My New Project: Share Your Cruising Tales

In my novella, The Stop, I told a story that took place primarily in a cruising location of the 1990s. The location was based on a real cruising spot near my home. The story was set in my town, and while I wrapped the story in a fictional revenge tale, there was a lot of truth on those pages.

I talked about being queer in a small town, seeking sex partners/connections, the things men sometimes wanted when they were at the cruising spot, and ultimately, the seemingly incredible distance between us that we were able to close, if only for a few minutes of physical activity in the woods.

It was, without a doubt, a different world back then. No apps available. Personal ads were mostly reserved for newspapers and if you wanted queer listings, you had to look an hour and a half away. Eventually, Yahoo came along and started up their personals section, but even that was a crap shoot. I’ve talked to younger gay men over the years and they all say how dangerous it sounds to just walk into the woods to get laid.

They’re not wrong. Probably a lot more people got hurt than even I’d like to think, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was a firmly ingrained part of queer life, especially for those of us living in a small town.

Cruising spots could be anywhere.

Rest stops, parks, hiking trails, public restrooms including the third floor bathroom of your local university library. They came with their own language. Their own code of conduct. Their own rules. There wasn’t a map with locations pinned into it. You had to know someone who’d been there before who could tell you what to look for.

It was wonderful and terrible and slightly depressing all at the same time.

Which brings me to the reason why we’re here.

Cruising is a part of our shared history in this community, and I’d like to share those stories in book form. The process is a simple one. All you’d have to do is agree to an interview during which I’ll ask you some questions about your own cruising experiences.

(Example: How old were you when you first went cruising? What were your first experiences like? Where was the cruising spot? Were you ever arrested, injured, etc.?)

The only criteria for taking part would be that you are a queer man who has taken part in the crusising scene at some point in the past and that cruising experience was in a small town or rural area (Let’s say towns of 15,000 people or fewer. Larger than that can be considered on a case by case basis.)

I am open to any timeframe really and would love to be able to possibly even break it up by decades to show how it evolved over the years.

Your anonymity will be assured if you wish it. We can use first names only, list you as Anonymous, or however you’d like.

Above all else, know that you will be respected in this process. I am very easy to talk to (or so I’ve been told) and have conducted numerous interviews over the years. You are in good hands, and you’ll be helping share a specific part of our history.

If you’re interested in participating, please reach out to me at waylon.jordan1977@gmail.com with the subject line CRUISING so I’ll know to prioritize.