Gay cruising in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Gay cruising describes the act of searching about a public place in pursuit of a partner for sex. The activity has existed since at least the 17th century and has a colourful legal history. It differs from prostitution
in that the parties involved do not seek money for sex, and from gay nightclubs or bathhouses
in that they are not on private premises, although they may take place on private land to which the public have been granted access.
is sparsely documented, as the illegality of gay sex meant that those who used such cruising grounds were likely to be discreet about them.
Rictor Norton
, author of Mother Clap's Molly House (a reference to Margaret Clap
), is one of the few historians to address the topic. He believes that the first gay cruising grounds and gay brothels
in London
may have sprung up in the early 17th century. Theatre
s were sometimes denounced as such by moralists of the time.
, whether conducted in public or private, was illegal under sodomy law
s, including the Buggery Act set down by Henry VIII
in 1533. The penalty for anal intercourse during most of this period was death, however, specific proof of successful anal penetration was required for this verdict to be brought; the lesser crime of "gross indecency" carried penalties including the pillory
(as in the case of the Vere Street Coterie
, who were arrested in a raid of a gay club in 1811), transportation, imprisonment, etc.
The death penalty for anal sex was lifted in 1861, however, gay men have continued to be at risk of prosecution for public sex. An 1855 law prohibited "gross indecency" including mutual masturbation and oral sex
. Eventually, in 1967, the Wolfenden Report
led to the legalisation of homosexual sex in private; no such legal privilege pertains to sex in public places either for homosexual or heterosexual sex.
A number of well known people have been arrested for sex in public places in England and Wales, including:
. These included St. James's Park
, Moorfields
, the public privies
at Lincoln's Inn
, and Smithfield
prior to the Gordon Riots
.
Hampstead Heath has a long history of gay cruising with a long history of police arrests, homophobic attacks and, from the late 1990s, minimal active policing and support by gay sexual health organizations. During an interview on BBC News24, George Michael, who was allegedly caught cruising on Hampstead Heath
by News of the World
photographers, claimed that his cruising was de facto
private because it occurred at 2am In 1992, MP Alan Amos
resigned his seat after he was found by the police "engaging in a homosexual act" on Hampstead Heath.
Clapham Common
is nationally known for gay cruising. The Labour Party MP Ron Davies
resigned after national newspapers reported that he was attacked and robbed by a man whom he met on the Common. A number of homophic attacks have occurred around the common, including the murder of Jody Dobrowski
. The gay themed film Clapham Junction
was set around the lives of gay men in the area and included scenes of cruising and cottaging.
, 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.
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
in that the parties involved do not seek money for sex, and from gay nightclubs or bathhouses
Gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steam baths, are commercial bathhouses for men to have sex with other men. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths" or "the tubs," and should not be confused with public bathing.Not all men who visit gay...
in that they are not on private premises, although they may take place on private land to which the public have been granted access.
History
The history of gay cruisingCruising for sex
Cruising for sex, or cruising is the act of walking or driving about a locality in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety...
is sparsely documented, as the illegality of gay sex meant that those who used such cruising grounds were likely to be discreet about them.
Rictor Norton
Rictor Norton
Dr. Rictor Norton is an American scholar of literary and cultural history, particularly gay history. He is based in London, England.- Biography :...
, author of Mother Clap's Molly House (a reference to Margaret Clap
Margaret Clap
Margaret Clap , better known as Mother Clap, ran a coffee house from 1724 to 1726 in Holborn, London. Notable for running a molly house, an inn or tavern primarily frequented by homosexual men, she was also heavily involved in the ensuing legal battles after her premise was raided and shut down...
), is one of the few historians to address the topic. He believes that the first gay cruising grounds and gay brothels
Molly house
A Molly house is an archaic 18th century English term for a tavern or private room where homosexual and cross-dressing men could meet each other and possible sexual partners. Molly houses were one precursor to some types of gay bars....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
may have sprung up in the early 17th century. Theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
s were sometimes denounced as such by moralists of the time.
Legal history
Before the 20th century, anal sexAnal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
, whether conducted in public or private, was illegal under sodomy law
Sodomy law
A sodomy law is a law that defines certain sexual acts as crimes. The precise sexual acts meant by the term sodomy are rarely spelled out in the law, but are typically understood by courts to include any sexual act deemed unnatural. It also has a range of similar euphemisms...
s, including the Buggery Act set down by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in 1533. The penalty for anal intercourse during most of this period was death, however, specific proof of successful anal penetration was required for this verdict to be brought; the lesser crime of "gross indecency" carried penalties including the pillory
Pillory
The pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal...
(as in the case of the Vere Street Coterie
Vere Street Coterie
The Vere Street Coterie were a group of men arrested at a molly house in Vere Street, London in 1810 for sodomy and attempted sodomy. Eight men were eventually convicted. Two of them were hanged and six were pilloried for this offence...
, who were arrested in a raid of a gay club in 1811), transportation, imprisonment, etc.
The death penalty for anal sex was lifted in 1861, however, gay men have continued to be at risk of prosecution for public sex. An 1855 law prohibited "gross indecency" including mutual masturbation and oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
. Eventually, in 1967, the Wolfenden Report
Wolfenden report
The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution was published in Britain on 4 September 1957 after a succession of well-known men, including Lord Montagu, Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood, were convicted of homosexual offences.-The committee:The...
led to the legalisation of homosexual sex in private; no such legal privilege pertains to sex in public places either for homosexual or heterosexual sex.
A number of well known people have been arrested for sex in public places in England and Wales, including:
- Simeon SolomonSimeon SolomonSimeon Solomon was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter-Biography:...
, who was arrested in a London toilet in 1873 with a 60-year-old stableman. He was later also arrested in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for a similar offence. - Wilfrid BrambellWilfrid BrambellHenry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish film and television actor best known for his role in the British television series Steptoe and Son. He also performed alongside The Beatles in their film A Hard Day's Night, playing Paul McCartney's fictional grandfather.- Early life :Brambell was born in Dublin...
was arrested in a toilet in Shepherd's BushShepherd's Bush-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
on November 6, 1962. - Tom Driberg charged with indecent assault after two men shared his bed in the 1940s and used his position as a journalist several times to get off later charges when caught soliciting in public toilets by the police.
- Peter DudleyPeter DudleyPeter Dudley was an English character actor best known for his role as Bert Tilsley in television's Coronation Street; a role he played continuously from 1979 until 1983.His period in the programme was however dogged by controversy...
, arrested in 1981 in a toilet in DidsburyDidsburyDidsbury is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre, in the southern half of the Greater Manchester Urban Area...
. - Sir John GielgudJohn GielgudSir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
, arrested for "importuning" in 1953 in ChelseaChelsea, LondonChelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
. - William J. FieldWilliam J. FieldWilliam James Field was a British politician who found his career ruined by a conviction for "importuning for immoral purposes" in the 1950s. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Paddington North from 1946 to 1953....
(Member of Parliament) arrested for persistently importuning in a public toilet in 1953. Field appealed against the conviction twice but failed on both occasions. - Joe MeekJoe MeekRobert George "Joe" Meek was a pioneering English record producer and songwriter....
, arrested in a toilet in IslingtonIslingtonIslington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
in 1963. - Michael TurnbullMichael TurnbullAnthony Michael Arnold Turnbull was the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England from 1994 until 2003.Turnbull was born in Wombwell, South Yorkshire. He was a student at Keble College, Oxford, graduating in 1958. He prepared for ordained ministry at Cranmer Hall and St John's College, University...
was arrested in Hull for cottagingCottagingCottaging is a British gay slang term referring to anonymous sex between men in a public lavatory , or cruising for sexual partners with the intention of having sex elsewhere...
in a public toilet in 1968, before he became Bishop of Durham. - Peter WyngardePeter WyngardePeter Paul Wyngarde is an Anglo-French actor best known for playing the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two British television series in the late 1960s and early 1970s: Department S and Jason King .-Biography:He was born Cyril Goldbert in Marseilles, France, the...
, arrested (under his real name, Cyril Louis Goldbert) in Gloucester bus station public toilets in September 1975 for gross indecency with Richard Jack Whalley. He was fined £75. - Stedman PearsonStedman PearsonStedman Pearson is an English singer and dancer, most notable for being a member of the pop group Five Star with his four siblings.-Career:...
, arrested in a toilet in New MaldenNew MaldenNew Malden is a town and shopping centre in the south-western London suburbs, mostly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and partly in the London Borough of Merton, and is situated from Charing Cross...
in 1990. - Leigh BoweryLeigh BoweryLeigh Bowery was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, actor, pop star, model and fashion designer, based in London. Bowery is considered one of the more influential figures in the 1980s and 1990s London and New York art and fashion circles influencing a generation of artists and...
, arrested for gross indecency at Liverpool Street StationLiverpool Street stationLiverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
in 1985.
Areas with a history of gay cruising
lists a number of cruising grounds during the Georgian eraGeorgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
. These included St. James's Park
St. James's Park
St. James's Park is a 23 hectare park in the City of Westminster, central London - the oldest of the Royal Parks of London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St. James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less.- Geographical location :St. James's...
, Moorfields
Moorfields
In London, the Moorfields were one of the last pieces of open land in the City of London, near the Moorgate. The fields were divided into three areas, the Moorfields proper, just north of Bethlem Hospital, and inside the City boundaries, and Middle and Upper Moorfields to the north.After the Great...
, the public privies
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, and Smithfield
Smithfield, London
Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
prior to the Gordon Riots
Gordon Riots
The Gordon Riots of 1780 were an anti-Catholic protest against the Papists Act 1778.The Popery Act 1698 had imposed a number of penalties and disabilities on Roman Catholics in England; the 1778 act eliminated some of these. An initial peaceful protest led on to widespread rioting and looting and...
.
Hampstead Heath has a long history of gay cruising with a long history of police arrests, homophobic attacks and, from the late 1990s, minimal active policing and support by gay sexual health organizations. During an interview on BBC News24, George Michael, who was allegedly caught cruising on Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath is a large, ancient London park, covering . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London clay...
by News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
photographers, claimed that his cruising was de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
private because it occurred at 2am In 1992, MP Alan Amos
Alan Amos
Alan Thomas Amos is a British Labour politician, and former Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Hexham in Northumberland between 1987 and 1992.-Early life:...
resigned his seat after he was found by the police "engaging in a homosexual act" on Hampstead Heath.
Clapham Common
Clapham Common
Clapham Common is an 89 hectare triangular area of grassland situated in south London, England. It was historically common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, but was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878.43 hectares of the common are within the...
is nationally known for gay cruising. The Labour Party MP Ron Davies
Ron Davies
Ronald Davies is a Welsh politician, former Secretary of State for Wales, former Member of Parliament and former member of the Welsh Assembly...
resigned after national newspapers reported that he was attacked and robbed by a man whom he met on the Common. A number of homophic attacks have occurred around the common, including the murder of Jody Dobrowski
Jody Dobrowski
Jody Dobrowski was a 24-year-old assistant bar manager who was murdered on Clapham Common in south London. On 14 October, at around midnight, he was beaten to death with punches and kicks by two men who believed him to be gay. Tests carried out at St...
. The gay themed film Clapham Junction
Clapham Junction (film)
Clapham Junction is a 2007 British television film, written by Kevin Elyot. Directed by Adrian Shergold, the film centers on the experiences of several gay men during a 36 hour period in the Clapham area of London and the consequences when their lives collide...
was set around the lives of gay men in the area and included scenes of cruising and cottaging.
Current situation
The Sexual Offences Act 2003Sexual Offences Act 2003
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that was passed in 2003 and became law on 1 May 2004.It replaced older sexual offences laws with more specific and explicit wording...
, 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.