Barbara Marie Minney
I lived a lifetime as someone I wasn’t. I was a man for the first sixty years of my life, before
transitioning to female at the age of sixty-three. My wife and I have been married for almost
forty-two years, and during that whole time, we were and continue to be members of a nudist
resort in Ohio. We served on committees and tried to attend as many events as we could. As we
have gotten older, it seems like nudism has become less important, and we have become less
active. Some of it is probably body image issues related to our aging bodies as well as gender
dysphoria related to certain body parts. However, when I transitioned, there seemed to be an
even more subtle change.
Of course, a lot of the friends that we made over the years at the resort are gone now, and we
have not replaced them with new ones. We feel kind of isolated, usually go out only during the
week, and spend our time on our own deck. There has been very little interaction with other
members since my transition. A few have provided support, but most have remained silent.
Nudism is supposed to be about freedom, and that is exactly what attracted us to the lifestyle in
by Barbara Marie Minney
Barbara Marie Minney is a transgender woman, award-winning poet, writer, speaker, and quiet
activist. She is a retired attorney and a seventh-generation Appalachian. Now based in
Tallmadge, Ohio, her first collection of poetry entitled “If There’s No Heaven” was the winner of
the 2020 Poetry Is Life Book Award and the Akron Beacon Journal Best Northeast Ohio Books
2020. It is available through this website at www.poetryislifepublishing.com. Barbara is also
the author of the " Poetic Memoir Chapbook Challenge." Follow her at www.barbaramarieminneypoetry.com.
1980 when we saw an article in the local newspaper. We decided to explore, first as part of a
travel club, and then by joining the resort in 1981, the year that we were first married. There is
nothing more freeing than living life authentically as the person you know deep down inside that
you were always meant to be.
There are many of us in the LGBTQ+ community who just want to live our lives stealthily and
be accepted for who we are. We are conservative and not radicalized, nor do we want to impose
on anyone else. We just want to be acknowledged for what we have accomplished and the
contributions that we can make. We do not want to have to exist in the shadows.
June is pride mouth, and while that has lost a lot of what it was intended to be, nudists should
extend a hand of welcome to the LGBTQ+ community and accept their desire to be a part of this wonderful lifestyle.
by Barbara Marie Minney
