Uncloakg Dire: Experiencg the Gay Sna – IndieWire

Contents:

• GAY BATHHOE - ETIQUETTE
• GAY SNA EXPERIENC
• UNCLOAKG DIRE: EXPERIENCG THE GAY SNA
• GAY SNA & CISE CLUB GUI
• INTY, CONNECTEDNS, AND SEXUAL HEALTH THE GAY SNA

GAY BATHHOE - ETIQUETTE

A remnant of a time when most hom didn’t have door plumbg, taken over by gay men livg roomg ho to which they uldn’t take their illic affairs.

This stutn has proven remarkably rilient – police raids, AIDS, mastreamg of gay culture, and datg apps have still not managed to lead to their mise. ) But if you are one of the gay/bi men out there, like many of , who don't get that same sh om Grdr that you do om furtive eye glanc the sna -- which turn to so much more -- then this article is for you: the 5 do's and 5 don'ts of gay cisg.

The other day, I performed one of the self-experiments while aimlsly roamg the streets of London: searchg for a new experiential plate to tt the lims of my ‘self, ’ I impulsively walked to a gay sna. For those not the know, a gay sna is as an unrground plex of showers, snas, steam rooms and sex booths where gay men go to relax and have totally anonymo sex of all sorts.

GAY SNA EXPERIENC

IntroductnGay snas (also referred to as gay bathho and steamho) are a mercial space which gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men (MSM)Footnote 1 n meet for sexual enunters. There are rerds of gay men g snas for sex the fifteenth century but was the send half of the twentieth century that gay snas beme more wispread London, New York, and other major ci (Bébé, 1996) sexual health of sna ers has been a signifint foc of both rearchers and mentators (e. Yet, gay snas have now bee an important ntext for raisg awarens of safer sex and of enhancg HIV preventn has been limed rearch to the inti, experienc, and perceptns of gay sna ers (e.

Moreover, there has been no rearch to gay snas specifilly small- and medium-sized ci the UK, which oms signifint populatns of gay men at risk of HIV and other STIs.

UNCLOAKG DIRE: EXPERIENCG THE GAY SNA

In orr to addrs this lacuna rearch, this article foc on the meangs and experienc that gay men livg the English cy of Leicter attribute to the gay sna, the role of the sna their sense of inty, and how they nste their sexual behavr this Health Among Gay MenOf the 89, 400 people livg wh HIV the England 2016, 51% were gay men (PHE, 2018a), and, of the 4370 new HIV diagnos 2017, 53% (n = 2330) were among gay men (Nash et al., 2018). This epimlogil profile among gay men n be attributed to the high equency of sex, multiple sexual partners, and high prevalence of ndomls sex this populatn (Jaspal, 2019) Risk and Preventn the Gay SnaIn their survey study of 134 gay sna ers South Wt England, Horwood et al.

GAY SNA & CISE CLUB GUI

(2016) found high rat of HIV risk behavr – participants reported higher numbers of sual sexual partners and higher equency of unprotected anal sex than muny sampl of gay men reced non-sna settgs. Moreover, gay men who engage unprotected anal terurse are turn more likely to e gay snas than those who do not (Bson, Pollack, Blair, & Woods, 2010).

INTY, CONNECTEDNS, AND SEXUAL HEALTH THE GAY SNA

(2005) noted that gay sna attendance was a signifint risk factor for hepatis A fectn, and that the vast majory of those fected had had sex a gay of the sexual health iativ gay snas clu the dissematn of sexual health knowledge, the provisn of STI screeng and HIV ttg, and awarens-raisg regardg PrEP and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). (2009) found that a stctural terventn to crease ndom e for anal sex among gay men was succsful producg this effect at the 6-month follow-up. In recent years, there has been an crease HIV ttg gay snas the US where approximately 75% of the snas provi this service (Pollack et al., 2014).