When does "nude" become "lewd"?

A UK politician, Jess Asato, is on a mission to "reclaim" a local beach from naked men.

Asato - a member of the Labour party - represents the constituency of Lowestoft, a coastal community to the east of Norwich. The beach in question is Corton Beach, which is found between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

At the end of May, Asato led a community beach walk along Corton Beach in response to a "spate of lewd behaviour".

It was the Daily Mail who picked up the story. The Daily Mail is a right-wing, socially conservative publication. Anything sensationalist such as "lewd behaviour" gets their attention.

"Our walk was a symbol of [local residents'] efforts to ensure that no-one feels afraid to use [the beach] - and send a signal that we will not tolerate what amounts to criminal acts..." Asato told the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail also spoke with a local - "a retired newspaper executive", who said: "It's no longer safe to take children there to play on their beach. It started about three years ago and has got worse every year since since - I was with my two and three-year-old grandchildren last summer and there were naked men deliberately showing off and flaunting themselves."

The Daily Mail describes this as "criminal sexual behaviour" by "gay nudist men".

I'm a gay nudist man who likes getting naked on a beach, but I've never heard of Corton Beach - it hasn't been on my radar. It's a long way from London - it's not that easy to get to.

While you could easily dismiss this story as local nonsense that only got media coverage because the Daily Mail sees mileage in punching down at marginalised people, the saga of Corton Beach does go right to the heart of the tension between sex and nudity. It's a tension that would probably see a lot of "traditional naturists" agreeing with Jess Asato and the residents of Lowestoft - it's the lewd behaviour of gay nudist men that give naturism a bad name, right?

Part of the complexity that shapes the saga of Corton Beach is the way that the relevant laws are framed in England. Being naked in public is not prohibited. What is prohibited is causing offence to others. "Causing offence" is a subjective term - "offence" is in the eye of the beholder.

As part of its investigative research on this important story, the Daily Mail also spoke with Duncan Gooch, a sales manager at The Azure Seas village - a holiday park that overlooks Corton Beach.

"It's got nothing to do with nudity whatsoever..." said Gooch. "It is the behaviour of some of the men who go there, a group who think it is okay to indulge in lewd and sexual behaviour on the beach, openly in front of other people. It is blatant and deliberate - some men are clearly exhibitionists and we take offence - as does everyone living or staying here - at their behaviour. Things have got worse over recent years and are now so bad that a lot of people simply won't go onto the beach because it is full of naked exhibitionists parading up and down and having sex."

If you call the police and complain about someone sunbathing naked on the beach, they're not going to be particularly interested. If you say that someone on the beach is naked and behaving lewdly and that's causing you offence, then the police are obligated to get involved.

What exactly is the lewd behaviour that everyone is complaining about?

A spokesperson for the local police confirmed to the Daily Mail that in recent months they've responded to two complaints of behaviour causing offence on Corton Beach. In April, a man was alleged to have "carried out an indecent act" and in May "an incident of exposure was reported".

What that sounds like is some dudes getting naked on the beach, some dudes cruising for sex, with the occasional erection being spotted and maybe some guys stroking their cocks here and there. Is that offensive? It depends on your point of view - "offence" is in the eye of the beholder.

I think we've got to push back on the shame associated with both the naked body and also human sexuality.

While many naturists attempt to distance themselves from anything sexual, it's disingenuous. It's not whether or not we've got clothes on that makes us sexual, we're humans - we are inherently sexual. Our sexual impulses, desires, and needs are an intrinsic part of what makes us human.

If aspects of human sexuality make people uncomfortable, let's dig into that. If men having sex is something that makes you feel uneasy, why might that be?

The easy explanation is that gay sex is subversive. If gay sex is visible - normalised - the homo-normative patriarchy becomes harder and harder to sustain. Men getting their clothes off in public is empowering. Men showing the world their erect penises - men publicly masturbating their erect penises - is liberating. Men having sex in public is an act of radical rebellion.

Now that the weather in the UK is warming up, maybe it's time to pay a visit to Corton Beach? I'm feeling like stripping off and engaging in some lewd behaviour.