Lambda Legal Releases 'Little Black Book,' Resource Against Police Harassment And Other Dangers Gay Men Encounter When Cruising For Sex

(New York, February 3, 2004) - Lambda Legal launched a national campaign today to fight police harassment and other harms men face when cruising for sex. Lambda Legal’s latest publication, Little Black Book, tells men who have sex with men about their legal rights if they are harassed or arrested while cruising for sex in public.

“Men who have sex with men are frequently targeted by police for harassment,” said Michael Adams, Director of Education and Public Affairs at Lambda Legal. “There have been many cases where police have entrapped men or intimidated them into giving up their rights. The Little Black Book will be a great resource for anyone who finds themselves in the middle of a police sting.”

Lambda Legal’s Help Desk receives many calls from men looking for legal assistance after being arrested or harassed by the police. An earlier edition of the Little Black Book was one of the most popular pages at Lambda Legal’s website. According to Lambda Legal, many gay men taken into police custody do not know their basic civil rights and often, without their knowledge, allow them to be trampled upon by prosecutors or the police.

“Some people don’t realize that Lambda Legal’s U.S. Supreme Court victory struck down all of the nation’s remaining sodomy laws. We still see those laws used inappropriately by the police and local prosecutors. In Virginia, for example, we’re fighting attempts to prosecute a man for soliciting sodomy -- even though that state’s sodomy law died the day we won our Supreme Court case,” said Adams.

The Little Black Book will be available online and distributed to organizations that provide education and outreach services to men who have sex in public or semi-public places. LGBT community centers, HIV/AIDS organizations that do safer sex programming, community-based health organizations and gay and lesbian national hotlines are all receiving copies of the publication. Community groups that will post banner advertisements linking their website to the Little Black Book include HIV Stops with Me, Men who Have Sex with Men Information Line for Solano County, California, and San Diego Pozabilities.

High-traffic websites that specialize in cruising for sex including Badpuppy, Cruising For Sex and Kinky Personals will link to the Little Black Book by placing banner advertisements on their homepages. Yahoo Groups that will post a link to the Little Black Book on their homepages include Best Gay Sex Spots, Best Gay Sex Places, New York City PozQueers and Mano a Mano. # # #

Contact: Fred Shank, 212/809-8585 x 267