Sneaky rangers invade nudists privacy

Some cruisers and nudists who visit Cape Cod National Seashore to participate in their favorite recreational activities are angry that park rangers are using sneaky tactics to catch them breaking the law (namely engaging in public sex and nude sunbathing).

Undercover tactics: Park criticized for using sneak approach to nab nudists, stop sex (Provincetown Banner)

Nudists,amorous couples and others who used the Seashore as their pleasure ground this summer were shocked when they were served $75 to $175 citations for baring their bodies and/or engaging in sexual acts in public. It was not the tickets that bothered them so much as the manner in which they received them. "It was crossing the line as far as I am concerned," said Susie Maguire, a summer visitor. Maguire said she and a friend were walking up South Pamet Road in Truro on July 27, fully dressed, when a young park ranger drove up in his truck. “He got out, walked down to us and as he was walking said, ‘You two just hold it right there. I’m giving you a ticket for public nudity.’” The ranger proceeded to ticket Maguire for having been nude on the beach earlier that afternoon. She had, indeed, been sunbathing in the buff for three hours in an isolated spot south of Ballston Beach. But how had the ranger seen her? Was he “peeping” from the dunes? Why had he waited until she and her friend had walked all the way back to the parking lot and up the road to their car before approaching them? Maguire said she had been asking herself these questions. “When I have something like that happen, I’ve been invaded,” she said. “He wasn’t nasty at all, he was a very nice guy. But the whole thing was bizarre.”

She is not upset that the park ranger wrote her a ticket for being nude in public, just that he saw her naked. Now let me get this straight. She went to a public beach, removed all of her clothing and then sunbathed naked for three hours. If she is bothered by the idea of someone "invading" her privacy by at her naked body, then maybe she should not get naked in public. Just a thought.

She was not the first beachgoer to be caught off guard by a ranger. One man, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he and his partner were dallying in the reeds in a remote spot near Herring Cove in Provincetown one day last month when suddenly a park ranger sprang upon them. The ranger was in plainclothes and had appeared to be just “another gay man” ambling by, which is one of the reasons why the man and his partner didn’t stop having sex. They were given a $175 ticket for disorderly conduct.

That's not fair! If that poor guy had know that he was a police officer, then he would have stopped breaking the law. When I am out on patrol, I always announce my presence with a loud, "Park ranger coming through. I hope no one is engaging in any illegal activities out here." That's the only fair way for a ranger to patrol.

Other visitors to Herring Cove have reported seeing undercover park rangers, dressed as though they were just there to enjoy the beach, stop and ticket people for nudity or sexual activity. “I observed this practically the whole summer,” said Ron Raz, a New York resident who comes to Provincetown often. He said there were four plainclothes rangers, two in T-shirts, khaki shorts and carrying backpacks and the other two in “just shorts,” one with “pierced nipples and everything.” He said the undercover rangers will comb the beach between the breakwater and the parking lot at Herring Cove, which is “mostly the gay guys’ beach.” Sometimes, “they’ll just sit and wait.” When a man makes a move on the undercover rangers, they ticket him or serve a summons. Raz said it seemed like entrapment to him. “I would see people leaving the beach in tears,” he said.

There is nothing more sad than a horny guy that just wants to go to the beach and have some gay sex out in public and is senselessly harassed by some jack booted park ranger.