Squirt.org, launched by

Pink Triangle Press Pink Triangle Press is an independent, Canadian media organization specializing in LGBTQ2S+ journalism, television and online interactive media. Founded in 1971, Pink Triangle Press is one of the longest-publishing LGBTQ2S+ media groups in the wo ...

in 1999, is a Canadian website which describes itself as a place "where men meet other men for sex, cruising, hookups, dating, fun and friendship". The website, based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, is available worldwide. It includes user-generated listings of parks,

saunas A sauna (, ) is a room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a sauna is used to meas ...

public toilet A public toilet, restroom, bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils or pris ...

s and popular sexual locations for

men who have sex with men Men who have sex with men (MSM) are men who engage in sexual activity with other men, regardless of their sexual orientation or sexual identity. The term was created by epidemiologists in the 1990s, to better study and communicate the spre ...

(MSM). It was called "unique and ideal for cruising world-wide" by the 2006 ''

Spartacus International Gay Guide The ''Spartacus International Gay Guide'' is an international gay travel application and formerly an annually-published guide. It was founded by John D. Stamford in 1970 as a printed guide, before being bought by Bruno Gmünder in 1987 following ...

''.

Website

Squirt.org is primarily a

hookup Hook-up has several meanings: * Making a connection between components in a system ** An electrical connector ** A connection to water, sewer, or electrical utilities at a campsite * Meet up, or making a connection between people ** Slang term fo ...

website, and profiles are uncensored. The site has profiles for standard hookups, live-cam chat rooms, gay cruising spots, videos, and "cocktales" (erotic user-generated stories). Squirt.org, available free of charge, also has a pay tier with additional services. In smaller cities, the site may list public parks, truck stops, and mall bathrooms (known as locales) for gay encounters. Listings for larger cities may include gyms, malls, hotel washrooms, city parks, libraries, sex clubs, bathhouses and saunas, fetish and strip clubs, beaches, public washrooms, video arcades, theaters, cinemas, booths, and college and university campuses. The website's cruising listings include a location's general description and directions to it. There is a description of the type of people who go there, and when the location is generally active; cruising tips may also be included about the location. Some listings include a section for pet peeves and warnings to users about local police activity or security monitoring. Each location includes a comment section for sharing personal anecdotes. Gay rights campaigner

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party's Parliament of the United Kingdo ...

has noted that listings and postings on the website make people "easy targets" and "bring places to the attention of people who would be prepared to close them down". Increased sexual activities in public toilets (

cottaging Cottaging is a LGBT slang, gay slang term, originating from the United Kingdom, referring to anonymous sex between men in a public lavatory (a "cottage" or "tea-room"Andre "tearoom; t-room ''noun'' a Washroom, public toilet. From an era when a grea ...

) due to their listing on the website have caused facilities to close in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

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 ...

. Squirt.org launched its mobile site in 2009. Due to the changes in the gay online dating marketplace caused by

Grindr Grindr () is a location-based social networking and online dating application for gay, bisexual, queer, and transgender people. It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009, and has since become the large ...

, however, it released a new format in 2012, adopting the

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

location-based technology used by Grindr and Scruff. Squirt Mobile is available via

web browser A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...

, making it accessible by almost any

mobile device A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. ...

. It is not available in

app store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...

s due to guidelines related to nudity, which is permitted on Squirt Mobile. The app was first released in the UK and, later, worldwide.

Campaigns and controversy

The website has been controversial due to its alleged promotion of illegal activity, and municipal police in some jurisdictions have been known to have their vice units monitor similar websites. Due to its facilitation of seeking out others for unprotected sex ("

barebacking Bareback sex is physical sexual activity, especially sexual penetration, without the use of a condom. The topic primarily concerns anal sex between men without the use of a condom, and may be distinguished from unprotected sex because ''bareback ...

"), the website has been used in sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV/AIDS research and outreach, and research on "hookup" sites for MSM. The website has co-operated with HIV/AIDS outreach programs, which have provided sexual-health information to its users. The site's 2015 "Non-Stop Cruising" campaign sparked a backlash in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

after complaints were received about its billboard, which featured three ethnically diverse men embracing. In September 2015, the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

decided to remove advertisements for the website from its subway trains after riders complained that the ads promoted illegal sexual activity. Its advertisements were removed from

bus stops A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger inf ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

in 2016, following claims that they were inappropriate. In 2016, the Dutch Advertising Standards Board received a number of complaints about indecency in large signs and posters of shirtless men in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and other large cities. The board disagreed with the accusations, saying that the men were not posing in a sexual manner or suggestive of sexual acts. In 2017 in the United States, a 60-year-old man who met a 13-year-old boy on the website was arrested for sexual assault. The website opposed the

Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...

's view of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

in early 2017, using the slogan "Make America Gay Again" (a parody of "

Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" (MAGA, ) is an American political slogan most recently popularized by Donald Trump during his successful presidential campaigns in 2016 and in 2024. "MAGA" is also used to refer to Trump's ideology, political bas ...

", Trump's campaign slogan) on posters in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to coincide with the

inauguration of Donald Trump Inauguration of Donald Trump may refer to: * First inauguration of Donald Trump The United States presidential inauguration, inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Trump's first term ...

Website

Campaigns and controversy

See also

References

Further reading