After international praise for the country’s handholding campaign in solidarity with the gay victims of a hate crime, the Netherlands is in the news again in a very different light. At least 10 municipalities across the country are actively trying to do away with gay cruising spots.
Fences are being put up and trees cut down in public parks to curb cruising. It turns out this has been years in the making.
As Volkskrant outlines, sex outdoors isn’t illegal in the Netherlands, but “violating decency” is. For example, you can have sex in parks, so long as you’re not caught doing so.
To ensure these individuals are caught, community members are said to have asked authorities to remove trees, bushes and shrubs from local parks so they have nothing to hide behind.
The plan is also to install fences and implement fines on public nudity.
Although these groups say they are looking to put an end to all acts of public sex, LGBT groups in the country are arguing the move is about targeting gay men who use these spaces.
“These places are a controversial issue for many local authorities because they are explicitly about sex between men,” said Juul van Hoof, spokesperson for LGBT policy and knowledge center Movisie. “They ask themselves if this is something they should be facilitating.”
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