One of D.C.'s 2 Gay Bathho Clos - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• WHY D.C.’S GAY BATHHOE CREW CLUB ENDUR THE AGE OF GRDR
• ONE OF D.C.'S 2 GAY BATHHO CLOS
• WHAT I LEARNED OM TTG MEN FOR HIV AT GAY BATHHO
• GAY BATHHOE EROS TO OPEN S NEW TENRLO LOTN FOR PRI WEEKEND
• NEW YORK CY GAY SNAS AND BATHHO

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

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. 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.

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

“‘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. “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.

WHAT I LEARNED OM TTG MEN FOR HIV AT GAY BATHHO

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.

It’s billed as DC’s last gay bathhoe and ’s a good neighborhood, along the trendy 14th St. Not lookg for sex partners, I jt like the voyrism and weird mararie of naked gay men sharg Anonymoreply 37September 4, 2019 12:30 PM.

[quote]Not lookg for sex partners, I jt like the voyrism and weird mararie of naked gay men sharg You're a whore, darl' Anonymoreply 13January 8, 2019 5:15 PM. I haven't been to the Crew Club a but was much nicer than the olr DC bath hoe the seedy part of the cy ( the same plex that has the gay movie theatre and the glory hole floor) 's been kept up, the Crew Club would be a nice place to check Anonymoreply 18January 8, 2019 5:54 PM. Pursuant to the Rul of DataLounge, Sectn 4A, all gay men are eher tops or Anonymoreply 19January 8, 2019 5:56 PM.

GAY BATHHOE EROS TO OPEN S NEW TENRLO LOTN FOR PRI WEEKEND

"—but y, you're an elrgay"Well pass the ftan and the earrgs! The CC is close by several gay bars like Tra and Number Ne, so if you are tipsy and horned up after leavg the bar, 's a nice quick way to get laid.

To unrstand the eply felt antagonism around bathhoe closur, ’s helpful to unrstand the role the baths played the liv of gay men.

In the early 1980s, as AIDS began to cimate the gay muny of San Francis, a battle broke out over the role that gay bathho might play the spread of HIV. On the other si stood the gay bathhoe proprietors, San Francis AIDS Foundatn, the San Francis Human Rights Commissn, a handful of polis, the gay prs, and most — but certaly not all — of the gay muny.

NEW YORK CY GAY SNAS AND BATHHO

To unrstand the eply felt antagonism to closg the baths, ’s helpful to unrstand gay history and the role the baths played the liv of gay men the world over. But the post-Stonewall 1970s, gay life me kickg and screamg out of the closet.

Gay magaz proliferated; gay bs thrived; gay artists and micians began achievg mastream succs. Acrdgly, as gay men stopped nyg their sexual urg, the bathho thrived. No wonr then that when the Cy wanted to close the bathho, was seen by many as an anti-gay, anti-sex — an attempt to drive all back to the closet.

Gay civil liberti, of AIDS hysteria vs. A heterosexual judge wh no gay advisory mtee termed what was an acceptable venue for men who have sex wh men.