Solar Eclipse

Neptune is skeptical. "The police aren't doing it on their own," he said recently.

Naugle has said he became exercised about gays at the beach after reading of a report in the gay travel guide Damron that said Sebastian Beach was a good place to cruise for gay sex. That's why he supported the high-tech bathroom that was supposed to be impervious to coupling, he said, not because of any arrests for public indecency. But what Naugle and Damron share, along with the non-existent sting that netted Neptune, seems to be a big local blind spot.

There may always be a contingent that prefers sex in illicit places, just as some married politicians will go to high-priced whores. But Broward County actually has a superabundance of legal, private places such as dance clubs and bathhouses, in Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors, where the high concentration of gay men can pursue casual sex if they're so inclined.

That's why there aren't a lot of arrests for cruising in Broward, says Anthony Niedwiecki, a gay activist and Naugle critic who is running for mayor of Oakland Park. Gays in Broward, he said, "live in a city that's a welcoming, open environment."

At least, it is in many ways for gays. But photographers who follow the sunrise apparently are pushing their luck.