But it was impossible to mistake what was happening on the park bench ahead of him: One man was on his knees, and the other one had his pants down.
Rajner, a 45-year-old Wilton Manors resident who chairs the Broward County Human Rights Board and is known for his activism on behalf of the LGBT community, was appalled. “I’m a gay man, and I’m not opposed to people, you know, expressing themselves,” he said. “It’s just that it’s a public park, and it’s right out there, right in your face.”
Since then, he’s been going to city commission meetings to demand that something
For the Wilton Manors Police Department, this has been a challenge for years. Back in 2006, officers began conducting undercover stings as part of Operation Get a
Currently, the department says it has three “action plans” for cracking down on illegal activity in the park, though Operations Commander Gary Blocker declines to divulge them. “Our agency does not view this as an LGBT issue,” he said. “We view this as a right-versus-wrong issue.”
So far this year, he added, police officers have made seven arrests at Colohatchee and issued 42 trespass warnings to individuals believed to be at the park “with ill intent.”
“If residents look at that information, it should show them that our agency is dedicated to improving the quality of life at the park,” he said.
Patrick Cann, the director of Wilton Manors’ Leisure Services Department, believes the solution is to get more people into the park — people who aren’t there for random, anonymous sex, that is. “We’re hoping to get more attendance and more participation from other interest groups,” he explained. After holding a focus group for residents earlier this month, the department came up with a master plan to add boat access, a fitness trail, and an expanded dog park.
Another solution is proposed by a Facebook commenter who says Colohatchee should simply become an “adult”
Of course, no one really wants to go on the record as a defender of sex in public parks.
From Michael
Still, even in the age of Grindr, it doesn’t look like Colohatchee Park’s reputation will be changing anytime soon. In the meantime,