A British LGBT group and its allies will gather in London for a celebration of life and sex in honor of George Michael, in the same park where Michael used to cruise for sex.

PARTY TO BE HELD IN GEORGE MICHAEL’S HONOR

The so-called “Sexual Freedom Party” will take place April 8 in Hampstead Heath, and participants want to celebrate Michael’s life as well as his openness and positivity about sex.

“George created space for the rest of us to have the courage to harness our communities rich history of creativity and defiance to continue the journey towards true liberation,” said organizer Dan Glass. “In the spirit of this we didn’t want George’s legacy to be co-opted by the very homophobic institutions that caused him such misery. We wanted to create a space for the very things that made George happy amongst all the misery inflicted upon him – so a party for sexual freedom with the London LGBTQI+ community in the space he loved so much – Hampstead Heath – it was to be!”

The party will be thrown by Queer Tours of London, a group that offers walkthroughs of the most important and historical spots in the city as they relate to the LGBTQ community. The group chose Hampstead Heath because it was one of Michael’s favorite cruising spots, and chose April 8 because it marks the 50-year anniversary of the partial homosexuality decriminalization in the country.

“I don’t know anybody who actually goes to Hampstead Heath at two o’clock in the morning for anything other than the reason of playing about with another member of the human race,” Michael once said to the BBC. “If they are there, then they are a little bit strange of they just don’t know the local area.”

Glass continued by explaining the power that comes with “cruising” the park and other public places to look for sexual partners. “The significance of cruising is huge. In a society where homophobic hate crime is on the rise whilst simultaneously heterosexual communities have actively promoted infrastructure for community building and sexual relationships everywhere ― the LGBTQI+ community have had to be subversive, intelligent and feral in our fundamental human need of desire and connection – and Hampstead Heath is one of our cultural heartlands,” Glass said.

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