{"id":76625,"date":"2024-12-05T10:35:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T08:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/?post_type=magazin&p=76625"},"modified":"2026-10-09T11:56:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T09:56:38","slug":"cruising-into-the-bushes","status":"publish","type":"magazin","link":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/en\/magazine\/traces\/cruising-into-the-bushes\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruising: into the bushes"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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\n\tTraces<\/a><\/div>\r\n

\r\n Into the bushes <\/h2>\r\n\r\n
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From city parks to cemetery toilets: how public places became refuges for gay men \u2013 and why cruising still exists today.
\nBy Markus Heft<\/a> (photos), Tim Kirchhof<\/a> (text)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n

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\u2018It is not the homosexual who is perverse, but the situation in which he lives.\u2019<\/strong> With this provocative line, film-maker Rosa von Praunheim marked a turning point for the gay and lesbian movement in Germany in the 1970s. His call \u2018Out of the toilets, into the streets!\u2019 urged the community to rebel against social constraints<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mats, 62, from Frankfurt, remembers his first steps into this hidden world. As a teenager, his sister encouraged him to visit a \u2018Klappe\u2019 \u2013 a public toilet used as a cruising spot. \u2018For me it was like paradise opening up: lots of men who were up for sex with men,\u2019 he says. This discovery led him deeper into Frankfurt\u2019s cruising scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruising \u2013 looking for anonymous sexual encounters in public places \u2013 was for many gay men a response to social and legal repression. Until the late 1960s, sexual acts between men were a criminal offence in both West and East Germany. Public places such as parks and toilets became refuges where men could live out their desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You just walk through nature and see the people.<\/strong> If you find someone attractive, you try eye contact, and if that works, it\u2019s off into the bushes.<\/p>\n <\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n

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\u2018Back then, Section 175 of the Criminal Code was still in force, which made sexual acts between men a crime,\u2019 Mats recalls. \u2018I was lucky, but I was always careful too. I always felt that ban, though.\u2019 The constant threat of prosecution was ever-present, but the longing for closeness was stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State surveillance became obvious in 1980 when activists in Hamburg smashed the mirrors in public toilets and discovered police observation booths hidden behind them. The revelation exposed the systematic spying on homosexuals and sparked protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View through a glory hole<\/strong> of a toilet bowl in a \u2018Klappe\u2019 in Hannover. The hole is lined with gaffer tape to protect against sharp edges.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n \n <\/figure>\n \n \n\n

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A peephole<\/strong> for watching other cruisers.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n \n <\/figure>\n \n \n\n

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A public toilet<\/strong> in Hannover known as a \u2018Klappe\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n \n <\/figure>\n \n \n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n

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