Want to hang out naked on your Miami balcony or in your yard? What the law says

Want to get naked?

Haulover, just north of Bal Harbour, is the only official “clothing optional” beach in South Florida.

MORE: Does Florida have nude beaches? Here’s where you can find clothing-optional sites

But what if you don’t want to go to the beach. Can you sunbathe nude in a backyard or on an apartment balcony? Or even do gardening in your birthday suit?

It depends.

Here’s what to know:

Are you allowed to be nude at home?

It’s illegal in Florida to expose your “sexual organs” or be naked in public or on someone else’s private property “in a vulgar or indecent manner.” It’s also against the law to be naked “so near thereto as to be seen from such private premises.”

That means if someone can see you letting it all hang out, especially in a suggestive way, and wants to complain, you could be in trouble with the law.

To show that someone committed “unlawful exposure of sexual organs” while tanning naked on their property, prosecutors would need to prove all five of the following, according to jury instructions from the Florida State Bar Association:

▪ The person was naked.

​▪ It could be seen from someone else’s private property.

▪ The nudity was “vulgar, indecent, lewd, or lascivious.”

​▪ The person “intended” their nudity to be “vulgar, indecent, lewd, or lascivious.”

▪ The nudity “caused offense” to at least one person.

The jury instructions also say that “proof of mere nudity” isn’t enough to find someone guilty. It also offers some synonyms for “vulgar,” among them wicked, lustful, sensual.

So, even if people on their property can see you tanning naked on your property, and are offended by that, the state would still need to prove that you intended to be vulgar by being naked.

“It’s subjective,” Brett Schwartz, a Miami criminal defense lawyer and founding partner of Hager & Schwartz, said in a previous Miami Herald article. “Vulgar means different things to different people.”

Schwartz said that generally, if you’re on your own property, “you can probably do whatever you want, unless you were intentionally trying to be vulgar.”

MORE: Can you swim naked at the beach in Miami? Smoke, sleep or drink? What the laws say

What’s the punishment for indecent exposure?

A first offense for “indecent exposure” in Florida is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and no more than one year in prison. A second violation of the law can be treated as a third-degree felony, punishable by a fine of as much as $5,000 and up to five years in prison.

So, if you’re planning to strip down on your condo balcony, you’re likely within the law, although it is a gray area.