I've noticed a increasing number of reports of straight couples having public sex. A very recent example was a man and a woman who were carrying on on the roof of a Chipotle restaurant in Newark, DE. There's an interesting news story addressing the phenomenon, and here's an excerpt with insight from a therapist:

This is from Get a room: Why all the sex in public? on Delaware Online.

The article notes that the couple became notorious, their mug shots went online, and so on. However, in analysis of the widespread phenomenon it also explains "Some states will downgrade the charges to disorderly conduct, or simply give the participants a warning."

I suppose it depends on your location and your sexuality what happens if you are caught. If charged with a misdemeanor it may be serious or minor. There's good advice in the Lambda Legal "Little Black Book" linked from http://listings.cruisingforsex.com/heads_up/ the CFS "Heads Up" page. Google's copy linked on the page seems to be more reliable.

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The phenomenon has been here for a long time now. The novelty is that so many places are wired, and cameras are kinda everywhere, so the things get documented, and tend to go public or even viral. Think of the fact that everyone has got a cell phone that can take pix and vids at any time.

The other day, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning. I live an upscale residential area. I walked to my kitchen terrace, and looked down on the quiet, dead-end street below. (Only the residents, and possibly their guests come here.) There was this dude, banging a chick on the hood of a car. Cul-de-sac or not, this is a public road. Wee hours or not, everyone is free to drive-in or simply walk around. So, their reasonable expectation of privacy, well, was rather unreasonable.

Frankly, I could not have cared less. Hopefully, they were having a good time, and enjoying themselves. They were neither harming nor disturbing anyone. Knowing some of my neighbors here, very few of them would have done anything about it even if they were awake and saw what was going on.

KD

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