A Sunday shag in the park

The best thing about public sex -- besides the sex -- is that there's a good chance you might get caught doing things (and/or people) you aren't supposed to be doing a mere 8 or 56 feet from clueless, law abiding, non-sex-having citizens. It's not just the friction and the moaning that makes hooking up hot (though of course they're good too) -- sometimes it's the risk and the danger. But would public sex be as titillating if you weren't half-terrified the cops were going to show up at any second and find you romping in the bushes or fellating in the Wendy's bathroom? We may soon find out.

A new signage system in a public park in Slotervaart, The Netherlands (just south-west of Amsterdam), now lists areas where gay sex is known to take place so that visitors don't unintentionally wander into the area without knowing what they might see (or feel). "If you don't want to be confronted by a vision of that sort, the signs allow you to avoid specific areas," municipal spokeswoman Manon Koffijberg said.

While having sex in public was against the law, the park has been used for this purpose for so long that it has become "gedoog," a Dutch word for tolerating unwanted behavior, Koffijberg explained.

Most of the sexual activity happens in the park's bushes and Koffijberg said that the signs are intended to help keep it there. "There are various groups of users of the park; people with small children who bathe on the beaches, those who walk their dogs, gays cruising and nature lovers," Ms Koffijberg said. "Things are arranged so that each group can relax in their own area without intruding on each other."

Now all they need is a concession cart that can roll up next to the ice cream man and sell Magnums, lube, and baby wipes.

-- NOAH MICHELSON

Previously > NYC's Sheep's Meadow: The New Gay Mecca