Cruising for Sex

My opinions: I will not attempt settle the debate in the comments section of my post "Cruise Control."

However, increasing crackdowns and media attention to the subject of public sex brings up some important considerations. My comments are based on sex occuring in public places, not bathhouses or backrooms.

Comment A: As far as the legal ramifications of public sex, how often would it occur if the laws were repealed? Many guys do it for the thrills; risking capture is part of the fun. I doubt it would occur more often with legalization. Sting operations and undercover police officers are a waste of my money. Why not take some of the cops off the vice beat and park them in front of my house. Perhaps then they would have thwarted one of the 3 separate incidences to my fucking car this spring. I mean honestly, I think speeding is more of a crime than a few naked men offending the sensibilities of some suburban housewife as she walks her precious dog Rufus. (She probably forgets to clean up the crap too, which is a bigger crime in my mind!)

Comment B: Society at large would do well to loosen the taboo against sex and sexuality. The stigmatization of homosexuality certainly has some impact on incidence of public sex. Closeted men undoubtedly make up a hefty chunk of cruisers as these men escape a stifling heterosexual reality and fulfill their carnal desires in the secrecy of bushes and bathrooms. The same taboo against sex and sexuality in public intices thrill-seeking men who are not closeted in a fashion similar to Comment A. Sometimes it feels so good to be bad. However, when media and local law enforcement perpetuate the taboo on sex, the actually reinforce the thrill.

Comment C: Why did we close the bathhouses? Primarily because of HIV and the public health panic that ensued in the late 1980s and 1990s. We've learned a lot since then, and while gay men still account for a disproportionate number of new HIV cases, the trends show rates that continue to go down as education about the disease increases. (There may well be occasional spikes in new cases, but the overall trend of the epidemic for men who have sex with men has decreased markedly, despite many, many men living longer lives). Bathhouses provide private spaces for (public) sex. Cruising is confined and easily accessable. Men don't go to jail for cruising at a bathhouse. Additionally, bathhouses provide a controlled setting where violence and drug use is minimized, and barriers to protect oneself from HIV and other STDs can be offered in abundance as well as on-site screening and education. Bathhouses would move much of public sex to a private realm.

Comment D: Men who engage in public sex need to be aware of some things as they cruise. 1. Stay out of public view! You're gonna get caught if you do. And when you get caught by the wrong soccer mom (See Comment B), it's gonna be on the news. And the major networks really don't care about your best interests or the gay community's best interests. They care that sex, fear, and gay sells. And they are selling it right back to those soccer moms and dads who (unlike yourself) are frightened of strange penises. And once all the soccer moms and dads hear that there are strange penises out there, there gonna get your favorite cruising grounds raided and closed down. It happened here, and here, and here in just the past year. 2. For fuck's sake, take care of your body. People having anonymous sex need to get screened for STDs so they don't pass them on to others. It's a courtesy that needs to be more common.

That's all I have to say about public sex. I've never had it, but I've seen it enough times to know it happens a lot. In a perfect world, these ideas might fall on important ears....but I'm just a queer with a website.