US: San Diego wins dispute with man arrested for wearing ‘just a loincloth’ to Pride
A man who was arrested for public nudity after wearing a loincloth to San Diego Pride has had his lawsuit against the city dismissed.
William X Walters was arrested at the 2011 pride festival for wearing the skimpy outfit, and had accused the city of unequally enforcing the nudity law based on his sexual orientation.
According to UTSanDiego, Walters was the beer garden at the Balboa Park festival when police asked him to cover up, but he refused to, and was arrested.
Court records say the ‘gladiator-style’ loincloth was described by the arresting officer as “very loose”, with a back flap “that would move around very freely”.
Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo wrote: “There is nothing on the record that reasonably suggests sexual orientation had anything to do with the decision to insist upon compliance.”
Walters’ lawyer, Christopher Morris said the nudity law did not seem to be a problem for participants in the city’s Over The Line beach tournament.
Morris said: “Now, that court will decide if it’s OK for the police to allow women to wear g-strings at OTL while preventing gay men from wearing a gladiator kilt during Pride.”
Walters plans to appeal the judgement.
