It's Christmas time in Florida, a time when neighbors get together to share some holiday cheer. But at this Christmas party, some might say they share too much.
", "is_us_only": "false", "title": "Nudist Camp", "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/places/culture-places/beliefs-and-traditions/us-nudism-pp/", "country_code_deny_list": [], "allowUserEmbed": "True", "related": { "link": [] }, "credit": "National Geographic", "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/us-nudism-pp.smil", "country_code_allow_list": [], "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/us-nudism-pp/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/transcode/0/480/360/?url=http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/media/us-nudism-pp/us-nudism-pp_480x360.jpg", "transcript": "Narrator: It\u2019s Christmas time\u2026 in Florida\u2026 a time when neighbors get together to share some holiday cheer.\u00a0 But at this Christmas party, some might say they share too much.
Woman: Frank\u2019s already naked.
Narrator:\u00a0 Marion Higgins doesn\u2019t worry that her guests are stripping \u2013 all the way down.\u00a0 In fact, she encourages it.
Marion: First of all, get comfortable.
Narrator: Like most of them, Marion lives here because she doesn\u2019t want to wear clothes.\u00a0 And she doesn\u2019t expect others to wear them either.
Marion: I live nude. I sleep nude.\u00a0 I go to the restaurant, I go visiting, the neighbors, my friends\u2026 Whatever I do in this community is nude.
Narrator: Marion lives in Lake Como, a place where clothing isn\u2019t just optional, it\u2019s actually discouraged. Lake Como is one of more than 250 private clubs in North America where nudists can enjoy their favorite pastimes in their favorite state\u2014buck naked.\u00a0 In some places here, they are even required to. But there\u2019s more to it than skinny dipping.
Woman: Any work that I do\u2014anything.
Santa man: It\u2019s more like a religion to me, more than anything.
Woman: We do our housework in the nude, clean the cars in the nude.
Lee: We will be nude as often as we can to enjoy that activity\u2014whatever activity that is.
Narrator: Even if that activity is one few would try wearing protective gear.
Gerald: I\u2019m hoping to see an alligator down in this area.
Narrator: But if you\u2019re like Gerald Petroff\u2014and want to live your life naked\u2014the only way to do it is to live a life apart.\u00a0 In order to spend their lives without clothes, nudists must form their own communities\u2014and keep them well out of sight.
Man: We have 200 acres, with swamps, forests surrounding us. And areas where we don\u2019t, we have a fence\u2026to separate us from the neighbors.
Shawn: Good evening, Lake Como.\u00a0 Shawn speaking.
Narrator: This isolation works two ways: it protects nude residents from prying eyes, and neighbors from any unwanted exposure.
Shawn: We are not clothing optional.
Narrator: Set apart from what they call \u201cthe textile world,\u201d the people of Lake Como create a tight-knit community of their own.
Gerard: I think nudist communities are very much communities, almost extended family.\u00a0 Everybody tends to know everybody.
Narrator: But like any group of outcasts, they\u2019re cautious about outsiders.
Gerard: We pay attention to who we admit. We don\u2019t want to admit into our group people that really are inappropriate\u2014voyeurs, or, or people that are here for the wrong reasons.
Man: We do a criminal background check on new members as well as a reference check. And if we have any doubts about them we don\u2019t allow them admittance.
Narrator: Newcomers are also watched closely and schooled in the taboos unique to this society.
Marion: We teach them no gawking, no inappropriate behavior and no touching.
Man: With children, we have a zero tolerance. If an adult spends too much time even talking to kids, that person\u2019s asked to leave.
Man, VO: Drinks, cookies, bug spray!
Narrator: The people of Lake Como know that their chances of winning over the textile world are slim.
Marion: If they just accepted us for who we are and forget what we\u2019re wearing or not wearing, I think that would be a nicer world, but I know that\u2019ll never happen.
Narrator: Until it does, they are happy finding refuge in their life apart.
Marion: When my children and my grandchildren come and we walk around nude, I am so proud. My heart sometimes feels like it\u2019s going to burst.
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