I know that the portal-but-nothing-but-naked-people thing was done in a thread here on SDMB…
Maybe that’s it then. why I couldn’t place the story but was pretty sure I hadn’t seen it.
That rings a faint bell - let mecthink about it.
This is definitely it, thanks Chronos, my mind memory turned it into a story, embellished some details then gave my an annnoying itch to try to remember where it came from.
Reminds me a bit of Pratchett and Baxter’s Long Earth series too
Having to go with no equipment nor clothing to get through a portal to another version of the planet (it wasn’t Earth) was a minor plot point in Triplet by Timothy Zahn. None of the other particulars mentioned in this thread so far match Triplet very well, though.
What was their motivation to go through the portal in the first place? What were they supposed to do for food and shelter?
There was a human civilization beyond the portal, probably established by whoever created the portal in the first place. That part is a central mystery in the book so I won’t spoil it.
Not science fiction, but rather than start a thread for a one-time question I’ll put it here: Does anyone know in which of his books C.S. Lewis relates the anecdote of a perfectly horrible woman’s passing, leaving her entire family happier?
Screwtape Letters “She lived for others; you could tell the others by their hunted look.”
No, that’s not it unfortunately. The one I’m thinking of has a substantial description of how her family has been freed from a huge burden, and a snarky comment that I paraphrase as “The vicar says that she is now in a better place; we may certainly hope so. What’s undeniable is that her family is”.
In addition to @Andy_L 's reference, he also has a character in The Great Divorce that might fit the bill.
ETA: seeing your followup, it’s probably not the reference you’re thinking of, but it seems to be a type he went to frequently.
Not an answer to your question, but it did bring this to mind:
“Sarah was never the neighborly kind
Sure, she had a mean streak ten miles wide
But the truth was she smelled just like something died
Now she’s got a reason”
– Eddie From Ohio, “Very Fine Funeral”
I read a short story with this premise not too long ago. Wracking my brains, I still can’t remember the title or the author, but I do remember that the latest group to go through is all Japanese people. They’re from an alternate world in which Japan has been destroyed, and are determined to see their people survive. The Japanese are badasses and are able to disarm the bad guys when they go through the portal and are threatened by the smug-but-not-for-long villains, ending their reign of terror.
I was just thinking of an sf short story, probably from the late Seventies or early Eighties. It had kind of a Star Trek vibe, and might have been in a Hugo- or Nebula-award-winner collection:
An affectionate man and woman - married, or lovers? - is on a starship crew. They set out from an idyllic Earth, exploring the cosmos. They come to a habitable world which is threatened by, I think, a supernova or some other disaster. The friendly aliens there are like big translucent floating jelly beans; they have no spaceflight capability of their own. Turns out the planet is doomed, and there’s no way this single Earth starship can evacuate everyone.
The aliens bring lots and lots of eggs for the starship to carry away, instead, so that the race doesn’t totally die off. The woman crewmember has some kind of telepathic power - not sure if she had it all along, or just develops it with the aliens - and is in tears at the end, admiring the aliens for not insisting that any of them come along, just that their beloved “children” get saved.
Schmaltzy, but a good story, as I remember it.
I don’t know the answer but I like schmaltzy. If the story is found I’ll try to read it. I’m glad the ending wasn’t something like " the eggs develop into something awful and eat the crew."
This is exactly the ending I was expecting (and hoping for). I suspect you and I like different books. 
Oh no, I like eaten crew books too. But I do prefer happy endings.
I thought the eggs were going to require a living host for the larvae to feed on…
Hmm. Doesn’t ring a bell immediately, but I’ll keep thinking. Sounds almost like Simak