Cottaging

This term gets its name from English toilet blocks which resemble small cottages. The practice is believed to have sprung up before the gay liberation movement when people needed a relatively public place to meet others who were gay. People largely found each other through signaling, such as foot taps between cubicles. Sex in a public place is illegal in most jurisdictions, however. As a result, many highly trafficked cottages in Britain have been retrofitted with high cubicle walls to prevent communicaton between stalls.