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People go on dates at the park. Romantic picnics in the park. Have private conversations in the park. This was actually a private conversation between two men about doing something which is not against the law since Supreme Court of the United States knocked it down, and the Attorney General for the State of Louisiana declared the law unenforceable.
If I recall correctly, the park was having a problem with gay men soliciting other men for sex. That's what sparked the police to start undercover sting operations.
If people were complaining to officials or police then it's understandable the police would begin acting.
Here, let me appeal to your bias, if appeal to reason is not enough. Imagine this was Catholic Church grounds and many families with children had been complaining to Catholic heirachy officials about priests soliciting grown men for sex, but those officials refused to take action from their complaints.
You would not be sympathetic to the gay men would you? No. You'd also rail against the officials.
But back to the park. I have empathy for these gay or bi men ensnared by the police (law enforcement carries out this kind of entrapment all the time, by the way, but no against gay men, but in gun buys and drug buys and so on). They seemed to have been cautious and were soliciting sex from the undercover officers. But I'm also aware that once spots become so-called "hot" you can expect sooner or later the cops are going to try and clean up the area, and probably with less than totally legal methods.
Then you should read the entire article before responding. The agreement wasn't to have sex within the park. They agreed to go back to a hotel room/apartment for the sex which wasn't exchanged for money.
Which is what I already noted. And you quoted my statement were I acknowledged they were invited to go back to an apartment.
None of that negates parks being used as spots for gay men to pick up men to have sex with other men.
East Baton Rouge Sheriff Gautreaux announced that he was stopping the police activity immediately.
It was the local newspaper that broke the story this weekend. There was an uproar. The sheriff admitted the police were wrong to make these arrests. He claimed his men were on the look out for public indecency, but nabbed innocent people by mistake.
Meeting men at a park is legal and according to the article they were not going to engage in sexual acts within the park, something that is illegal whether gay or straight.
Too many gay men had been using the park to pick up men for sex.
If the park had not become a spot for gay men to pick up other gay men it would never had fallen on police "radar" and these other guys would not have gotten caught up in police stings.
From the article:
Quote:
Manchac Park has long been known as a popular rendezvous for gay men “cruising” for anonymous sex. In 2005, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Fred Raiford declared that “people can’t walk down the trails (of the Blackwater Conservation Area) because there is too many people in there soliciting sex.”
If female prostitutes hung out at this park and the park became a spot for heterosexual men to cruise for female tail you can bet the police would be carrying out undercover sting operations. They want to frighten those elements away.
Heterosexual males have been targeted by cops for eons. So have males that try and pick up shemales.
Too many gay men had been using the park to pick up men for sex.
If the park had not become a spot for gay men to pick up other gay men it would never had fallen on police "radar" and these other guys would not have gotten caught up in police stings.
From the article:
If female prostitutes hung out at this park and the park became a spot for heterosexual men to cruise for female tail you can bet the police would be carrying out undercover sting operations. They want to frighten those elements away.
Heterosexual males have been targeted by cops for eons. So have males that try and pick up shemales.
To pick up someone at a park is not illegal. It is also legal to meet someone in a park and agree to go to an apartment/hotel room for sex. There was no reports of exchanging money for sex nor offers to have sex within the park property.
Too many gay men had been using the park to pick up men for sex.
So? I hear men and women might flirt in parks as well, does this call for police action?
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And you quoted my statement were I acknowledged they were invited to go back to an apartment.
