!! OMG, Happy Pride! The SideNote pod guys did an episode on the science and history of Gay Cruising !!
Mitch and Greg of ASAPScience‘s SideNote podcast just dropped an episode on gay cruising, tracing the practice from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics through Renaissance-era crackdowns to modern hookup apps. There’s also a genuinely wild 1970s sociological study in there, which found that many men seeking anonymous public encounters were otherwise living outwardly straight suburban lives.
The science portion makes the case that while same-sex behavior is common across the animal kingdom, cruising is a uniquely human response to social oppression and shame. Interesting! Check them out above!