes online, what they are going to do,” said Deschênes. “That is what is a little disturbing. What they are suggesting is because there are children here, it somehow puts them at risk and it is bad for them when that makes no sense, when you think about it. This is not a children’s camp, this is a resort or a day-use facility where people come with their children. The kids are with their family, so I’m not sure how people think a predator would have an opportunity to do anything.”
Bare Oaks is a 50-acre park with five guest rooms, five cabins, and more than 100 camping sites with amenities such as swimming, sunbathing, a children’s playground, volleyball, bicycling, mini golf, and table tennis. Visitors to the facility have to register with staff with valid identification and pay a fee to enter the premises. Anyone not following the rules of the club is ejected, he added.
York Regional Police confirmed it is aware of concerns from Bare Oaks.
"We have received several calls from the park made from different complainants in relation to many things," said Const. James Dickson, adding there are currently no police reports filed in relation to any incidents at Bare Oaks. Police do not patrol private premises unless called for a specific call to service or if employed on a pay duty by the facility, he said.
"It's my understanding that Bare Oaks has their own security that co-operates with police," said Dickson.
Leslie Pickett, a mother of three children, has been a visitor to the park with her family for 14 years. She said she feels more comfortable with her children at Bare Oaks than at a public beach.
“I know people look more when you are wearing a little bikini than when you wear nothing at all,” said Pickett.
Pickett started attending the facility with her children when they were six, two, and under one year old, she said.
“My daughter, the oldest, still goes of her own volition,” said Pickett. “She lives in Toronto, so she is close by. I watched her grow up, comfortable with her body and still able to set boundaries.”
The facility states the purpose of naturism is to promote wholesomeness and stability of the human body, mind and spirit.
“Clothing actually ironically sometimes is used to enhance and tease sexual aspects of the body,” said Deschênes. “There are a lot of clothing that is designed for women to be sexually alluring. A complete lack of clothes is much more benign and doesn’t have as big of an effect as people think. Everyone has grown up thinking nudity equals sex but that is not true.”
Signs around the facility highlight respect for people and who they are by presenting a true, authentic self without clothes. Deschênes said the idea of naturism goes back to our ancestors who didn’t have clothes and yet adapted to the environment.
“We recognize there is no such thing as perfection with bodies,” said Deschênes. “There’s diversity and variety. I raised my kids that way and I think they are much better for it. Nudity is not the objective, it is a tool to achieve this quality of body acceptance we are striving for.”
