San Francisco Officials Vote to Ban Public Nudity SAN FRANCISCO - The command from city officials to residents was simple: Put your clothes back on. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 6 to 5 on Tuesday to approve a ban on public nudity. The vote means that there will be no more lounging nude in the city's plazas, parading up and down city streets sans pants or riding subways and buses bare-bottomed. Scott Wiener, a city supervisor who represents the Castro district, introduced the ordinance after an increase in the number of habitual nudists and a rise in complaints from residents and business owners. "The nudity situation in the Castro has become extreme," Mr. Wiener told his colleagues. After city supervisors approved the ban, the crowd at City Hall erupted in loud heckling and booing. Recall Wiener! Wiener is a Republican!" shouted Gerhart Clarke, 55, who stood up along with half a dozen others and stripped down to the buff. "Shame on you!" another woman yelled, pulling off her shirt. What are you afraid of? Anticipating the nude protesters, sheriff's deputies draped them in blue blankets and led them out of the meeting hall. Under the new ordinance, public nudity will be subject to a series of fines. A first-time violation would result in a fine of up to $100. A second citation in the same year would cost up to $200, and a third would result in a fine of up to $500 or a misdemeanor and up to one year in jail. On most sunny or even moderately warm days here, a handful of naturalists (known locally as "the naked guys") can be found reading newspapers or stalking around the Castro district's Jane Werner Plaza looking like an out-of-place flock of pale and ungainly birds. The law will not go into effect until after Feb. 1, which will allow enough time for a federal judge to consider a lawsuit brought against the city by a group of nudists who claim that the ordinance infringes on their constitutional right to free speech. As long as it is not lewd or offensive, public nudity is legal under state law. But on Tuesday, San Francisco joined many other cities that prohibit it, including nearby San Jose and Berkeley. This is a city that prides itself on its inclusivity and diversity and, in that vein, the ordinance does allow for some exceptions. Preschoolers can still go bare, women can still go topless and public nudity will continue to be allowed at events permitted by the city, including the annual gay pride parade and the Folsom Street Fair, a street party billed as the largest leather and fetish event in the world. Several supervisors adamantly opposed the ban. "I cannot and will not bite this apple," John Avalos said before voting against the measure. I refuse to put on this fig leaf.