Fuck Tree
The Fuck Tree is a tree on West Heath on Hampstead Heath in north London. It is located in an established gay cruising area. It is noted for its slender trunk which facilitates gay sex.
History
[edit]The heath has been used for cruising since the 19th-century.[1] Bron Maher visited the tree in October 2023 for The Fence, a British satirical magazine.[2] He described the tree as having managed to "elude public consciousness" and described it as "poetically perfect for its role. The roots of the tree splay out like a hand clutching a bed sheet; the trunk is prone and abdomen-high, its belly flat to the Heath floor before making an abrupt 45-degree lift toward the canopy. This tree, I tell you, has a slutty little back arch".[2] The tree was described in Armistead Maupin's 2024 novel Mona of the Manor. The character Wilfred visits the tree while cruising for sex. Maupin writes that the Fuck Tree "stood in a clearing bordered by dark thickets on all sides. The trunk of the tree swooped so low to the ground that it became a chaise against which you could lean for wanking or bend over to be fucked".[3]
2025 protests
[edit]In 2025 posters protesting cruising were put up in West Heath.[1] The posters stated "Cruising for sex? Homosexuality is legal. Use a hook-up app like Grindr or Sniffies and get a room". An area highlighted by a red circle on the poster was labelled "This is not a cruising ground".[1] The posters were removed before being replaced.[4] The City of London Police said that they were "... aware of reports of signs being put up in the area, which were not authorised by us. Flyposting will be removed as part of our regular patrols and cleans of the heath."[4]
A counterprotest to the posters was subsequently held.[1][4] It was staged by the activist groups ACT UP London and This Is My Culture. This Is My Culture is named for a 2007 encounter the performer George Michael had with a photographer from the News of the World newspaper while Michael was walking on the Heath.[1] Michael asked the photographer if he was gay before saying "No? Then fuck off - this is my culture". One of the protestors held a sign that said "take me to the fuck tree".[1] The performance trash artivist and music alchemist Lola Pony said that the " ... poster creates division, and because of the current global political climate, can incite hate crimes. We are a vulnerable community. Our action is protection and emphasises care and human connection".[1]
In art
[edit]The 2017 art film Fuck Tree by performance artist Liz Rosenfeld was created as a portrait of the Fuck Tree and as a response to the 1989 film Sodom by Luther Price.[5] Rosenfeld subsequently soaked parts of the film in her own ejaculate to erode its image and buried it in the garden of the art gallery LUX.[5] Rosenfeld's film has been described as examining " ... queer dystopia, a positive embrace of apocalypse, invisible genocide, and queer life after queer death".[5]
The artist Trevor Yeung recreated the tree in soap at his 2023 exhibition Soft Ground at the Gasworks Gallery in Kennnington.[6] Yeung described the tree as a " ... a physical embodiment of desire, that most enigmatic of feelings" and a monument to "human interactions".[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g "Hampstead Heath at war over tree used in gay cruising". The Daily Telegraph. 9 March 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ a b "The Fuck Tree". The Fence. 12 October 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ Mona of the Manor. Random House. 2024-03-07. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-4735-7656-8.
- ^ a b c "Furious residents slam 'homophobic' posters as locals clash over 'f*** tree' in Hampstead Heath". LBC News. 10 March 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ a b c "FUCK TREE". Lux. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ a b Jhala, Kabir (7 December 2023). "Hampstead Heath's notorious gay cruising spot recreated for London exhibition". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 19 April 2025.