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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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Don’t worry, I’m not asking about “spots near me”. This is a post about the police, possible harassment, and possible police homophobia, and possible hypocritical attitudes.
Don’t let the “homophobia” bit imply that this post is just for gay and bi men - quite the opposite - I want to hear the opinions of all tropes of the sexual spectrum.
So, seeing as the lockdowns have started to be relaxed, there has been an increase in outdoor sexual activity. Straight people call it “Dogging”, us gays call it “Cruising”. I don’t partake very often, but sometimes I need a bit of light relief, and a bit of an anonymous fumble does the job.
There are a cluster of lay-bys and car parks with (very) secluded wooded and forest areas adjacent, not too far away from my house, that are well known, and used, spots for this type of activity. On the most part, the gays stick to one area, and the straights stick to another area. On driving home from Clitheroe, last week, I genuinely needed to make a phone call but my phone wasn’t connected to the hands-free, so I pulled in to connect it all up... coincidentally (genuinely coincidentally) I was driving past said lay-bys, and so I pulled in. No sooner had I pulled the handbrake on, I had a torch shined through my window by a couple of cops in their car. They signalled for me to wind the window down, and they asked me what I was doing. I told them, and they asked why I needed to pull into that specific lay-by to do that. I got a bit testy at this point because I knew exactly what they were implying, so I pointed out that I needed to connect up the CarPlay for the hands-free, and then I aggressively asked if they preferred that I did that whilst driving. Then they started to say that there are a lot of single men in their cars there, and that they were “up to no good”. I asked exactly what they we’re implying, and they said that they would leave that to me to work out for myself, and if I am genuinely making a phone call, then they will leave me to it, and then they drove off. This kind of questioning happens more often than I care to count... not just to me, but to a lot of guys, in many different spots throughout the region.
Following this, I have seen in some of the gay cruising forums that, this week, the police have actually been getting out of their cars and going into the very well secluded, very dark, and very hidden woods next to said lay-bys with their torches on, actively trying to catch guys in the act.
The law regarding sex in public, from what I understand, is this... unless it is witnessed, or if there is no risk of more than two people seeing, it isn’t illegal. Sitting in your car at said spots ISN’T illegal. So, why are the police knocking on car windows and asking people what they are doing there? It’s obvious that, whilst someone is sitting alone in their car, they aren’t engaging in criminal activity. So, surely pestering them to wind their window down and demanding justification as to why someone (who pays their road tax) is parked in a public lay-by is just harassment!
Additionally, if sex outside is only illegal if someone sees it, why are the police actively looking for it? I know that this is a grey area but to be actively pursuing something to make it illegal is surely a form of entrapment, right?
My opinion is that, sure, police should be able to patrol areas to make sure that nothing illegal is taking place. But, in this case, just a simple drive by is enough. If there isn’t anybody in the middle of the road with a cock in their mouth, they should just drive off again. They shouldn’t be harassing and knocking on car windows, questioning people who are (from what all they know) just sat in their cars.
So, I’d like to know from straight people who go dogging. Do your spots have regular police presence? Do police actively look for activity happening? Do police pester you if you are sat in your car, doing nothing?
It seems like gay spots like this are routinely targeted and aggressively managed in an attempt to scare guys away. It is incredibly intimidating to get questioned by the police in this manner, and I can’t help but think that there is a level of homophobia and hypocrisy going on when there are spots where straight people are doing exactly the same thing, but don’t seem to get the same level of hassle and aggression.
Sorry for the long post. But I think that we can have a genuinely good and respectful discussion about this.
No gay bashing, or lifestyle bashing, please. |
