Why some men, many of whom don't openly identify themselves as gay, cruise is complex. To say that cruising is only about sex would a be gross generalization, say those familiar with the practice. There are varied levels of cruising — some of which are more about meeting other men who can relate to the inner turmoil over one's sexuality. Sex isn't always the inevitable conclusion. In fact, some men who go to well-known cruising spots simply sit in their cars without speaking or engaging in sex with other men. The need for an emotional bond drives many of them.

"Really, what cruising is all about, yeah, the sex is there, but it's more to make a connection," John said. "Especially here in Utah. You can't go to priesthood meeting and talk about your personal problems, where you can meet somebody at the park and just talk about the frustration you're feeling. It's not necessarily the sex, it's being able to talk to someone else who knows where you're at."

Perhaps to a certain degree, men cruise public bathrooms for the same reasons teenagers used to spend their summer nights driving up and down State Street.

"I think what starts out with a social aspect of 'how do I get connected' becomes sexualized very quickly," Buie said.

Police and public health officials worry about cruising's effect on health and public safety. Police and prosecutors express concern over the possibility that a child playing at a park could walk into a public restroom and witness a sexual encounter between two men. During a recent operation at a Salt Lake park, vice officers arrested eight men in the space of three hours for engaging in lewd acts in a public restroom. Less than 100 yards from one of the restrooms, two groups of children were playing football and soccer.

Besides being illegal, having unprotected sex leaves cruisers susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases, a cause of great concern for Ferguson's Utah AIDS Foundation. The new focus on addressing the reasons for cruising has helped address that health concern, Ferguson said.

"We were going and saying you need to wear a condom," Ferguson said. "They didn't care about that. . . . Until we had conversations with guys that were cruising, we didn't understand that."

Sexually transmitted diseases aside, cruising can be risky in other ways.

"You play a cat-and-mouse game, and it's a dangerous game," John said, recalling the time he met a man who appeared to be making sexual advances toward him at a local gym. John approached the man and was assaulted.

"He put a half or full nelson on me. I passed out," John recalled. "He was standing over by the door ranting and raving homophobic rants and saying, 'If you ever do anything like that again, I'll break your (expletive) neck.' "

Desexualizing conduct