Wele to Sailors Gay Sna, which is East London's bt kept secret

Contents:

• GAY SNAS LONDON
• HISTORIC GAY SNA CHARTS SPA ANNOUNC PERMANENT CLOSURE PROMPTG OUTPOURG OF STICKY MEMORI
• GAY SNA EXPERIENC
• THE FUTURE OF BRA’S GAY SNAS
• LONDON GAY MAP
• INSI CHARTS, LONDON'S BIGGT GAY SNA

GAY SNAS LONDON

The legendary gay sna Charts Spa has gone to liquidatn, after sufferg fancially durg the ronavis panmic.

HISTORIC GAY SNA CHARTS SPA ANNOUNC PERMANENT CLOSURE PROMPTG OUTPOURG OF STICKY MEMORI

Charts Health Clubs opened s first gay sna Shoredch, London, 1996. Until now, the Vxhall branch of Charts Spa was the only survivg lotn, and brand self as Europe’s largt gay sna.

“I would like to take this opportuny to say thank you to all our ctomers and to the gay muny as a whole for supportg and makg the pany a succs for many years.

As some of you know, and mostly bee my endls postg about jobs, one of the most inic Gay Snas London I had the pleasure of workg wh sce September 2019 has unfortunately had to liquidate due to fance issu. — Stt (@GayNightStand) January 25, 2021. One former Charts Spa staff member wrote on Twter: “One of the most inic gay snas London I had the pleasure of workg wh sce September 2019 has unfortunately had to liquidate due to fance issu.

GAY SNA EXPERIENC

“Snas such as Charts had provid a safe space for gay men pre-COVID for untls years. Gay Sna Experienc | Hip Foms. I am thkg of gog along to a gay sna.

Have you had any gay sna experienc?

You may be a gay sna, but that do not mean that you have to say 'y' to each and every offer you receive. Is weird that I would love to be a fly on the wall a gay sna? No not really, means you like heat and watchg gays.

THE FUTURE OF BRA’S GAY SNAS

I'm not really to gay porn at all though.... Fabulo gay sna London wh lots of actn suated next to Waterloo statn;) Remember to play safe!!!

After 5am too many LGBT bs aimed at Gay men. Before ronavis h, Charts Vxhall claimed to be ​“Europe’s largt gay sna” for men wantg steam, queer mararie and a potential subterranean hook-up.

Charts Vxhall was the last survivg outpost of a gay sna cha which at s 2005 peak had six branch dotted across London. Losg Charts is a major blow for London’s queer male muny, but gay snas across the UK have weathered an credibly ttg 12 months. “Gay snas n of the possibily of sex, but whether people actually have sex when they get here is a pletely different thg, ” says Stephen Gunn of Mantire Spa Plymouth.

LONDON GAY MAP

In 2021, gay snas are faced wh the same toxic cktail of threats as any other LGBTQ venue. But when we talk about savg our val queer spac, gay snas tend to be exclud om the nversatn.

Nick Batt, owner of Pk Broadway Southampton, says a lol rad statn was terted hearg about his stggle to survive the panmic as a small bs owner until he said he ran a gay sna.

Even wh the LGBTQ muny, gay snas have a lgerg image problem. In 2016, gay magaze Attu published an op-ed tled: ​“Perhaps the time has e for gay snas to close – and that’s fe.

INSI CHARTS, LONDON'S BIGGT GAY SNA

Pl Town, manager of The Locker Room South London, says is rctive to pigeonhole all gay snas as ​“expensive knockg shops”. Clearly, gay snas exist so that men have n sex wh men a space that isn’t their home, a hotel or a cisg spot. Sce I started visg gay snas a ago, I’ve seen steam room i, group jack-off ssns the showers and men wag expectantly large leather slgs.

In my experience, gay snas are sexy, sex-posive spac where not everyone ends up havg sex.

“Nobody ever talks about the lonely olr gay man, ” says Pk Broadway’s Nick Batt. ​“Maybe their partner’s passed away and they want some pany, but they don’t feel like they belong the [gay] bars bee you’re visible those plac if you’re over 40.

” Batt also says his sna provis a safe space for gay and bi men who aren’t out. ​“I’d say up to 70 per cent of our ctomers don’t live what you’d ll a ​‘gay liftyle’, ” he says. ​“I’ve had ctomers e up to me and say: ​‘My mum died yterday and she never knew I was gay.

Gay snas like London’s Pleasuredrome, which pre-Covid opened 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, n also bee a refuge for vulnerable and homels young men. Dean, a 25-year-old queer man om London, says he ma his first viss to gay snas around seven years ago ​“out of sheer necsy”. Dean adms that gay snas were ​“ no way an idyllic sanctuary” and says he sometim felt sred sleepg such a sexualised environment.

Other young gay and bi men vis snas bee they offer relatively hassle-ee hook-ups.

Tom, a 23-year-old gay man om Edburgh, says that pre-Covid he popped to gay snas once every uple of months bee felt ​“slightly kky and different and excg”.