Kings Beach Is Still The LGBTQIA+ Sanctuary We’ve Loved For Decades

Earlier this year it was reported that the iconic Kings Beach was under threat from increased policing and had failed in a bid to have it heritage listed for the community.

Given the important historical significance of the location many locals from the LGBTQIA+ community have since been campaigning to keep the clothing optional beach as it has remained for many years.

Following the reports, I took a trip to visit my favourite place to escape the world to see just how much recent changes have effected the area.

Kings Beach is still our LGBTQIA+ sanctuary

For those who’ve never attended, Kings Beach is a beautiful, clothing optional beach, located on the outskirts of Byron Bay.

The beach has provided a safe space, a space for community, connection, escape and release over the years where members of the LGBTQIA+ community have claimed it as our own.

I made my first trip to this beautiful haven almost fifteen years ago with my husband and instantly fell in love with its magic.

A winding dirt road takes you upwards to a small and often tightly packed car park as vehicles jostle for limited spaces precariously along the way.

Journeying downwards towards the beach has a feeling of tranquil mystery about it, the rainforest looms up alongside you as it welcomes its latest guests in the safety below.

Those first moments as you step out from the edge of the forest, at a vantage point just high enough to take in the surrounds below are always a thing of recurring beauty.

A perfect, private beach of crystal clear water washes into the bay as the sand curves around and up to the edges of the beach, lined by varies trees offering sanctuary from the northern sun.

People of all shapes and sizes are dotted across the bay, walking through the shallows, lying in the shelter of the trees or enjoying a picnic with friends, the relaxed energy hits you well before you step foot on the beach.

At least twelve months had passed since my last trip to Kings Beach and upon reading recent reports of increased policing of nudity in the area I worried I would return to something different, that the magic may have been tarnished.

While there were some changes in place, upon hitting the beach, it felt like home again.

The car parking was the first major sign of development in the area, increased signage around designated parking zones has increased, with meter parking now in place.

A four hour stay at the beach now came with a cost of $16.00 for the pleasure.

Secondary to the signage that adorns the entrance, including warnings about camping and removal and flora and fauna was a touching sign acknowledging the history of the area, with a caveat.

After welcoming visitors to the area of the local first nations people the sign reminds visitors that “Since the 1970s Kings Beach has been an important place for the LGBTQIA+ community to meetup and enjoy. It is a well-loved destination for many in the LGBTQIA+ community who live in or visit the Byron Bay area.”

“We ask visitors to respect each other’s right to enjoy the beach without harassment or exposure to inappropriate behaviour.”

“Please look after each other, keep on the track, don’t clear or damage the vegetation and protect this beautiful place.”

But then there was a little reminder to top off the welcome.

“We remind visitors Kings Beach is not a designated clothes optional beach.”

It was a stark reminder of the news back in May that NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) had began patrolling the area with a notice on the NPWS website stating “Kings beach continues to be a place for the LGBTIQA+ community to enjoy, however due to the increased visitation and the shared nature of this beloved destination, Kings beach is not a clothing-optional area.”

With this knowledge in hand there was some trepidation in arriving on the beach, would there be police?

Would people be asked to put their clothes on or even fined?

Thankfully the answer to both these questions was no.

As is usual when hitting the beach in the morning it almost appeared empty, short of a few bodies walking through the gentles waves at the shore, both of them naked and smiling.

Walking along the shaded border between sand and trees we quickly spotted more people set up with picnics, blankets, sun tents and more, all in the usual mixed attire of half clothed or completely naked as they went about their morning in the sun carefree as they stopped to smile and wave.

The rest of the day was blissfully uneventful, as it should be for a day at Kings Beach.

Beach goers came and went, the occasional family or unassuming couple stumbled across the space, promptly leaving when they weren’t too comfortable with the dress code. Nothing scandalous or criminal, a simple “this place isn’t for us” mix up and away they went.

As the hours drifted by no police no turned up, the day continued in a peaceful lull, leaving us to enjoy the serenity and magic of this gorgeous space.

Despite the growing concerns of changes to the space, it truly felt like nothing had changed.

Unbeknownst to us at the time this may have been due to the work at hand by local action groups and members of the Kings Beach LGBTIQ Heritage and Culture Group on Facebook.

Since the proposed changes the members have been actively campaigning to stop them and just two months after my visit they shared the following update in the group.

“We have some great news to share from the Working Group that has been working with NPWS to try and change their approach to managing nudity on King’s Beach. 12 months ago NPWS were wanting to actively enforce the “non-clothing optional area status” of the beach, wiping out the decades-long culture of nudity at King’s and ignoring the importance of nude bathing within queer culture” they wrote.

“However, as a result of the powerful advocacy by so many in our community, NPWS have fundamentally changed their position and agreed not to police non-sexual nudity at King’s Beach” they revealed.

Instead the revealed a new sign set to be unveiled at the beach, permitting clothes optional bathing.

“The current sign referring to King’s as a “non-clothing optional area” is being replaced by the following sign acknowledging the history of nude bathing at King’s and informing visitors that they might encounter nudity on the beach. This messaging has also been put on NPWS’s website.”

“King’s has never been an officially-designated nude beach, and so this is the first time the authorities have acknowledged that it is nonetheless a place where nudity has been enjoyed for many years and is still enjoyed; this de facto recognition of King’s as a nude beach by the state  authority that manages the national park will give a level of legal protection to anyone who chooses to be naked on the beach and in the ocean” they continued.

The information listed above does not yet appear on the NPWS website however the new signage has since been installed.

“Kings Beach LGBTIQ Culture and Heritage Group is incredibly grateful to NPWS for softening their stance towards LGBTIQ beach users, and changing their focus of concern from nudity to inappropriate behaviour” said group member Rohan Anderson.

“We will still need your help as beach users though, to correct the omission of our queer culture and LGBTIQ heritage in official government documents such as the Broken Head Nature Reserve Plan of Management, and the NSW Heritage Register. This will protect our status at the site into the future as signs can easily be removed” he said.

Anderson and other group members are inviting members of the public to contribute their stories to help with their goals.

“If you have ever been a LGBTIQ Kings beach user, we would love you to help us prove that this is a significant site for LGBTIQ people from across the nation – not just the Northern Rivers – as has been reported to the Minister, and that we have been at the site for a long time (1934 I believe)” he said.

This can be done by completing the online form located here and help keep this place as the charming safe and inclusive haven that it has been for our community for many decades.

So as the summer heats up and the post Christmas lull sets in, pack up your picnics and take a trip down to experience the continued magic that is Kings Beach, especially if you’ve never been before.