Sordid sex on website
Matt Doran
May 03, 2007 12:00am
AFL matches, scout halls, hospitals, supermarkets and cinemas are among venues across Melbourne listed on a gay website as hook-up points for sordid sexual encounters.
The Australian Family Association has called on police to stringently monitor the website, which promotes itself as a "neighbourhood cruising guide" and features more than 15,000 public locations in Australia where gay and bisexual men meet regularly for sex.
The Canadian-based website has been known to police for some time, but recent posts about hardcore sex acts in family-orientated venues have prompted fresh calls for it to be banned.
Men have posted messages about sexual liaisons in toilets during AFL football matches at the MCG and Telstra Dome.
Other disturbing meeting points include:
PUBLIC pools: members openly talk about having oral sex and intercourse at swimming pool toilet blocks and in saunas.
MAJOR shopping centres: toilets, cinemas and change rooms at Southland, Knox and Fountain Gate shopping centres are listed as hot spots for gay activity.
AIRPORT lounges: numerous posts list flight departure times and call for men to loiter near public toilets and lounges on the lookout for potential "targets".
A HOSPITAL: toilets at a major Melbourne hospital are listed as a rendezvous point for gay encounters. According to the listing the toilets are frequented by "visitors, nurses and doctors".
Other locations include public parks and gardens, lifesaving club toilets, public libraries and a scout hall.
The site also includes a guide titled "Help In Case You Are Arrested".
Police spokeswoman Cassandra Stone said: "We are aware that these types of places exist and we actively patrol them."
Australian Family Association state secretary Angela Conway said the public domain was not the place for sexual activity.
"This sort of hyper-sexualised culture is just not a good thing for families with young children to have to encounter," Ms Conway said.
"It is disgusting that the community's free use of these facilities is being compromised in this way."
