Sex in public is now legal in Guadalajara, Mexico

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (KRON) – Authorities in the city of Guadalajara have approved a law that allows sexual relations in public, unless someone files a public complaint. 

This means the police will no longer have the authority to sanction public sex acts as long as there isn’t a complaint from a third party, according to Mexican newspaper El Universal. 

“Having sexual relations or committing acts of exhibitionism of a sexual nature in public places, vacant lots, inside vehicles or in private locations in public view will be considered administrative offenses, as long as a citizen requests police intervention,” according to the modification to article 14 of the Bylaws of Good Government. 

The measure was drafted by council member Guadalupe Morfin Otero, who says it’s being done to prevent police from extorting “people ‘giving each other’ in a consensual manner, especially young people.”

The law also hopes to allow police to focus on fighting crime rather than people who perhaps may not be able to afford a hotel.

Otero cites a survey conducted among college students of whom 90 percent say they had experienced extortion by police who threatened to take them in for committing “immoral acts of exhibitionism.”

Some citizens are citing this as a moral issue in a city that is considered one of the most conservative in Mexico.

The measure was opposed by the National Action and Institutional Revolutionary parties.