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According to a report in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Amsterdam officials have decided that, within certain guidelines, gay liaisons within Vondelpark (also known as "Voldelpark") were not a "nuisance" to other users, and current prohibitions were costly to enforce; thus, those engaging in sexual liaisons within the park would no longer face legal sanctions.

"Why should we try to impose something that is actually impossible to impose, which also causes little bother for others and for a certain group actually means much pleasure?" Paul van Grieken, an alderman in the Oud-Zuid district of the city, told the The Telegraph (London). According to the paper, the new park rules have the blessing of the Dutch police, who have urged all Dutch parks to follow Amsterdam's lead.

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Van Grieken stresses that the new tolerance has comes with rules: "Condoms must always be cleared away, [sex] must never take place in the neighborhood of children's playgrounds, and the sex must be restricted to the evening and night-time."

Predictably, the new policy has raised the ire of religious conservatives in the U.S. "Clearly, what is happening in the Netherlands is a preview of what will happen here," said Traditional Values Coalition executive director Andrea Lafferty. "Gay activists could care less about the 98 percent of the population who will be defiled by such behaviors in public places. They obsess about sex and want to engage in sodomy whenever and wherever they wish."