Monday, October 4, 1999
By Ray Delgado OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
50 people march nude on Van Ness to draw attention to Y2K dangers
Some activists get arrested to draw attention to their cause. Others scream and rant in hopes that people will listen. Some nuclear activists, on the other hand -- well, they get naked. About 50 people who gathered Sunday night near City Hall for a conference on the potential dangers of Y2K-induced with a mass nude demonstration along a block of Van Ness Avenue. Desperate for press attention for their cause, they opted to get covered by uncovering. The nude march was led by Patch Adams, an activist and doctor who inspired the movie based on his lifetime of unconventional approaches to adversity.
"Non-violent people like us really have so few tools to face a capitalist system," Adams told the crowd as they uncomfortably disrobed outside Herbst Theater in the War Memorial Building. "All we really have are ourselves and our ideas. Our ideas have not done the job."
With those words, the crowd whooped and hollered their way out of the building and onto Van Ness for a quick stroll down the street, chanting, "Disrobe for disarmament," and, "News, not nukes."
Along Van Ness Avenue, some cars slowed to gawk and others honked at the protesters, who cheered in response.
The night air was chilly enough to have a noticeable effect on some participants, but there was no shortage of enthusiasm among the participants.
Photos above are courtesy of Barbara Wiedner via Alan Moore
