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WHY D.C.’S GAY BATHHOE CREW CLUB ENDUR THE AGE OF GRDR
On a recent Tuday night, when locker and room pric were half off, the gay men’s health spa teemed wh butts and bears—the hairy, human kd. Sce 1995, the Crew Club has provid gay men a sanctuary to work out, relax, and nverse, formg new relatnships face-to-face. “‘What happens at the Crew Club stays at the Crew Club’ is a , ” says William, who has also vised gay bathho Florida, California, Seattle, Philalphia, New Orleans, and Chigo.
“If you went there enough, you’ll fd someone: someone on cy uncil or ernment, a ngrsman, a state reprentative, a nice Republin who hat gay people on TV but is suckg ck the Crew Club, ” William says, clg to offer nam. Condoms are available throughout the buildg, and Whman-Walker Health—the nearby clic that built s brand assistg gay men, many of whom lived wh HIV/AIDS or were at the hight risk of ntractg the vis and other sexually-transmted fectns—has a regular table the lounge area, where staff n nnect patrons wh HIV and STI ttg.
Yet om s earlit days, the Crew Club has had to bat stigma, both om wh and outsi of the gay muny. A few weeks after opened, The Washgton Post ran a ont-page article unr the headle “Gay Social Club D.
I’M A GAY MEDIL STUNT WH A MEDIL FETISH
“Gay people still pass judgment if you go there, ” William not.
Dpe this, bathho emerged as havens for gay men to be themselv, shield om the discrimatn and opprsn of heterosexual society. The name is at once a pun on gay “cisg” and “crew cuts, ” Allen not, and evok a D.