Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the term beat is used to refer to an area frequented by

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...

, where sexual acts occur. This use of the word parodies the beat walked by a police officer or a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

. Most commonly, public toilets, parks, and nightclubs are used as beats, though sometimes suburban car parks become beats after nightfall. Sex researchers have found that a considerable proportion of men who use "beats" are men who have sex with men (MSMs) rather than gay-identifying. This is possibly because, while gay men have a plethora of venues for meeting legitimately, MSMs – who are often closeted – may not wish to risk being observed in (or reported as attending) gay venues.

History

Although little is known about beats in the early colonial and Federation periods, it is known that specific areas in larger cities, such as

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

have recorded histories of use for this purpose through the 20th century to the present .

Social and sexual behaviour in beats

Presently, beats are known to be actively used by men who have sex with men (MSM). Due to the casual nature and anonymity of most of the encounters, beats have been identified as areas of high risk for the transmission of HIV,

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

and other sexually transmitted infections.

Law

Engaging in sexual activity in a public place is against the law in all states and territories in Australia. Police have been criticised for excessive patrolling of known beats, and the defence of

entrapment Entrapment is a practice in which a law enforcement agent or an agent of the state induces a person to commit a crime that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit.''Sloane'' (1990) 49 A Crim R 270. See also agent prov ...

is commonly used by those caught when charged. People using beats are also more likely to be subject to homophobic hate crimes and other general crimes than gay men who do not use beats, prompting some to welcome the police presence . In Sydney and Melbourne at least, gay beats have attracted some attention from some sections of the media. This has led to a police presence at those identified. There is currently a NSW Parliamentary inquiry into hate crimes (public submissions closed 7 November 2018).

References

External links

Queer Australia's list of beats by State

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070813162857/http://avp.acon.org.au/pickingup.htm#beats The Anti-Violence Project's Sydney Safety Information
Squirt's global listing of gay cruising areas

User-editable global directory of gay cruising hotspots

Community-maintained gay meeting places in Australia
{{LGBT slang Gay culture in Oceania Casual sex LGBTQ culture in Australia