National Nude Weekend Marked by Protest, Parties : Naturists: A Florida woman is arrested wearing only a copy of the Bill of Rights. A nudist resort opens its doors to visitors.

Naturists celebrated National Nude Weekend Saturday, shedding their clothes in Florida to protest a recent crackdown on thong bathing suits and mingling with non-believers to show that nudists are normal people, too.

One woman protesting the thong ban was arrested in a Palm Beach area public park after stripping off what little she was wearing and covering her body with a large copy of the Bill of Rights.

T. A. Wyner of Loxahatchee arrived at the protest wearing a T-shirt.

While circulating petitions calling for the protection of the First Amendment, Wyner stripped off her T-shirt and revealed only the Bill of Rights clutched to her front.

“She had told us she wanted to be arrested, so we accommodated her,” said Randy Lewis, a Department of Natural Resources spokesman.

“I expected that they would acknowledge that there is a First Amendment, that the First Amendment is my permit to express myself the way that I choose,” Wyner said.

At Cypress Cove Resort, a nudist recreation center in Kissimmee, Fla., rain washed out nude water-skiing and a host of planned outdoor activities.

But resort owner Jim Hadley said the storms hadn’t dampened spirits of about 300 members and guests who took shelter in a restaurant for square dancing and jazz band performances.

“Many of our members are nude and are mingling with the guests who are not, and there doesn’t seem to be any conflict,” Hadley said.

“What our visitors are finding is they are people like us.”

National Nude Weekend is the only time non-members are allowed to enter the 260-acre private Cypress Cove Resort, the largest of its kind in the United States.

The weekend for those in the nation who enjoy being in the buff is sponsored by the Oshkosh, Wis.-based Naturist Society and the American Sunbathing Assn. in Kissimmee.

Ron Burich, executive director of the Naturist Society, predicted Friday that thousands of Americans and Canadians would descend upon beaches, hideaways in wooded areas and other special places during the weekend--sans clothing.