Dutch police urge whole country to follow example

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

ANSTERDAM, March 13, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The government of Amsterdam has decided to decriminalize sexual activity in the Netherlands' most popular and famous park, the Vondelpark.

Frequented by families and tourists, the Vondelpark features ponds, children's playgrounds, an open air theater with free performances, and woodsy areas where authorities say that couples of any sexual combination will be free to copulate beginning in September of this year.

The park has reportedly become a favorite meeting place for homosexuals, who often engage in sexual activities there. Local law has long imposed a fine for those caught in such behavior, but under the new law such fines will no longer apply after dark.

In addition to restricting public sexual activity to nighttime, the law will also allow police to eject couples who make too much noise. Leaving behind condoms or other trash is also prohibited.

"Why prohibit something that hardly bothers other people and that, to the contrary, gives much pleasure to a particular group?" asked Paul van Grieken, an Amsterdam official, according to the Spanish publication El Periodico.

The Dutch police's National Diversity Expertise Center is advising the rest of the nation to follow Amsterdam's example and lift restrictions on public sex in all of the nation's public parks, according to De Telegraaf newspaper.

According to the Center, "cruising" gays in public parks should be tolerated in order to protect homosexuals from "queer bashers", although no explanation was given as to why the policy would afford such protection.

The Vondelpark is the Netherlands' most beloved park, visited by approximately 10 million people each year.

Ironically, the park is named after Joost van den Vondel, a Dutch poet whose conversion to Catholicism in 1641 inspired his most famous work, "Lucifer". The park contains a statue of the poet.

The Dutch homosexual organization "COC" voiced its approval for Amsterdam's change of policy.

"Cruising is something belonging to all time and banning it does not work anyway. They do it surreptitiously and mostly without others being annoyed by it. But homos at cruising spots are often attacked. By now agreeing rules of behaviour on this, safety can be increased," said COC Amsterdam chairman Dennis Boutkan, according to the Netherlands' government news agency, NIS.

The Netherlands has made a name for itself among European nations for its anti-life and anti-family policies. The Netherlands was the first country in Europe to legalize "homosexual marriage", and is now spending millions of dollars to promote homosexuality in schools. Dutch doctors freely euthanize the sick, elderly, and handicapped infants. Government subsidized abortion on demand is available until the 24th week of pregnancy

Heh, that was sure a loaded sentence.

Can't wait to see how this one progresses.

while I think the decriminalization is a great idea, wastes less money and keeps people who aren't bothering anyone out of prison........

I kind of wonder why outdoor "cruising" is so popular. I don't have any problem with it, it just dosen't make sense to me.... unless you're like 16 or 17 and have no other place.

seems like a pretty cool country all around. I bet that tourists are the ones that abuse the decriminalization of sex and drug laws the most and the country dosen't really have big problems with either.

This is keeping the governments nose out of places it dosen't belong... I have to applaud that.

Really? Who wrote this?

Hah, I knew something was amiss.

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There are Canadian pro-lifers?

I can just see the person who wrote this having to retype it a million times and it still came out like a total editorial.

Vondelpark? More like Fondlepark, amirite?

Thats probably closer to how its pronounced. Where Cono at?

Vhon-dul-paRRRk, if i'm not mistaken...

Having taken German for four years, Dutch makes no sense to me.

They live under the mistaken belief that 'j' is just another form of 'i', when clearly its closer to a 'y'.

*make laws that actually make sense for this millennium and not 3 millenniums ago

haha wow

This thread reminds me of the original Wicker Man.