I recently wrote a blog on the topic of cruising and hooking-up in parks. This controversial topic generates arguments on both sides of the debate. For some park cruising (as well as internet hook-ups) offers the ability for people to enjoy themselves without the stress of a relationships and traditional dating methods. Others see it as a dangerous pre-stonewall era behavior that is antiquated and foolish. We would love to hear where you stand. Fill out our survey and let us know.
I voted. It's hot. Although I know it's illegal and I get that it's potentially unsafe...I have always thought it was kind of sexy and hot---and the fact that it's illegal and risky is probably a part of that. Let's be honest---the risk is part of the appeal, right? Also I don't know why people act like this public sex issue is a "gay thing"----str8 people have been having sex in public places (like the back seats of their parked cars in public parks) forever. The only difference is they come to their park WITH their sex partner---and gay men go to the park to FIND their sex partner. Also, I think there's a big double standard when it comes to policing these things...I'd bet that when straight couples get caught having sex in their car or other public place, they get told to "move along"....but when gay men get caught in a car having sex in the same park they get arrested. There's definitely something homophobic about the way this gets enforced!
Park Cruising dirrectly moves the LGBT stuggle decades back. Queers don't need any more bad press. we should be working towards getting equality! not chasing ass.
Sure breeders have public sex all the time and no one cares, but life ain't fair. and heteros aren't in the middle of battleing a religious right who yells at them about morality 24/7.
Its time to assimilate and become members of the status quo. and if that means sitting through a couple hours of boring small talk before getting someone in your bed then I suggest you get over it.
Its interesting to see both sides of this issue discussed here, but I think one group of folks has been left out of the discussion. Its been my experience, yes I've had some, that a good portion of the men who cruise parks, rest stops, book stores, or other public places for sex do not Identify as being gay. A good share are married men (Straight), who use this as their only outlet. Now whether you feel that they are actually straight is another issue, but they will not frequent a gay bar, typically won't use the internet as their spouse could discover they have been cruising, or use other more safer or common ways to meet and hood up, They are not looking for anything more than a brief sexual encounter totally anonymous.
Thanks for all the comments!
I think D.O.'s point here is well taken. Because the sexual behavior we're talking about here is "gay" (i.e. man-on-man), I think it often gets shorthanded as gay men who are engaging in the behavior----but that's a pretty big oversimplification. Certainly it's true that many (or at least some) of the men who frequent parks looking for sexual encounters probably are men who identify and live as heterosexual or are otherwise disconnected from the gay community. That's an entirely different set of cultural nuance to the discussion. It's one thing to say that gay men don't "need" parks to hook up anymore because now there are bars and social groups and the internet, etc....but it's clear that a man who has an ostensibly hetero life will probably NOT be using any of those venues to find sexual partners. (Is it "right" for "straight"/married men to be hooking up with other guys at all? Well that's a loaded question and probably a topic for another blog! LOL)
What I will say is this, however. Regardless of how you identify or who you are, sex in parks carries similar risk. In fact, some of the concerns that Paul raised in his original post about park sex and its risks are probably even more heightened for straight-identified men. For example, if you don't want to log onto gay.com or manhunt because your wife or girlfriend might see it in your browser history, then you probably DEFINITELY don't want to get arrested in a park for having sex and have to have her come and bail you out!!