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--> --> Anti-war demonstrators bare all ASHLAND (AP) - Ashland residents and shoppers got a good look at the city's first anti-war protest Monday as a handful of college-age men and women ran naked down Main Street, using their bodies as billboards and hiding their faces. The streakers were part of an anti-war protest against America's involvement in the Middle East following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. Their message: Despite apparent cultural and racial barriers, underneath, we are all the same. "All humanity has one thing in common and that is your birthday suit," one protester said as the van carrying the streakers pulled into a coffee shop parking lot. The delegation of nude men and women jumped out and walked, ran and whooped down Main Street. One protester carried a sign that read "Buns, not bombs." John Peterson, the only protester who did not wear a mask or a bandanna to cover his face, said he was demonstrating for non-violence. "It's the bare levels of nonseparation," he said. "If everybody believed in themselves more, there would be less need for a political system." "We are trying to inspire a logical response to terrorism," said another protester who, like most, did not give a name. "It's a statement about freedoms. We are basically exposing ourselves to the world." Though the protest was a spectacle not often seen in Ashland, it was perfectly legal, according to Lt. Mike Bianca of the Ashland Police Department. "Make love not war, I remember that saying," Bianca said Tuesday. "We do have an indecent exposure law, but it has to do with making a sexual display. It's not for general nudity. If they (the protesters) disrupted traffic, it could be breaking the law. If they caused great alarm in the community, it could be breaking the law. But garden variety nakedness is not against the law." None of the protesters was arrested or charged with any crime, Bianca said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing