Gay men naked in water
Wading back onto the beach after my swim, I notice that a sunbather is reading Haunt of the Black Masseur, Charles Sprawson’s sprawling celebration of the swimmer as hero. Perhaps being nude in a natural setting helps us to be more childlike and dispense with social prohibitions, or perhaps fully revealing our bodies helps us to more fully disclose our inner selves. I’ve found that when I’ve stripped bare on Obelisk, I’ve also entered into surprisingly open-hearted and revealing conversations. When one is in one’s birthday suit, there’s literally nowhere to hide. More importantly, however, spaces like Obelisk allow us to drop our guards as well as our kit. Obelisk is a great place to meet and flirt. The right to gather publicly without fear or intimidation is something that several past generations of gay men in Sydney were never able to enjoy, and the activists who lobbied for gay legal reform are true and brave heroes. The value of places like Obelisk for gay men to meet openly, relax safely and socialise without victimisation or vilification cannot be underestimated. Many of these crimes remain unsolved, suggesting, at best, a police reluctance to investigate and prosecute gay hate crimes. Up till the 1980s, a number of men were murdered at coastal beats. Other than the convictions that frequently occurred until homosexuality was decriminalised in New South Wales in 1984, gay men were often subjected to abuse, violence and ‘poofter bashing’. Meeting at beaches was not without its dangers for gay men. Obelisk, which sits within the Sydney Harbour National Park, is a beautiful place where all men, regardless of their age, ethnicity, body type or identity can meet and socialise without judgement or harassment.īefore homosexuality was decriminalised and gay men could legally meet in bars and night clubs, beaches had been clandestine meeting places or ‘beats’ for many years in Sydney. A phalanx of naked sunbathers, arranged in formations of friendship groups, makes me think of a heroic army, ready to defend the values of freedom, pleasure and pride. I savour the afternoon’s easy sensuality as I swim a few brisk lengths of Obelisk Beach, Sydney’s pre-eminent gay beach. Mardi Gras is approaching and in a nod to imminent festivities, humidity is building like erotic tension and the sky is turning the colour of margaritas. A thunderstorm is brewing but the mood on the beach is relaxed and jovial. Approaching the crisp clear water of Sydney Harbour on this sultry late summer afternoon, a naked gay brethren cluster in groups on the sand behind me.