Right on, Alex!
A sociologist friend of mine once compared gay cruising to hunting: "the outdoors, the thrill of the chase, the element of danger- all primordial masculine pursuits." I don't know if that's necessarily the case, but it certainly strengthens the argument in favor of facing the reality of the situation and doing constructive things to protect whatever it is they're afraid is being damaged.
But that won't happen easily. Sex is still a shameful act (even straight sex!) for many Americans- and public policy hates to address that reality, although it's pretty good at addressing the morality of the majority....

I can't agree. I want equal treatment. Frankly I don't have sex in parks. It is a public park and I don't see this as any sort of unfairness since hetero couples are not allowed to have sex in the park either.
It is simple cruise a bar that is open to cruising and then get a room.
If you are hanging out in a public park to get laid then don't complain when the same law against it is applied to you that would be applied to everyone else.
I just do not see it as a matter of hatred or homophobia since there is an outcry when a park is being used by hetero sex people for this purpose.
I have kids and no I don't think that my kids would be messed up for life if they stumbled on this scene, but I do think that they should be able to visit a public place without stumbling onto this scene. They don't go a peek into the bedrooms of two guys so why would it be ok for those two guys to decide to go get it on in the park?
If you are breaking a law that is equally applied to everyone and which is not an unjust law I don't care if you are straight, gay or bi you should be stopped.

The most sane approach of all to open-air public sex or hooking up -- cruising happens everywhere, and it's quite separable from negotiating and consummating sex -- is not creating designated public sex venues, but eliminating the stigma against same-sex attraction that drives men to seek connection and pleasure in high-risk settings. It's a cultural and generational solution requiring a sea change in appreciation of sexual diversity, not a simple exercise in zoning. Confine cruising and public sex to well-defined areas, and one gives perpetrators of extortion and violence a neat perimeter on which to function. Make it possible for men to connect with other men in a generic space, e.g. not labelled Queer or sexually transgressive, for the sole purpose of realizing desire, and one is beginning to resolve safety.
Experiencing sexual attraction and the euphoria of orgasm are strong, undeniable motivators for humans; and people over the centuries have risked wealth, privilege, friendships, and familial bonds in search of them. Layer on cultural disdain for one's desired activities, and chaos and danger are certain to ensue--this from one who has shared publicly many reminiscences of homosex in dark alleys, backrooms, and other clandestine spaces over the last thirty-plus years. Until society at-large provides more safety for open expressions of same-sex attraction anywhere and relents in its sex negativity, high-risk cruising will continue and corralling it into a proscribed zone won't make it any safer.

Straight public sex does happen, a lot, but it doesn't get policed and harassed nearly as much - barely as much - as queer sex. When you talk to cops, they'll tell you that the numbers are disproportionate in terms of arrests of gay men because, supposedly, those are the perpetrators. What they don't tell you is that cops are trained to entrap gay men only in these spaces. Debbie did some interesting journalistic work sometime in the 90s, focusing on a park in Texas (as I recall), and the disproportionality of arrests was clear even then.

It's also critical to keep in mind that the definition of cruising changes according to the perceived gender identities of the people involved. There's a reason why you won't see as many male couples kissing in public on Foster Beach here in Chicago (I can't speak for the famed Hollywood beach); they will, most definitely, get picked up for "cruising" or "public indecency." The phobia against "cruising" is also a phobia about gay/queer sex.

On the other hand, straight couples - of all ages - can do pretty much what they want in public without facing too many consequences. Even then, perceptions about class might play a role in how they're monitored - if you're a woman who looks like you don't "belong" in the area, you'll probably get questioned to see if you're soliciting.

As for breaking of laws - laws don't always determine what society *should* be like in an ideal world, and they do often determine what *some* people deem right or correct or moral or necessary, and they always have vested interests at heart. Until recently - very, very recently - sodomy was illegal in the U.S. Just something to remember when we frame this conversation in terms of "legal" versus "illegal."

I'm with Alex on this one. We haven't even *tried* to come up with a sensible approach to the issue in this country, and it's time we did.

Straight public sex does happen, a lot, but it doesn't get policed and harassed nearly as much - barely as much - as queer sex.

Yasmin, you took the words right out of my mouth!

When was the last time you heard of a police sting organized to catch straight people cruising? Jeeze, the vast majority of the time even johns paying prostitutes for sex--clearly against the law--go free.

Think of all the straight sex that happens among teens in parked cars. Among adults in back alleys near clubs and bars. In hot tubs, swimming pools, the beach at night. Hiking trails. Nude beaches at all times of the day and night. And yes, in public restrooms, although that's a bit trickier due to gender-segregation.

The bias against gay male sex is so obvious in the enforcement of public sex laws it amazes me that anyone tries to argue that "Straight persons are also charged when they are caught having sex in public," as Pete (here) and many others (elsewhere) do.

I've been perceived in the world as a straight woman, a dyke, a straight man, and a queer man, and I can unequivocally say that two men being physically or sexually affectionate with each other in public pushes people's buttons more than any other combination, which is directly reflected in the enforcement of laws.

What I really don't understand is why so many progressives and LGBT folks continue to support the enforcement of public sex laws against gay men. I agree that egregious examples of public sex should be policed--a straight couple in Ireland had sex on a crowded LUAS car during rush hour when I was living in Dublin. In my book, that amounts to involving the other passengers in a nonconsensual sex act, so yes, charge them with the equivalent of a misdemeanor. Likewise, the many men I encountered as a woman who on hiking trails, near nude beaches, and once in a Laundromat whipped it out and started wanking off in front of me—again, it’s the nonconsensual aspect that offends me. That, and the threat of rape.

Btw, that Irish straight couple on the LUAS was not arrested until long after the fact, I think because the story hit the news and the public outcry was so huge, the Gardai felt they had to do something.

Blue laws, or anti-sex laws, are an expression of the abrahamic cults pathological fear and loathing of human sexuality, and in particular non-breeder sex. All those laws should be abolished and replaced by a massive campaign to encourage safe sex and the creation of safe hook up areas.

Straight people have as much public sex as we do and anyone who thinks that’s not true is delusional. The difference is that they aren't arrested, beaten, ostracized and blackmailed very often for being sexual in public or private.

As for the cults they should be actively suppressed. They should lose their tax exempt status. Their schools should be closed and priests, pastors, imams and rabbis should never be allowed near children with out supervision and never permitted to frighten them with sociopathic tales of evil and punishment.

Of course that will never happen as long as people vote for bigots like Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin.

As for LGBT folks who agree with the suppression of gay public sexuality, that’s just wrong and at odds with our struggle for liberation and equality.

I waited to see what others would comment on this.

(1) If you are saying men need more places to meet for sex, then you are wrong if you are in a big city (usually, but see 1.a below) but right if you live in a rural area. Large cities have sex clubs and bathhouses, and yes, they charge money, and yes, you will have to deal with the fact that wanting sex with another man makes you "gay" "queer" or a "faggot". Most of us had to wage the psychological good fight through that stigma, and I have little sympathy for "straight" men who claim they aren't gay (or even homosexual) even though they want sex with other men. (OK, maybe you're bi --- some men really are bi --- but you're still out craving and looking for gay sex.)

(1.a) My guess is the largest area in the US without bathhouses is the upper South. To my knowledge, there is no such place between Indianapolis and Atlanta, or between Atlanta and Texas, unless you go south to New Orleans. Louisville zilch, Nashville nada, Memphis nope, Little Rock nothing, and Alabama and Mississippi are a gay sexual wasteland. As is West Virginia.

(And the folks in Louisville wonder why they are the Internet porn capital of the US. Why? Because there is virtually no sex industry other than female prostitutes in Louisville.)

(2) If you are saying that you want to live in a society where gay sex is equally accommodated as is straight sex, then I'm all with you. I hope you are really young, because I have lost hope that I will live long enough to see such a day, even if I move to Amsterdam or SF (both of which I've considered). But expecting the public to accept the idea that outdoor public sex is a proper use for a public park is just asking too much --- are we talking about Earth or some other planet?

(3) If you want outdoor gay sex specifically, then plan a vacation to Palm Springs or Key West or a similar gay mini-mecca. We even have such gay lodges/campgrounds here in southern Indiana, of all places, and there's a famous one in northern Tennessee that draws its clientele from the vast wasteland described in (1.a) above.