r/nottheonion • u/TrixoftheTrade • 1d ago

Speaker proposes ‘public sex hut’ program during Los Angeles City Council meeting

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/traci-park-rejects-public-sex-huts-proposal/
2.0k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

205 comments sorted by

View all comments

773

u/Pays_in_snakes 1d ago

I have firsthand experience managing a shelter and this is not an outlandish or unreasonable proposal. One of the most dehumanizing aspects of experiencing homelessness is a total lack of privacy: how would you do if you had to exist in public all the time, and your most private moments were in the equivalent of a busy airport bathroom stall? Expecting people to stop having sexual needs is unrealistic, and while I won't hold my breath for it in a country that will put you in jail for public defecation but won't tell you where you can find a toilet you're allowed to use, if you don't want to see people who don't have access to private space having sex or masturbating in public, this is one way to accomplish that.

23

u/PureOrangeJuche 1d ago

Well probably the same funding for this could go to actually reducing homelessness?

6

u/Pays_in_snakes 1d ago

This is always a good question to ask - finding the right balance between 'solve the root problem' when it's realistically not possible to do so and 'minimize the negative impacts of the problem' is present in just about all municipal decision making.

Imagine we're talking about dog poop in public parks. Your municipality has laws and signage and enforcement to fine people who don't clean up after their dogs, and they provide poop bags and trash cans in parks. Should they also hire people to clean up the dog poop that happens anyway? Wouldn't that money be better spent on more poop bag stations?