Letter to the Editor

Hey ya'll, here's a letter to the editor I responded to in the SF Weekly. My response is below.
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Shedding Light on Public Sex
Less scoring, more goals: I'd like to respond to Alastair Bland's "Balls in the Wild" [Sucka Free City, 1/6]. I live about a block from the southwest corner of Golden Gate Park. I'm excited by the project, because our sons love soccer, and soon they'll have a world-class place to play in their own neighborhood. But I'm also excited because the improvements to a long-neglected corner of the park will invite increased positive use by families, athletic teams, and fans, which will in turn, I hope, discourage negative use.
Our neighborhood's best-known secret is that the woods from the Murphy Windmill, extending north around the soccer fields and up to the Park Chalet and east up to roughly abreast of the Boat Park Playground, has for decades been an area where folks cruise for anonymous al fresco sex. This is a 24/7 proposition: Even on recent cold nights, a dozen or so cars are always parked along MLK, and shadowy figures furtively move in and out of the woods. On a warm night, there can be as many as 30 cars along those stretches. This sketchy clientele draws prostitutes, hustlers, pickpockets, and muggers into our community as well.
Bottom line: The southwest corner of the park is an unpleasant, occasionally dangerous area that most folks down here tend to avoid at any time of the day or night. While certain critics of the project may object to more lighting from the field and increased traffic from soccer fans, many of us feel a little more positive activity would be a welcome improvement.
John Zwolinski
San Francisco

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I would like to repond to John Zwonlinski reponse to "Balls in the Wild" , (Sucka Free City, 1/6)
First, I would like to say it's gay men who frequent the windmills. There's no need to tippy toe around which specific group cruises for sex in and around the bushes near the windmills.

And whoever wants to put up lights to detour these unwelcomed visitors, well then good for them. But will this solve the problem of gay men finding another outdoor area to romp around looking for sexual indescretions, no.

The underlying theme to this issue is equality. The next time you see the issue for gay marriage on the ballot, I suggest you tell all of your friends and family to support this measure to the fullest because this will in turn end the need for cruising for sex in public places by gay men.

For centuries gay men and there admirer's have had to search out dark alley's, backrooms, parks, truckstops, stairwells, House of Congress, and various other places to escape the social tyrannies that plague our society.

So as long as gays and lebians have to suffer social inequality, you're just passing the problem on to someone else.

And yes, lesbians do have places they cruise for sex too, it's called Open Mic Poetry Night.
xoxo
Comedian Charlie Ballard