A s-old ban on gay bathho was about to be lifted. Then, a panmic. – The Hill

Contents:

• A S-OLD BAN ON GAY BATHHO WAS ABOUT TO BE LIFTED. THEN, A PANMIC.
• THE HISTORY OF AMERI'S GAY BATHHO AND “BATHHOE BETTY”
• REOPENG SAN FRANCIS'S GAY BATHHO
• CAN WE MAKE GAY BATHHO COOL AGA?

A S-OLD BAN ON GAY BATHHO WAS ABOUT TO BE LIFTED. THEN, A PANMIC.

Bathho were once a major gatherg place for gay men San Francis and other ci.

More than three s ago, the HIV/AIDS panmic closed gay bathho San Francis after the cy and unty clared them a “public nuisance” over alleged unsafe sex practic.

“The rtrictns went to place 1984 as gay men were dyg and the public health muny was sperate to fd ways to slow the spread of the epimic.

THE HISTORY OF AMERI'S GAY BATHHO AND “BATHHOE BETTY”

While the ronavis panmic soon shut down most of the cy, Tuday’s cisn will allow gay bathho to beg returng to the cy — although perhaps not for a ltle while longer, after Gov. WHAT IS THE LEGACY OF PETE BUTTIGIEG’S HISTORIC RUN AS AMERICA’S FIRST GAY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE? GAY CONVERSION THERAPY OFFICIALLY BANNED IN VIRGINIA.

Amerin gay bathho reached their peak the 1970s. As homosexualy was far more taboo those days, the bathho also provid a discrete settg. Many closeted gay men relied on bathho and cisg areas to get their kicks.

But what purpose do gay bathho serve today?

REOPENG SAN FRANCIS'S GAY BATHHO

And why do Europe have a much better gay bathhoe scene than Ameri? In the early 1970s, at the height of Ameri’s gay bathhoe scene, Bette Midler and Barry Manilow took to the stage at the Contental Baths. Barry Manilow would go on to bee a huge star, but he wouldn’t e out as gay until 2017.

Their reers were born New York’s gay bathho. ” It was the dawn of the gay liberatn movement and gay Amerins were emergg om the shadows. Bette Midler’s performanc of "You’ve Got To Have Friends" at the Contental Baths reprents a semal moment gay culture.

It was a high mp celebratn; very gay, very New Yawwk and more than a ltle subversive. The peak of the gay bathhoe scene. But by the mid-20th-century, Ameri’s bathho were largely equented by gay men.

CAN WE MAKE GAY BATHHO COOL AGA?

Inevably, the bathho uld be risky plac to look for actn when homosexualy was still crimalized. By the 1970s, wh the sexual revolutn and the aftermath of the Stonewall Uprisg, gay bathho were actn-packed - so to speak! When Bette Midler was still performg at the bathho, they were packed wh gay men.

As HIV/AIDS ripped through Ameri’s var gay scen, the bathho beme targets.

In Europe, the gay bathho didn’t face the same legal challeng so they remaed open, although a dimished ndn.