Police in London, United Kingdom have announced the arrest and fining of several men for outdoor sex in the popular cruising area known as Hampstead Heath. Law enforcement wants to be clear that the men are being targeted for breaching COVID-19 distancing measures, not for their sexuality.
“The police have made it clear to us that they do not proactively patrol the Heath, but only act in response to public complaints,” said activist Peter Tatchell of the Peter Tatchell Foundation. PinkNews reports that the police contacted and consulted with Tatchell as a means of diffusing tension between the police department and the LGBTQ community.
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“We are urging gay and bisexual men to ‘play safe:’ have fun but protect yourself and your partners by following the COVID lockdown rules,” Tatchell added. “We also advise against having sex in circumstances where you might be seen by members of the public and cause them offense. We are living through a major health emergency and it is imperative that our community does what it can to limit the spread of COVID and save lives.”
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“We don’t want to see gay and bisexual men breaking the rules, putting themselves and others at risk and getting fined,” Tatchell added.
Police in the UK reserve the right to fine violators of COVID-19 distancing measures with a £200 fine. At present, the United Kingdom has reported more than 2 million cases of coronavirus infection. This Monday (December 21) alone saw more than 33,000 new cases reported. Health officials have also warned of a mutated strain of the virus which is said to be even more contagious.
lather
Guess I’m officially old. Play safe and stay safe.
barryaksarben
Honestly, I am old so can say stay safe etc but when I was a young man it would have been hard to go into isolation like I have now. Just being honest. I would have done it but I am pretty sure I would have been bad once or twice in 9 months
dhmonarch89
The AIDS Virus didn’t stop many gay men from having sex, why should anyone assume covid would? Back in the 80s- AIDS had a 100% death rate (you didn’t know how long it may take, but everyone with it back then thought they were going to die sooner or later)…covid has about 2% rate from those infected- if many gay guys took a shot when it was 100%, you know 2% won’t stop them.
CityguyUSA
And now they’re saying that COVID is acting very similar to HIV in that it’s mutating quickly and they may not be able to create a vaccine for this anymore than they have for HIV. My question is since nRNA has supposedly been in the works for 20 years why was no “vaccine” made for HIV they certainly had the time to perfect it which more than likely would have made it easier to create a COVID “vaccine”. I’m putting “vaccine” in quotes because it’s not a vaccine in that it doesn’t prevent COVID it merely reduces the symptoms.
nm4047
Just curious as to why a this story was posted today 24Dec when London pride was how long ago? Questioning if this is a made up story, given the covid restriction in Britain at the time of London pride were all but no existent.
Chrisk
Who said this had anything to do with London Pride?