Discussion of the Sheepfold Cruising Area on Real Medford Mass Politics because of Gay Pride Week

 reconsider a picnic at the SHEEPFOLD, and the police did HOMO PROFILING and were absolutely WRONG!

Jim writes: Sorry, the Sheepfold is what I meant. I have a funny story from years back when I took my mountain bike in there and was on this nice gravel path biking along and unexpectedly encountered a man completely naked except for his sandals and nice water bottle. I thought to myself that technically, if you could stuff all of your goods into the water bottle, you might be able to argue you way out of indecent exposure if confonted by the cops.

JV writes:

 the cops are well aware of this. Station Manager of the old TV3, the troublemaker, claimed to be a born again Christian; His born again Christian friend he named "Pizza Boy" he told me would lay on the rocks naked at the Sheepfold. "Officer, I was just getting a tan. Honest. I haven't seen any chubby chasers....so...."   to answer your first question: I'm sure they didn't get the message about gay pride, the Sheepfold cruising is usually for crazed sex addicts and married men who want to remain anonymous; it's a bizarre part of the gay underworld. And it is extremely dangerous on many levels. Read John Rechy's City of Night about that sub culture. Jim Morrison based the Doors song L.A. Woman on it (repeating the line City of Night, City of Night.) The scary Al Pacino / Paul Sorvino film "Cruising" captures it...and displays the dangers

JIM WRITES

 This is an Al Pacino film I haven't seen yet. Added to the watchlist! I can't tell the difference between an open-air drug market or gay men cruising. To the outside they look the same: Cars idling in a parking lot and no-one moving, people lurking in shadows just slightly off in the distance, people watching you from a distance and not moving. Generally, if I'm in that situation I GTFO because who knows truly what is going on. Hopefully it's just horney men - and not a drug deal dispute about to go down or a Mafia hit about to be pulled off, but never stick around to find out. I'm amazed we have not hear of a homeless encampment in the Sheepfold - yet - I suppose that is inevitable.

JV WRITES 

Jim:

BACK around 1999 my filmmaker friend Ron (my ex boyfriend's ex boyfriend...guess we had each other by proxy!!!)  and I were in the parking lot where the familes are having picnics. We were discussing...films. The police came over and told us to leave. Yes, two homosexual men in a vehicle, neither of them cruising. We didn't have to....our charming personalities work better with people in real life and in clubs, not in the bushes. How demeaning! And talk about PROFILING. IN America, you can't talk in your car because married men and promiscuous sex addicts are hiding in the bushes.

I warn you not to slow down the R rated scene ...we had a perv roommate who, ahem, slowed it down and...wooops....it becomes X rated... frontal that got by the censors

 

Just noticed the perv roommate passed away a couple of years ago.  He was a master of cruising...so no wonder he knew about the Pacino frontal nudity scene if you go frame by frame with a VHS or DVD