A crowd filled the park during a puppet show protest last August
It will be a little grey over Seattle this weekend but a King County judge has ruled you can go topless in Denny Blaine Park.
CHS reported here in April as the Friends of Denny Blaine group said it had filed a motion asking the court “to confirm that toplessness is allowed at the historically recognized LGBTQ+ nude beach.”
Last Friday, they got their answer. From the Friends:
On May 1, 2026, the King County Superior Court confirmed that toplessness is allowed throughout Denny Blaine Park, including the “Clothing Required” Zone. The Court made clear that neither its prior order nor the City’s abatement plan requires anyone to cover their torso, regardless of sex, gender, gender identity, or expression.
Friends of Denny Blaine said the ruling comes as private security workers have been an increasing presence around the park on the shores of Lake Washington. The group said the private security has been telling people to cover up and reporting nudity to police.
CHS reported in January as the Friends group filed to become “an intervening party” represented pro bono by law firm Perkins Coie in the lawsuit brought by a group of anonymous neighbors and property owners against the city over the longtime queer and nude hangout.
The ongoing court battle saw its most significant tussle as a King County Superior Court judge ruled in October that city abatement plan to improve conditions around Denny Blaine Park including new fences and signs added last summer are adequate to keep the space open to the public while a lawsuit from neighbors over the nude beach moves toward trial.
Late last summer, the Seattle Parks Department responded to a court order by adding a restricted “nude zone” to the park on the shores of Lake Washington east of Capitol Hill. The city said the zone was hoped to address complaints of illegal sexual activity.
In the ruling, the court sided with Friends of Denny Blaine, agreeing that the city’s abatement plan did not prohibit legal topless nudity in the park’s clothing-required zone.
The long-running court battle is tentatively scheduled to begin trial the last week of May.
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