A Brief Polil—and Personal—History of Gay Bathho ‹ Lerary Hub

Contents:

• THE BT GAY CISG SPOTS LOS ANGEL
• GAY BATHHOE EROS TO OPEN S NEW TENRLO LOTN FOR PRI WEEKEND
• ANOTHER LA GAY BATHHOE GONE WH THE CLOSG OF FLEX
• FLEX, THE LA GAY BATHHOE, HAS RE-OPENED
• MIDTOWNE SPA LOS ANGEL IS UP FOR SALE MARKG POTENTIAL END TO HISTORIC GAY BATHHOE
• A BRIEF POLIL—AND PERSONAL—HISTORY OF GAY BATHHO
• WH THE WALLS OF GAY BATHHOE LI A WORLD OF THEIR OWN
• GAY BATHHOE MELROSE SPA CLOS QUIETLY AFTER 52 YEARS
• FLEX LALOS ANGELMENUHOTELS · LUXURYHOTELS · MID-RANGE + BUDGETBARSDANCE CLUBSSNASMASSAGECISE CLUBSON TODAYCY GUISERVICTOURSGAY WEDDGSGAY MAPFLEX LA
• NORTH HOLLYWOOD SPALOS ANGELMENUHOTELS · LUXURYHOTELS · MID-RANGE + BUDGETBARSDANCE CLUBSSNASMASSAGECISE CLUBSON TODAYCY GUISERVICTOURSGAY WEDDGSGAY MAPNORTH HOLLYWOOD SPA

THE BT GAY CISG SPOTS LOS ANGEL

" (Gay L. When the 30-year-old bathhoe and sna Eros left ’s old home on Market Street near the Castro December 2021, the cy's only remag gay sex club said they had a new home led up. A signed posted last night at the entrance to the parkg lot of the gay bathhoe, which is at 4424 Melrose Ave.

He attributed that part to a cultural change, which he said is havg an impact on gay bathho across the untry. “You don’t have to be the closet as a gay man, ” he said. Others have noted the populary of so-lled “hookup” apps like Grdr and Scff, which gay men e to meet other gay men on their mobile phon for sual sexual enunters.

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

Bathho or spas terg to gay men have existed the Uned Stat sce at least the 1920s.

In a more homophobic culture, they were one of the few plac where gay men uld meet one another. Advot for the closure said the bathho were plac gay men met to have unprotected sex wh strangers. Opponents said the bathho were the perfect venue for tg gay men about the nsequenc of unprotected sex and were an important gatherg place a cy where many were hostile to gay people.

Los Angel has at least five other gay bathho. Flex Spa, one of LA’s better known gay bathho, reopened Saturday afternoon after beg closed for two and a half months.

ANOTHER LA GAY BATHHOE GONE WH THE CLOSG OF FLEX

Bathho where gay men met to have sex have existed the Uned Stat sce at least the 1920s.

The Midtowne Spa Los Angel property, home to the historic sex bathhoe terg to gay, bisexual, and men who have sex wh men (MSM) went up for sale earlier this month.

FLEX, THE LA GAY BATHHOE, HAS RE-OPENED

They have adult movie channels, two gay and one Straight/Bisexual and 24 hour secured parkg garage right next door to the club. ”The ctomer also creds Midtowne for promotg a clean (as possible) environment and also providg std ttg and ee unselg, “It’s not jt about STD/AIDS, but the unselors also will talk to people, like gay people jt g out, which is so important for some people who may be reluctant to go to other plac, ” he said.

MIDTOWNE SPA LOS ANGEL IS UP FOR SALE MARKG POTENTIAL END TO HISTORIC GAY BATHHOE

Cozy apartments, private rooms and amazg hom: be weled by the gay muny over 200 untri.

Apartments, rooms, hom: be weled by the gay muny. My first experience at a gay bathhoe took place D.

I met a handsome Black man wh dreadlocks a gay bar lled The Fireplace on the edge of Dupont Circle, and after a few rounds of drks, we left to go have sex only to disver that neher of uld take the actn back to where we lived.

A BRIEF POLIL—AND PERSONAL—HISTORY OF GAY BATHHO

The vibe uld be ls aggrsive there than at gay dance clubs like Badlands or Chaos, and the entry fee was ually cheaper than a night of drks at gay bars such as Mr. But, lookg back over the past half century, sex has been the fixatn of vol nservativ, who never knew the genue value of gay bathho, sex clubs, or porn theaters. So, by the late 1970s, you uld roll your ey at the opponents of gay sexual liberatn as you walked to the Roman Holiday Spa Los Angel; or the Nob Hill Theater San Francis; or Man’s Country Chigo; or the Olympic Baths Washgton, D.

; or the Ellwt Stereo Theater Dallas; or the Gay Paree Cema Atlanta; or the Mhaft New York Cy. There were approximately 200 gay bathho and dozens of gay porn theaters operatg the Uned Stat as the seventi drew to a close. Mayors passed laws, cy uncils approved ordanc, and school boards set polici that set back the Gay Rights movement.

WH THE WALLS OF GAY BATHHOE LI A WORLD OF THEIR OWN

And their narrative about gay bathho and other plac acmodatg to queer sex still endur. Here’s how the distorted story go: gay bathho, sex clubs, and porn theaters had no reemg social value and were purely an outgrowth of the immoral, dg-fueled, hedonistic liftyle of queer men, and closg the lewd dwellgs durg the AIDS crisis the 1980s was the pnt cisn.

Nohels, gay bathho, sex clubs, and porn theaters did foster muny among their members. ’s ONE, or Boston’s Gay Communy News.

That were hospable to queer ctomers, and specialty talogu like Vagabond, which discretely livered “gay-themed” albums, books, and magaz. The rmatn the publitns kept queer people rmed, nnected, and, whout a doubt, safe om vlent homophob. Sex clubs, XXX theaters, and bathho also addrsed a pervasive lonels among gay men that was more than sexual.

GAY BATHHOE MELROSE SPA CLOS QUIETLY AFTER 52 YEARS

San Francis’s Nob Hill Theater opened s doors for Gay Rights activists to hold strategy meetgs durg the theater’s off hours on Sunday morngs. At first, most polil lears seemed que willg to stand back and silently watch the unchecked spread of a adly vis layg waste primarily to the homosexual populatn. Then when spurred to actn, a host of elected officials ed the public health crisis as a pretense to enact measur that had long been on their polil wish list—for stance, closg the gay bathho, sex clubs, and porn theaters, which was amed as a public health measure.

I’ve raised this topic wh dozens of queer people across generatns, and a staggerg number nsir a matter of mon knowledge that shuttg down the gay bathho, sex clubs, and porn theaters was a necsary and effective policy unr the circumstanc.

As public health workers argued at the time 1980s, keepg the gay bathhoe, sex clubs, and porn theaters open would provi them wh plac to te people about HIV and AIDS, to tt people for HIV and AIDS, and to offer people greater accs to medil treatment for HIV and AIDS. My purpose unrsrg the value of gay bathho, sex clubs, and porn theaters and retracg the polil motivatns for closg so many of them down durg the AIDS crisis this say and my novel, My Government Means to Kill Me, isn’t simply an exercise explorg history.

FLEX LALOS ANGELMENUHOTELS · LUXURYHOTELS · MID-RANGE + BUDGETBARSDANCE CLUBSSNASMASSAGECISE CLUBSON TODAYCY GUISERVICTOURSGAY WEDDGSGAY MAPFLEX LA

Romance didn’t much enter to men, their late 20s or early 30s, sat on wi stairs built to one wall of the dimly l, high-ceilged “erotic vio lounge” at the Compound, the bt-known gay bathhoe the San Fernando Valley.

NORTH HOLLYWOOD SPALOS ANGELMENUHOTELS · LUXURYHOTELS · MID-RANGE + BUDGETBARSDANCE CLUBSSNASMASSAGECISE CLUBSON TODAYCY GUISERVICTOURSGAY WEDDGSGAY MAPNORTH HOLLYWOOD SPA

One gay man’s eroti is another’s Compound is a survivor. A ago, Los Angel boasted slick, high-tech bathho famo throughout the gay world.

But as the specter of AIDS darkened the mid-1980s, the baths me unr fire as plac where unsafe, multi-partner sex spread the the gay muny cried this crackdown as officialdom g acquired immune ficiency syndrome as an exce to hib their liftyl.