The City has released the âdisgustingâ photos of Denny Blaine Park that millionaire philanthropist Stuart Sloan sent to Mayor Bruce Harrell in March 2023 ahead of pledging $1 million to construct a childrenâs playground on the nude beach frequented by Seattleâs gay and trans residents.
While both the City and the neighbors group, Denny Blaine Park for All, have told The Stranger that they were concerned with trash, illegal parking, alleged incidents of public sex, public masturbation, and otherwise unlawful activity on the beach, these photos from Sloan only appear to show people enjoying a legally protected right to nudity at the beach.
Sophie Amity Debs of Friends of Denny Blaine, a park stewardship group affiliated with the Seattle Parks Foundation, called the photos âthoroughly unscandalizing.â
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âThe beachgoers photographed are not doing anything explicitâthey are casually using the beach without clothes on,â she said in a text message. âThere is no sex, no drug use, no lewd activity; none of the things that they *purported* were the reasons for trying to crack down on this beach. I think it was already clear from the texts, but this really drives home: Sloan and the mayor's real âgrievanceâ was just people being nude there at all.â
Sloan sent the photos to Harrellâs private cell phone and to Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent AP Diaz on March 18, 2023, along with a series of texts that the City released publicly last week.Â
In a March 2023 text, Sloan told Harrell heâd taken the liberty to censor the genitals in his photos. Weâve asked the City if Sloan also censored their faces, or if the public records department did that, and weâll update when we hear back.Â
âThis is disgusting and as youâve said, weâre on the right side of this issue,â Sloan wrote in an accompanying message. âI hope you agree that we need to get ahead of this or it will be more difficult once the good weather returns ⌠Thanks for taking the time to read this message. Iâm not complaining about Parks, Iâm just seriously concerned that we just cannot let another year go by, itâs just DISGUSTING!â
Mayor Harrell maintains that he did not know Sloan was the donor behind the project, a claim that the activists who rallied against the Cityâs plans to construct the playground reject.
In a March message to Parks Superintendent Diaz, Harrell said he appreciated Sloanâs âphilanthropic position,â which the mayorâs communications office said was a general reference to Sloanâs well-documented philanthropy, and not an allusion to a donation to fund the playground.
In a June 2023 text to Sloan, Harrell wrote that he was aware of the problems of nudity and hazardous waste at Denny Blaine that had become âtotally totally unacceptable at the beachâ and assured him that Deputy Mayor Adiam Emery would be working with him directly to address the issue.Â
âIf you are disgusted I share your disgust,â Harrell wrote.
Last week, the mayorâs office said nudity was a protected right of expression and that the mayor respected peopleâs ability to âexercise that freedom at Denny Blaine.â