Gay Cruising in England and Wales - Current Situation

Current Situation

The Sexual Offences Act 2003, which prohibits "sexual activity in a public lavatory", has nothing to say about sex in other public places. However anyone who engages in homosexual or heterosexual intercourse in public can find themselves charged with offences under the Public Order Act, if the police have sufficient evidence to convince a court of law that the activity was witnessed by a third party, or there was a high likelihood of the activity being witnessed by a third party.

Presently, there is an active population of men who visit cruising grounds, which include parks, picnic areas and lay-bys where sex takes place in the bushes or other sheltered areas. These areas exist in all parts of Britain, including isolated rural areas. The attitude of the police to cruising at any given location varies, according to the time of the day or night, and the level of public concern measured by the number of complaints from local residents and councillors. Occasionally, CSO's will visit a cruising area during the early hours of the morning with the intention of advising cruisers of the risk of homophobic attacks, and any persons seen to be involved in sexual behaviour will be asked to move on rather than being arrested. A number of police forces actively participate in on-line discussions with cruisers in order to gather information on hate crimes and to discourage cruisers from using locations about which complaints have been received.

Many cruisers complain about the practice of leaving evidence of sexual encounters, such as discarded lubricant and condom packets, soiled toilet tissue and used condoms, because it draws the attention of other people to the fact that the area is a public sex environment, even if no sexual activity has been seen by others. The presence of such debris leads to complaints to the police and local council on moral or environmental grounds, and an increased police presence.