Is a pending nudity ban at Seattle's Denny Blaine Park 'queerphobic'?

Members of Seattle’s LGBTQ+ community are calling out a decision from a King County Superior Court judge requiring the city to crack down on public nudity at Denny Blaine Park within the next two weeks.

The preliminary injunction from Superior Court Judge Samuel Chung is the latest chapter in a legal dispute between the city of Seattle and homeowners in Seattle's Denny Blaine neighborhood.

Members of Denny Blaine Park for All, a neighborhood association behind the suit, claim the park has become a site for public drug use, masturbation, and sex acts.

In Monday's ruling, Judge Chung sided with residents.

"The Court finds evidence submitted by Plaintiff and largely unrebutted by the City shows that the City has refrained from taking any action to address nudity and sexual acts in the Park," Chung wrote.

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On Tuesday, Derek Dizon sunbathed at Denny Blaine, and read with his partner, Erik Rios. Both Dizon and Rios were wearing swimsuits, but they said they are fully supportive of protecting those who spend time at the park in the buff.

Dizon said he has been going to Denny Blaine for more than a decade.

The couple says the rhetoric coming from the ruling, and the neighborhood association's allegations are "queerphobic" and rooted in stereotypes about the queer community. If anyone were to come to the beach, they'd find a relaxed and calm environment, they said.

"People are quiet, people are snacking and enjoying each other's company," Dizon said. "It's not this sinful, hedonistic place where people are doing whatever people think we're doing here."

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Rios said he's never personally witnessed drug use or public masturbation while at Denny Blaine.

Generally, he said he feels safe at the park, but heightened scrutiny of the park from outside observers has caused a shift.

"There's been a lot of people on boats, yelling anti-LGBTQ derogatory things," Rios said.

He said he's also watched people film parkgoers without their consent.

Dizon and Rios say they have no plans to stop coming to Denny Blaine, even after the city submits an abatement plan to end public nudity at the park.

In a rapidly gentrifying and expensive city like Seattle, Dizon and Rios believe it's important for queer and transgender people to have an accessible place to be comfortable in their bodies.

"I think a lot of times in our community, people are on edge, people are hyper-vigilant," Dizon said. "Having a place where you can not only be safe, but have fun, feel happiness and joy next to a cool body of water in your city, is a really important thing."

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Lee Keller, a spokesperson for Denny Blaine Park For All, said the association's suit has "never targeted [the LGBTQ] community, or any others."

"This lawsuit was always about public safety, and we believe that anybody using the park, legally and appropriately, should be allowed to do that," Keller said. "It was never about nudity."

It remains unclear how the city will enforce the forthcoming ban on public nudity at Denny Blaine.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell told KUOW the mayor's office will "review the judge's ruling regarding an abatement plan" and is exploring legal options with the city attorney's office.