WISCONSIN     NAC ARCHIVE 2003    


ANTI NUDITY LEGISLATION: AB 574
On October 15, 2003, freshman legislator Daniel LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) introduced Assembly Bill 574, a measure that seeks to prohibit all nudity on land owned, administered or managed by the State. The specific target of the bill is Mazo Beach. On the very day the bill was introduced, NAC asked all naturists to take action against this threat.

Click here to view the NAC Action Alert dated October 15, 2003.

NAC NOTE: This NAC Action Alert has expired. NAC is NOT asking for naturists to take specific action at this time. For current news regarding Wisconsin and AB 574, CLICK HERE. Please continue to monitor NAC's Action Alerts, Advisories and Updates for news of this and other important issues.

On October 21, LeMahieu offered two amendments to fine tune his bill. A public hearing for AB 574 was held Tuesday, October 28 at 10:30 AM.
Click here to view the NAC Update dated October 23, 2003.

Ovadal's conviction upheld
October, 2003 - A Wisconsin appeals court has upheld the conviction of Ralph Ovadal for disorderly conduct at the Mazo Beach parking lot. On May 28, 2001, Ovadal acosted a young woman who was headed to the beach and began loudly and insistently to refer to her as a "whore."

Repeatedly directing the epithet at the woman from a distance of only a few feet, Ovadal kept up a tirade that he later characterized as "preaching." Judge Steven Higginbotham did not agree and found Ovadal guilty, assessing him a fine of $1,000, but refusing to add the jail time that would have allowed Ovadal to portray himself as a martyr to his cause.

Ovadal's appeal was rejected. Read the full text of the opinion on the web site of the Naturist Education Foundation. Ovadal has said he will appeal further.

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Nudity on public lands remains under attack in Wisconsin in 2003. The tradition of skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing at Mazo Beach has drawn fire from some members of the legislature and from a pseudo-religious hatemonger.

     Locally, Ralph Ovadal, self-annointed pastor and leader of a group calling itself Wisconsin Christians United, has turned much of his vitriol toward nudity in general - and Mazo Beach in particular. Other Ovadal targets are homosexuality and abortion.

Scofflaw Ovadal.
Ralph Ovadal, who has been arrested, cited and fined for his various exploits, continues his pattern of denying responsibility for his actions. As the leader of a short-lived blockade of the road to Mazo Beach in 1999, he was assessed a civil forfeiture over his protest that he wasn't really the leader of the group that blocked the road. Ovadal claimed he would never pay the civil forfeiture, but then quietly did so.

Ovadal funded an aborted lawsuit against the state in 2001. The suit, filed by a canoe livery operator, but bankrolled by WCU, claimed nudity across the Wisconsin River at Mazo Beach hurt the livery's business. The suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be filed again.

More recently, Ovadal was fined more than $1,000 for singling out a woman who was on her way to the beach and repeatedly shouting to her, publicly calling her a "whore." Ovadal called it "street preaching" and said it was protected speech, the judge said it was beyond protection and was disorderly. Ovadal vowed to appeal the conviction, but never did.

Ovadal's latest tactic at Mazo is harassment of those attempting to go to the clothing-optional beach. Using megaphones and in-your-face slurs and invectives, Ovadal and his sheep are attempting each Saturday to incite a retaliatory response from naturists. Failing that, those calling themselves Christians have tried to stage (and capture on video) fictitious assaults on members of their flock. They have also placed themselves in harm's way through such obvious ploys as intentionally riding bicycles in a slow and wobbly manner directly in front of vehicles driven by naturists on the way to the nude beach.

The Naturist Action Committee advises naturists visiting Mazo Beach to avoid the entrapment techniques of Ralph Ovadal and his devious and cowardly followers. Do not respond to the provocations.

     Mazo Beach remains open for nude use, but Conservation Drive, the access road to Mazo Beach, remains closed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The 120 parking places now available to users falls far short of the 250 spaces called for in the Master Plan of DNR's Mazomanie Unit.

WISCONSIN LEGISLATION 2003
The Wisconsin legislature is one of the few remaining state lawmaking bodies in which support or opposition for naturists breaks along political party lines. In previous years, anti-nudity legislation has been passed in the Republican-controlled House, only to be stopped in its tracks by the Democrat-controlled Senate. This year, Republicans control both houses, and the Naturist Action Committee is monitoring the legislature closely for an attempt to push through a broad anti-nudity measure.

2004 Legislative Schedule
Jan 06           Inauguration
Jan 07           Floorperiod
Jan 28 to Jan 30 Floorperiod
Feb 18 to 20     Floorperiod
Mar 11 to 20     Floorperiod
Apr 24           Bills sent to governor
Apr 29 to May 08 Floorperiod
May 28 to Jun 27 Floorperiod
or budget passage
Aug 14           Bills sent to governor
Sep 23 to Oct 02 Floorperiod
Oct 21 to 23     Floorperiod
Nov 04 to 13     Floorperiod
Dec 11           Bills sent to governor

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The Wisconsin legislature met from January 6, 2003 through December 31, 2003. Bills from 2002 did not carry over to the 2003 session.

The NAC board member responsible for Wisconsin: Nicky Hoffman.

|  Return to NAC's current year summary for Wisconsin. |