Q1

Aren't all naturists exhibitionists?

Absolutely not. When you first try naturism you might find yourself very conscious of yours and everyone else’s nudity but as it becomes more familiar, you will find it changes to the pure enjoyment of relaxing in a sauna or swimming a few laps of the pool.

Q2

It’s my first skinny dip. Will I have to go nude straight away?

Absolutely not. While wanting to join a naturist club does require a willingness to be nude, at ClubNat you are afforded the time to do so at your own pace.

Q3

What if I meet someone I know?

Taking your first tentative steps into naturism is bit like a rite of passage ... each and every one of us went through it and had to battle to get past our first time nerves. However, you very quickly come to appreciate and enjoy the innocence of naturism and become quite relaxed about the whole thing. As a result, you find yourself very sympathetic to anyone trying it for the first time so, if there is some one you know at one of our venues you will no doubt find a sympathetic friend.

Q1

Who are ClubNat?

ClubNat is an established naturist club operating in the Wiltshire area. We were born out of an idea a local Wiltshire family had, a family who enjoyed the naturist experience and the family together time, but were put off by the disproportionate number of unattached men who attended these naturist events.

Q2

Why setup another naturist club?

The existing Sex Discrimination Act 1975 allows a Private Members Club to discriminate on the grounds of sex which is why many of the existing naturist clubs get away with operate their sex balancing rule.

However, under the New Equality Bill (soon to become an Act) the rules have changed. Any club (Private Members or otherwise), whose membership is made up of both men and women, will be classified as a mixed-sex association. This means they can not discriminate against any of the protected groups (as defined in the Equality Bill) in the services they provide or in who they accept for membership.

So, any mixed-sex naturist clubs (regardless of whether they are a Private Members Club or not) will have to open their membership up to both men and women. The only associations allowed to legally discriminate are Private Members Clubs who have been setup for a specific protected group e.g. a women’s only club.

Q3

Is it legal to discriminate against men in this manner?

As a single-sex Private Members Club ... Yes.

On the 1st August 2007 the government merged the following three equality commissions to form the all new Equality and Human Rights Commission:

• Commission for Racial Equality (CRE)
• Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
• Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)

The Equality and Human Rights Commission have published a number of papers about the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and recently presented the following as examples of legal discrimination:

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com

As long as ClubNat complies with the rules of a Private Members Club then it is perfectly legal for us to discriminate in this manner under the Equality Act 2010.

Q4

Why not set ClubNat up as a couples club?

We have had quite a few questions about this so ...

The Equality Act 2010 defines a couple as two people being either married or in a civil partnership. This means a couples only club could not accept, for membership, anyone who is dating, engaged, cohabiting, separated or divorced.

By setting ourselves up as a women’s only club and allowing members to sign a guest in regardless of gender, we are open to a far larger section of the UK.