An urban planner in Toronto says the city needs to be more accommodating when it comes to creating public places where gay men can hook up.
Cruising is a “long standing tradition in urban centers,” Jen Roberton, who specializes in public safety planning for LGBTQ communities, says in a new interview. “I feel as though in many cities, sex is already happening. You know, if we already have public sex taking place, why not acknowledge that as a fact and kind of plan for that?”
Related: Is It Too Much to Ask That Sex Offenders Don’t Have Sex In Public Parks?
Roberton’s call for designated public cruising areas comes in the wake of a police sting operation in Toronto that involved 65 men being arrested.
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“Heterosexual couples do have sex in parks as well, but more often than not, they’re asked to move along,” she explains. “I would be very surprised if this amount of costly undercover policing was put into a sting operation against heterosexuals. This seems very much a targeting of gay men having sex.”
Related: Toronto Police Charge 65 Men In Major Public Sex Crackdown
Believe it or not, Roberton’s proposal isn’t totally unprecedented either. She points to Vondelpark in Amsterdam as an example, which allows public sex as “long as patrons do not litter, do not engage in sexual activities near the playground, and limit public sex to evenings and nighttime.”
“When considering seemingly conflictual use of parks, the problem is not public sex, and it certainly isn’t cruising,” she says. “An effective way forward involves planning that balances the needs of park users who do not wish to see explicit sexual acts, with the equally essential needs of queer people to have spaces to express their sexuality, in which they will not be traumatized and violated.”
Related: It’s OK, Mom. You Don’t Need To Understand Public Cruising.
Marky
We don’t need to do this anymore.
IDoNotHaveToAgreeWithYou
Fire this fool and never allow him to work anywhere again. We are not animals that have to have sex in the bushes because we can’t control ourselves. That is just an insult.
geoker
Um. Anyone under 60 has apps for this now.
Brian-E
This is a good, pragmatic approach. Acknowledge that the phenomenon exists, and that telling people not to cruise is about as effective as telling a wasp to stay away from a jam factory. And designate particular areas for cruising to occur so that those who don’t want to be confronted by people having outdoor sex can stay away from those areas.
Commenters who use the pronoun “we” (as in “we don’t need to do this anymore”, or “we are not animals’) might do well to note that they are speaking for themselves, not for others.
moo
@IDoNotHaveToAgreeWithYou: She’s a woman.
GeoffreyBridgman
Plenty of people need to do this still. I can’t really imagine what anybody’s problem with it could be. Don’t think there’s a legitimate gripe. When I was in Prospect Park a little while ago, the families got all the open space in the world — on rolling hills in uncovered areas. More children than I’ve ever seen. It was actually offensive. And the gay guys got the windy paths cut through with hedges. Seemed very workable to me.
Chris
There is appeal to the idea that cities can designate certain public parks as spaces for sex between consenting adults. Goodness, there are nude beaches and even “doggie parks” where canines get to frolic and play.
My concerns would be pragmatic. On the one hand, heightened security would be needed to protect the park’s users from being abused either by an outsider or by his mate. Secondly, there would have to be enhanced park management to ensure only consenting adults are doing that which they are being authorized to do AND to take care of such mundane things as cleaning up at closing time.
I bet the logistics of implementing this proposal would doom it.
unreligious
@geoker: And yet when you go to a cruise park the vast majority are way under 60.
AntBee
A very good film, that could serve as a guide to what the city planner is hoping to have come true.
I’d never do it, but I don’t care if others do, it’s none of my business. I may watch, though… LOL!
I miss the days of going up into the bushes at Hippie Hollow.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2852458/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Jack Meoff
@geoker: Then why are most of the comments being made on cruising sites for beats young people asking if any hot young guys under 35 are going to be there?
Mkiel
@Brian-E: Well said, straights have all the world to flaunt their heterosexuality with few limits why can’t gay men have a little safe place to be themselves.
Josh447
Certainly this is food for thought. Planned public sexual areas may work but the first thing to do is just not prosecute for it, take the heat off etc. Part of the mystique however, is the fact it’s not publicized or sanctioned. It would sure change the dynamic if it were a city planned and approved project.
John
Someone trying to save part of our culture that actually uses social skills. In another few years there will be no “gay” bars, no “drag” shows…everyone uses apps- computers etc
And they have the social skills of an ice cube.
ErikO
@Marky: Exactly it’s pointless. Even my gay friends who are into NSA sex don’t go to parks, bathrooms, etc. and instead just go on A4A, CL, or any number of sites and go to his place or have someone visit them.
Danny279
lol. This Jen Roberton person has a website and calls herself an urban planner, but she doesn’t seem to actually do any urban planning. Nearly every comment responding to that CBC interview opposes her view and mocks her for her stupidity. The people of Toronto have supported the police in cleaning up their park and LGB people stand with them. The last thing that LGB youth need is people like Roberton, equating gay sexuality with copulating in bushes like animals.
robho3
Back in the day I used to love cruising in the park— but alas times have changed and I guess I’m just an old whore from a bygone era.