Gay men have become the target of undercover sex stings in Washington DC’s Meridian Hill Park. Critics have likened the stings to pre-Stonewall raids.
Park Police officer Sgt. Eduardo Delgado reports that law enforcement has made 26 arrests since August 7. Charges have ranged from Disorderly Conduct to Lewd Acts, Unlawful Entry, and Simple Assault (Sexual). Complaints by park visitors about public sex initiated the police stings.
DC defense lawyer John Albanes characterizes the sting operation as disturbingly homophobic since it targets gay men who agree to consensual acts.
Related: This 90-year-old man talks about being gay and cruising in the 1940s
“I find this pattern extremely disturbing and reminiscent of the Stonewall days when gay men were often the target of police discrimination,” Albanes said in a statement. “The tactics used in these cases just fly in the face of proper police work and should be exposed. The officers are posing as willing participants in a consensual encounter between adults. The target is deceived into thinking that what he is about to do is wanted. This raises serious doubts about whether the government can prove criminal intent.”
Furthermore, critics of the attack note that Meridian Hill Park–which also has been dubbed Malcolm X Park–historically attracts African American men for cruising, adding an uncomfortable racial dynamic to the stings.
Amid the criticism, Sgt. Delgado has defended the police operation. “The U.S. Park Police receives complaints about lewd acts that occur within Meridian Hill,” Delgado said. “As with any other complaint of illegal activity, we then take actions to stop it. Plainclothes officers are just one method of enforcement sometimes used to deter, stop, and/or arrest violators within the parks.”
TinoTurner
Lock them up! I’ve been to that park and it’s very lovely. I was sight seeing and came upon an area completely littered with used condoms and it was a sickening sight. Guys are gross and this stuff needs to be cleaned up. We can do better!
TrevorRivera1217
Lock them up! I’ve been to that park and it….- I can’t agree with you more But i am here not only to discuss this article but I would like to share with you new but really great website for gay singles only. It is still private, but you can find it easy. Just google: “73a2BemQSOfugu6lu7867650” .
Bulovaboy
Lock up the Slut straights that are F__ing in there cars in public at parks, parks and rides, boat slips. elevators, basements, grocery stores. Stop blaming the gays, Thats what’s wrong with society. They never seem to see themselves always everyone else. Misery loves company. Ignorants.
Cam
IF the police aren’t being homophobic etc… then just give citations to the people they see breaking the law. Enticing somebody into an act they weren’t going to do before smacks of homophobic entrapment.
TheMarc
I am now slightly paranoid (lol) about agreeing with you given all the attacks centered on you that looped me in to the drama of the a*holes that are definitely obsessed with your every comment. But…I don’t let crazy people dictate my life, so…agreed. It’s one thing to cite/arrest someone who is actively performing an illegal act, it’s another thing entirely to entrap someone. It’s an obvious targeting of gay men. Usually I side with any effort to route this type of activity in a public, shared space; but their tactics reek of biased targeting.
truthseeker
@Cam
How do you know they “weren’t going to do it”? Obviously the police are cracking down because they received complaints. They do the same in drug infested areas where known drug activity occurs. This is a case of lewd activity occurring in a public place
They could send a guy out to entice women into having sex in public but the woman would probably just scream and pepper spray the undercover cop.
If you don’t want to be arrested, don’t break the law
Juanjo
The issue here is exactly what is going on. If the cops are using decoys as they admit they are doing, it can be an issue of entrapment. It is not at all unusual for cops to do that. In fact, there is a long history of cops doing that.
CenterRight
As long as you start to grab another man’s penis with the intention to have lewd conduit with him in these public parks, you violate the law and should be arrested.
CurtisIsTheOne
@CenterRight I’ll agree with you WHEN the police start enticing STRAIGHT men into having sex with a female “decoy”. Until then, this smacks of entrapment. And please take your faux outrage to the toilet and flush it down there with your Russian troll-botness.
CenterRight
Curtis, I don’t think any straight woman would cruise the public park for sex.
ElPillo
They wanted the “thrill” of getting caught”? There you have it. You accepted the risk. Decoys have been used by the police for ever for straight and gay because people should not be in the middle of a city in public view spoiling an evening for people enjoying the park. AND @TrevorRivera1217, get off this website selling your wares.
CenterRight
I welcome more sting operations on these public parks and arrest those who engage in risky and lewd sexual behaviors in any public areas. Gays haven’t learned their lessons from the AIDS days.
CurtisIsTheOne
SHUT your piehole you Trump MAGA fagahead. Take your morality and shove it where the sun don’t shine. Please. Thank you. And F U you Russian Troll-Bot.
IWantAFullBeard
Why would you cruise there when there is literally a bathhouse 1 mile away? Or probably half a dozen gay bars just a few blocks away?
Heywood Jablowme
Because they’re closeted, and the bathhouse requires photo ID to get in, and they’re too paranoid to show ID to a “gay” venue. Yeah it sounds weird to us openly gay guys, but that’s the reason they go to the park.
IWantAFullBeard
Thank you for your response. That makes sense.
Kangol2
Also, the bathhouse costs money ($20?) The bar costs money (try to hang out in a bar and not drink, especially if you’re a POC, young or both). Both require an ID. Imagine you are an 18-year-old with no ID (you don’t need to drive in DC), you don’t have a lot of money & you want to have sex. And you don’t have a place to host someone either. Or you are a closeted/DL man who wants quick sex but don’t want to show an ID at a bathhouse or hang out in a gay bar. Or you are gay but poor, and want to have sex. For free.
truthseeker
@Kangol2
Awwww. Boo hoo. Not having an ID (which nearly everyone does) and not having $20 doesn’t mean you can drop your pants and have sex wherever you please
If I go for a jog and forgot my wallet at home but want to get off, can I just drop my pants on the street and go at it?
Mack
While entrapment is outrageous, I have to agree in this day and age trolling in parks is a little outdated. If what previous posters have said that there is a bathhouse nearby or bars hell even the internet can get you a body for an hour.
erichinnw
If you’re going to link to an article, it’s mildly helpful to actually read it. MPD has arrested 26 men since August 7th, 2018.
Josh447
Good catch.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
I thought this form of cruising (as well as dept store, library and bus station restroom cruising) went the way of the dodo back in the 1990’s. You mean to tell me people still do that? Lord have mercy on them. See you girls in church on Sunday.
Heywood Jablowme
Commenters here are wondering why anyone would still “cruise” this way in 2019. The answer is they’re closeted. Many of them are married to women. Openly gay guys generally don’t do this stuff anymore, true.
Saps48
Where are the editors today? In this article, the fact is there have been 26 arrests this past year, not past week.
And in the Chace Crawford article, the headline and text repeatedly call him Chance, not Chace.
Crawford may be a sweet bird of youth, but he’s not Chance Wayne…
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Definitely smells of entrapment which is really sad in this day and age…
It’s weird recently I had to take a pee really bad and I pulled into a park and ride on the Long Island expressway got out of my car went into the woods and turned around and a pretty hot guy had followed me I hadn’t even thought about cruising there after not being there for a long time, actually had a pretty wild unexpected hookup! we got to talk and then he explained he was too paranoid to use this phone for hookups!
Someone mention tea rooms back in the day way back when the old timers told me that they used to go to tea rooms which were department store bathrooms and to prevent security from seeing two sets of feet in the stall one guy would actually stand in a shopping bag!!
Kangol2
Some young guys are now posting public sex videos on social media. Most of them appear to be working-class and poor, and the guys they’re having sex with appear to be closeted/DL (no faces are shown), sometimes married with kids, etc.
People have asked why don’t these men just go to a bathhouse. It’s a good option but it costs money ($20?)
What about a bar? That also costs money (try to hang out in a bar and not drink, especially if you’re a POC, young or both), and you have to be 21.
Both require an ID.
If you don’t have a lot of money & you want to have sex, have no ID or don’t want to show one, and also have no place to host someone for sex (like your own place, etc.), then public sex becomes a major option.
Also, for closeted/DL men, it’s still a major option.
Given all the issues the DC police have to handle, though, why are they wasting their time and taxpayers’ dollars on entrapping and harassing gay men. If they want to cut down on this, just give citations and be done with it.
CenterRight
Feeling horny or wanting to have sex is not a legitimate excuse to cruise in public parks, regardless their social-economic situation or personal circumstances. Just because some guys can’t control their sex urges, it doesn’t give them the right to do things that they are supposed to do behind the closed doors. If they still want to break the law, the police need to arrest them and put them in jail.
truthseeker
@Kangol2
If these people are so “poor” how can they afford a smartphone to record these public sex hookups and a data plan to post these encounters online?
If you don’t have $20, don’t have an ID, and MUST hook up with total strangers in a public park, you need to get your life in order ASAP and getting your rocks off in a park where people walk their dogs should be the least of your concerns
TheMarc
I’m a hard-core ideologue. I have no sympathy for closeted men cruising parks for sex. But…that being said, it appears that the D.C.P.D. is specifically targeting gay and bi-sexual men for their sting operation to a level that rises (perhaps) to entrapment. Not ok. And as far as costs, there are plenty of dating apps ( now that CL is gone) that are mostly free; and lord knows I see plenty of closeted (“must be discreet”) men on all of them.
truthseeker
@TheMarc
Well, they could try to get a male undercover cop to proposition a woman but you know how that would turn out…
The DCPD also targets women when they bust prostitution in undercover stings as well. So it’s not like cops only target gay men. This particular location obviously must’ve had complaints about men hooking up in public so the DCPD must serve the public and listen to the public’s complaints
TheMarc
@truthseeker, You have a point; but I can’t help but wonder if it makes sense to go through with a proposition operation versus a seek and arrest procedure. If you’re right and they’re getting complaints due to high activity; why not go in and arrest those caught in the act versus enticing someone into illegal activity? But, true enough, if they engage in said activity it is illegal either way. I think I would have to know more about these cases to provide an a more informed opinion on this, it just seems sketchy on the surface.
Rex Huskey
been there done that and had a great time…. ahhh
Aires the Ram
People on here have no memory of times not that long ago, when cruising was all there was for gay men. No bathhouses for 100’s of miles, no gay bars for 100’s of miles, no cell phones, no internet, this is how gay guys found other guys to have sex with. It wasn’t that long ago. Don’t forget that.
bunky78
As a gay man, I am tired of reading about gay men getting arrested for cruising. It’s giving us good gay guys a bad reputation. I think it’s disgusting when hot guys go cruising parks, woods, restrooms, etc. I Iove sex more than anything but you are not going to find me cruising. I’ve known too many friends who have had their lives ruined. Losing their jobs, etc. it’s just. It worth it. Plus it’s just gross.
bweesner
Not cool if they are doing entrapment. Period.
However, I grew up near this area in DC, and for as long as I can remember, this park was seedy at night, and depending on the decade, also dangerous at night. During the daytime, the litter, and yes, used condoms and stuff around make it not a place to go. It’s too gritty. I think people do walk their dogs there during the day these days? Maybe someone who currently lives in DC can speak to this better than I can.
My opinion – is that we do have too many options these days, than to cruise parks at night. Down-low or not, everyone has a smart phone, and there is Grindr. Go anonymous till you don’t have to, or whatever.
My sense is this neighborhood is becoming even more gentrified, and perhaps local residents are asking for clean-up in a number of ways. I would. The park is so pretty, and the image above does not do it justice, when you see the size of those fountains, and the long run (seems like a full city block), and the calming noise, etc.
And, I agree this is such old-school and sketchy type of action that give our community a bad name to this day.
I’m hoping they can clean it up, but that is longer term nighttime patrols, enforcing the drug transactions and everything else, so that community knows to stay away for good.