Dutch Government Won't Bow to Complaints Against Hook-Up Ads

After numerous complaints of indecency, a Dutch standards board has ruled that ads from gay hookup site Squirt. org are not inappropriate.

The large signs and posters feature shirtless men and appear on trains in Amsterdam and other large Dutch cities. Some locals demanded the Advertising Standards Board remove the ads, calling the images "sickening and shocking."

"It is highly inappropriate that such a website is being promoted in the public space," one person wrote, according to PinkNews. "Young children should not be faced with terminology such as 'squirt' and 'cruising' in conjuction with the picture [of half-naked men]."

The board disagreed with that contention, pointing out the men were not posed in a sexual manner or even suggesting sexual acts.

Similar advertisements from Squirt were removed from Toronto trains in the fall, with officials claiming they encouraged public sex. In this country, Squirt billboards in Dallas met with similar opposition.