Why D.C.'s Gay Bathhoe Crew Club Endur the Age of Grdr - Washgton Cy Paper

Contents:

• WHY D.C.’S GAY BATHHOE CREW CLUB ENDUR THE AGE OF GRDR
• ONE OF D.C.'S 2 GAY BATHHO CLOS
• THE CREW CLUBWASHGTON DC'S PREMIER GAY SNA & GYM.WASHGTON DCMENULUXURY HOTELSMID-RANGE HOTELSON TODAYBARSDANCE CLUBSSNASGAY MAPSHOPSTHE CREW CLUB
• WASHGTON GAY CISE CLUBS
• GAY USA
• MGA GAY SNA SA WASHGTON DC

WHY D.C.’S GAY BATHHOE CREW CLUB ENDUR THE AGE OF GRDR

The Crew Club, which has operated as a gym, sna and bathhoe for gay men the natn’s pal for 25 years, will close s doors for good at s Logan Circle area lotn on Febary 29, acrdg to s founr and -owner DC Allen.

GLORIOUS HEALTH CLUB AND DUNGEONGYM | STORE | GAY ART GALLERYNO MEMBERSHIP FEES REQUIREDA Bi-GAY SAFE HAVEN​OPEN 24/7Distributg Free Condoms and LubeCOMFORTABLE LARGE LOUNGES, DUNGEON EQUIPMENT, OUTDOOR PATIO FOR SUNBATHINGSHOWERS ON-SITEFREE LOCKERS need lockATM ON-SITEPHOTO ID REQUIRED TO ENTERwe no longer regnize phone id'swe will give you 2 weeks to get a photo id wh a rrect You are buzzed Mt EXPOSE Hoodie and mask to verify your picture on "photo id" rd*Say LAST name lookg at the mera above the si buzzer entrance door.

ONE OF D.C.'S 2 GAY BATHHO CLOS

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.

THE CREW CLUBWASHGTON DC'S PREMIER GAY SNA & GYM.WASHGTON DCMENULUXURY HOTELSMID-RANGE HOTELSON TODAYBARSDANCE CLUBSSNASGAY MAPSHOPSTHE CREW CLUB

“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. “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.

WASHGTON GAY CISE CLUBS

The name is at once a pun on gay “cisg” and “crew cuts, ” Allen not, and evok a D. This week, the 61-year-old owner flew up om his part-time home Wilton Manors, Florida—a longtime gay village—to oversee Pri preparatns.

Other gay bathho D.

He rells talkg wh an olr guy, “a plete stranger, ” who’d participated the Stonewall rts and had bee dismayed by the gay muny’s “stagnatn” polil activism. Last week, the District had two gay bathho.

GAY USA

" Probably no issue has ed more anguish and ntroversy homosexual muni around the untry durg the last four years than whether gay bathho should be closed as a health hazard. Gay lears have urged sexually active men to stay away om the baths. And the fear of ntractg AIDS -- acquired immune ficiency syndrome -- has been sufficient to put many gay bathho out of bs.

But gay activists, many of whom have spent years tryg to safeguard their civil liberti, bristle at any suggtn that the ernment should lock the baths. "First of all, would do no good, " said Gee Am, who for the last eight years has n the Club Baths Southeast Washgton near Capol Hill, the District's only remag gay bath.

" Am said the nature of the baths has changed pletely and they now now ter to the least promiscuo segment of the gay populatn, the "highly closeted men, the married men, the ary men, the men who nnot jt stroll to a bar and strike up a nversatn.

MGA GAY SNA SA WASHGTON DC

" He and others ntend that the baths are the only place that many men on the ge of the gay muny n go to get the latt rmatn about AIDS. Although many gay baths have been nverted to more tradnal health clubs, wh exercise equipment and swimmg pools replacg private booths and hot tubs, Am said he has no tentn of gog that road.

"The movement to close the baths jt ph gay sex back where was 25 years ago.

Last year, when the public health director San Francis cid to ban sexual activy homosexual bathho, sex clubs and the back rooms of bookstor, many the cy's large gay populatn reacted angrily bee, they said, the ban would drive the cy's baths out of bs.