I picked this one up after @mmccnn’s appearance on @youaregoodpod’s Cruising (1980) episode. Twelve essays that talk about the history, legality, politics, and feelings of park cruising specifically, and public and private sex generally.
Centered around Toronto, ON, the book is in large part a response to the 2016 sting of Marie Curtis Park where police cited around 90 men for either sexual activity in a public park or for trespassing, and the response of the local gay, queer, and trans community to the police overreach.
The book is more than the usual fuck the police/ain’t-cruising-grand paint by numbers affair you might expect. @mmccnn explores the phenomenon thoroughly and grapples (in the bushes?) honestly with it’s contradictions and difficulties (consent, safety, etc.). It was also interesting to hear a cogent description of the legal fights over the years from someone who actually does this sort of work. Also a reminder of what a country with semi-functioning legal and civic system looks likes. (/sighs in American)
I’ve been doing some writing about my awkward attempts to enter the world of gay men in the early and mid-90s (turns out — not a boy and it was a boys club) and Park Cruising was a helpful countervailing reminder that cruising worked/works for some people.