Posted: March 28, 2024
AANR Service
• Current AANR Vice-President
• 14 yrs as Government Affairs Team Chair
• 6 yrs as AANR Member Trustee
• 4 yrs on AANR West Board of Directors
• Local Nudist Club President and Officer
• AANR Jim Cossins Service Award Winner
Vision & Advocacy
• Position AANR as the leading organization of the Nude Recreation Movement.
• Continue to meet with Government Leaders.
• Strengthen Liaisons with Government Leaders at all Levels
• Revitalize Regions & Community Action Teams for Local Effectiveness.
• Commitment to Discuss Issues of Concern Raised by Nudists.
• Support AANR Office Efficiency to Meet Demands for Member Support.
• Seize Opportunities in Media and Online to Promote Nude Recreation.
A group of two arrives at a grounds-site, and they’re filling out check-in forms, then when they see a line on the forms asking each for a circle around “M” or “F”, they ask how a trans person should respond. How should the attendant(s) at the front check-in reply?
(You could answer either assuming the trans person in their party is pre-HRT or post-HRT, and you could answer either assuming that a balancing rule is present or assuming that such a rule is absent — the important thing for this question is what you think the reply should be)
I have some questions I would like to have answered before voting.
1. In the case that you receive a report of an AANR-affiliated club hosting a drag show, how would you respond?
2. Some AANR members have suggested the organization should align with the LGBTQ community to gain support for naturist rights under a larger umbrella; what would your policy be?
3. Many AANR-affiliated clubs restrict memberships to men to maintain a ratio of male-to-female members; how do you feel about this?
4. What practical steps do you propose to normalize social nudity?
5. What ideas do you have for changing laws that unfairly discriminate against nudity, both in public places (such as beaches) and private residences (people’s homes, yards, etc)?
1. I can’t imagine this hypothetical situation ever coming at an AANR affiliated club.
2. I think it’s more likely the LGBTQ nudists align with AANR for support of their nudists events. We have clubs and members who are members of the LGBTQ community.
3. And some clubs have found that worked to their detriment. As private businesses decisions such as trying to keep ratio of memberships doesn’t always prove to be successful. We point out this when asked.
4. I’ve been supporting legislation like top free and removing restrictions on Breast-feeding have helped to break the ice on nudity issues. We have fought to support efforts that move to eliminate gender discrimination in these areas, and I support those efforts. Pointing out nudity does not mean a sexual situation exist is an ongoing effort.
5. I read bills daily that we are following that deal with nudity in private and public. I write to the authors with corrective text or fight to block these laws from being passed. My GAT team lobbying efforts have been successful in Wisconsin, Seattle, Arizona, and Hawaii this year alone.
(four questions I will ask of both candidates)
1) AANR-East. Might we work toward eliminating or reducing revenues to the regions. Here in AANR-East, I see a lot of meetings. board members, mission statements, planning statements – BUT NO ACTIVITIES DIRECTED AT THE MEMBERS.
Correct me if I’m wrong – but – might it be time to reduce the regional structures?
2) Again, AANR-East. I realize that in the upcoming election – a walkover for three directors – two of the candidates are minorities, and this is a good thing. Their non-landed org is based in Maryland. BUT — BUT — neither live within the East region; one is in Texas and the other in Illinois. How can this help the members of the East region?
3) OUTREACH. There seems to be a reluctance to do any outreach for nudism in the mainstream world. I’m mystified that we don’t see live shots on TV, nor are we at consumer shows (RV, health, exercise) where there is a direct, target audience.
4) WINR – Women in Nude Recreation, a great project and objective. But the effort, with an RV traveling around the west (on whose dime? are AANR members paying for that?) doesn’t seem to be outreach but “preaching to the choir”. Is anything being done with this project to reach women outside of our clubs?
I realize that question #2 might come across incorrectly – but I firmly believe that a regional director should live within the region he/she/they represent.
They certainly ARE qualified!
Thank you Boston Naturist for your questions
In reading your questions it seems you’re not seeing some of the actions we are already taking, the phrase “Banned in Boston” comes to mind. You may not be seeing more media coverage because it’s just not on in Boston.
We have coverage of our efforts in other areas. In Wisconsin we were successful in defeating bills aimed at stopping laws to ban participation in the World Naked Nude Bike rides. That was mostly covered in Madison and Milwaukee.
In Seattle we helped defeat a plan to restrict nude use at Denny Blaine Park. It got coverage down where I am in Sacramento when they needed a story to fill 3 minutes of the news cast. It was covered extensively in Washington and Oregon.
Right now in Hawaii we are working to block legislation to further restrict nude use on Hawaii’s beaches and public lands.
Our outreach efforts do involve local shows, those depend on the regions and local groups to make these things happen. These are ongoing in the regions. In my mind it is vital to provide local support through the regional structure to have local action.
WINR’s road trip is being financed by the participants with local donations along the way iincluding her region AANR-NW. I have contributed by trying to intervene on her behalf to get clubs to participate with free lodging, but the WINR chair has self-funded and locally fundraised to support her effort.
It is not preaching to the choir to have women focused events at the clubs. Many times we hear women in nude recreation say they welcome having these women only events to help support their commitment to nude recreation.
I support the local and regional efforts to get the message out beyond the clubs to the general public.
The “Banned in Boston” attitude has been dead for generations now. We are the most liberal area of the United States and things don’t get banned here, as they do in other states. No book banning or book burning. You have to go to a place like Florida to find that.
But that aside – I have read about the Wisconsin and Seattle activities. The bulk of nudist activity news is on the Internet in this era.
Kudos on the Hawaii activity – but it’s too late for Lighthouse Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, and other places that weren’t sanctioned but nude recreation was tolerated.
I think this comment exemplifies all that is wrong with AANR at the moment.
Yes, they are doing plenty of (costly, and very important and necessary) work behind the scenes. The issue is that this isn’t widely known, even by current AANR members. You can’t expect people to join an advocacy group, or remain members of an advocacy group, if they aren’t aware of where there money goes, and what it is used for.
To go on and say “I support the local and regional efforts to get the message out beyond the clubs to the general public.” just drives home the point that the current policies are not going to work. Why is it up to local and regional groups to try to handle marketing and outreach? Isn’t that the point of having a nationwide group working on your behalf? It would be far more efficient to come up with a single marketing strategy, and run with it at a national level, than to have each of the seven individual regions go out and put together a marketing campaign.
If AANR continues on the current path, that is tried and proven to reduce membership numbers and in turn revenue, it is a sinking ship. We need to freshen things up, we need modern streamlined approaches to things. Attracting new members needs to be a top priority. This may be marketing to people who already consider themselves nudists, or it may be getting on TV, or other media platforms, letting people know what social nudism is all about. The Netflix documentary “Worn Stories” is a great example of this. Or go look at what BN is doing with morning talk shows. If you can reach 5 million people, and one tenth of one percent decide to visit a nudist club, that is still 5,000 people.
We also need outreach to existing nudists. A friend of mine, who has been a lifelong AANR member, having joined under the ASA, recently told me about a trip he made to Haulover Beach. He was chatting with a number of people in the beach, and was asking if they were AANR members. He said nobody he spoke to even knew what AANR was. That is a failure in marketing, pure and simple. The fact that a random sampling of people on America’s busiest nudist beach didn’t know that AANR even existed should be a huge wakeup call that current marketing isn’t working.
Tim’s years long dedication to AANR & his connections/commitment to GAT are invaluable to members, clubs & regions. As a life member, former & current interim trustee, & club president, I fully support his candidacy for AANR president. We need him!
When is the vote?
Did they post dates for the voting? Who is all eligible to vote? Thanks in advance!
The date for voting is when you receive the May 2024 Bulletin in the mail or in your inbox. The date voting ends is June 20, 2024
Thank you for your prompt response.
I am a member of TAMPA BAY FREE BEACHES. They are diligently trying to establish a Nude/Clothing Optional Recreational Beach on the West Coast of Florida. What is your supporting role and AANR role in establishing a Nude Beach on the West Coast of Florida?
I am excited to endorse Tim Mullins for AANR President. Tim has a long list of AANR volunteer service experience that adds value to our memberships. Tim’s 14 years leadership in Government Affairs in addition to his 6 years as an AANR Trustee and 4 years as AANR-West Trustee is a true example of his commitment to AANR and AANR members.
As our current AANR Vice President Tim is more than qualified to step into moving AANR into the future. Please join me in voting for Tim Mullins for AANR President.
Tim, given that AANR’s membership and the number of clubs has been declining over the years, what do you think can be be done differently that will reverse this trend?
There is no simple answer to your question Jeremy. We need to look at why the numbers are down and focus on what we can do to reduce the causes of membership loss.
Once we have a good idea of the causes we need to develop a plan to address those causes within our control. That is going to take time and a team effort.
What I am confident of is the returning Board members I have talked to are committed to stopping the drop and renewing interest in AANR.
Tim.
Perhaps the organization is aging out. What will you do to encourage younger people to join AANR
Proud voter for Tim. Has the right vision for AANR future.