Anyone believing that the much ballyhooed “Project Marie” will stop men from having sex in parks is in for a nude awakening.

Named after Etobicoke’s Marie Curtis Park, the six-week police operation that so far has seen more than 80 charges against dozens of men for “lewd” behaviour is aimed, according to police at 22 Division, at “taking back” a park where activities like nudity, car sex, and dropped drawers behind bushes allegedly took place.

Good luck with that. The reasoning behind “if we charge people, they’ll stop doing what we don’t like” negates the plain but powerful fact most adults know is true (though many are loath to admit): Men love sex.

Most men, anyway, and this holds especially true of men who enjoy sex with other men. They will, therefore, make sex happen — wherever and whenever they can.

But why in our precious parks? Men in relationships — with other men or women — who want to have sex with another man can’t risk being seen in a gay bar or bathhouse or hotel — will choose a quick boink in the park. Others simply enjoy sex outdoors, while some love the thrill of possibly getting caught.

Outdoor park sex is even a whole porn genre, especially in the world of amateur porn.

Men who have sex with men are organized, too. One hookup site, used around the world, includes a cruising section where local hot spots — including washrooms at hotels and in business buildings, porn theatres, bookstores — are listed. The site also gives visitors the best parks to have sex in; the neighbourhood in which the park is located; as well as GPS coordinates; a map; photos of exactly where to find other men waiting; the “type” of men who frequent the park (married, straight, couples, etc.); best times to go; plus a comments section in which men review their experience or even message that they are at the park and waiting.

On Sunday at 6 p.m., users of the site received a message that included the following regarding the Project Marie arrests: “We have received word from a lawyer who is offering his services, along with a team of nine other lawyers, to anyone who may have gotten in legal trouble as a result of the raids.”

If you dislike or are even disgusted by what happens in parks like Marie Curtis — call it intolerable, call it illegal — do not believe complaining or arresting people will change much of anything.

Rather, initiatives like Project Marie carry more potential for ruining lives than anything. These raids will serve mainly to shift park sex elsewhere.

Such police operations are usually a waste of taxpayers’ money.

As long as there are bushes and trees, and as long as there are men who want to have sex, nothing will stop park sex from happening.

Not even Marie.

— Shaun Proulx hosts The Shaun Proulx Show on SiriusXM Canada Talks channel 167. He is the publisher of TheGayGuideNetwork.com and leads a #ThoughtRevolution on ShaunProulx.com.