Gravy bath , also known as gay sauna or gay steambath , is a commercial space for men to engage in sexual activity with men. In gay slang, bathing places can be called "baths", "saunas" or "tubs". In general, gay bath is mainly used for sexual activity rather than just bathing.
Not all men who visit gay baths are considered gay, regardless of their sexual behavior. Baths offering similar services for women are rare, but some male baths sometimes have "lesbian" or "women-only" nights.
Bathrooms vary in size and facilities - from small companies with 10 or 20 rooms and several lockers to a multi-storey sauna with a variety of styles or room sizes and some steam baths, jacuzzi tubs, and sometimes a swimming pool. Most have steam rooms (or wet saunas), dry saunas, showers, lockers, and small private rooms.
Many bath houses are, for legal reasons, "membership only", although membership is generally open to any searching adult, usually after paying a small fee. Unlike brothels, customers pay only for the use of the facility. Sexual activity, if it occurs, is not provided by the founding staff but among the customers, and no money is exchanged. Many gay baths, for legal reasons, explicitly prohibit or prohibit prostitution and prohibit known prostitutes.
Video Gay bathhouse
Histori
Male records meet to have sex with other men in the baths date back to the 15th century. The tradition of public baths began in the 6th century BC, and there are many ancient records of homosexual activity in Greece. In the West, gay men have used baths for sex at least since the late 19th and early 20th century, a time when homosexual acts are illegal in most Western countries and men caught engaged in homosexual acts are often arrested and publicly humiliated. Men start frequenting roaming areas such as baths, public parks, alleys, train and bus stations, cinemas, public toilets (cottages or tea-houses), and a sports changing room where they can meet other men for sex. Some bath owners try to prevent sex between customers while others, given the benefits or are prepared to risk prosecution, neglect prudent homosexual activity.
Initial note
- 1492 Florence
- In Florence, Italy, in 1492 there was a purging of a "sodomy vice". The places used for homosexual acts are taverns, showers, and casini (warehouses or homes used for forbidden sex and gambling). The Eight of Watch (the city's leading criminal tribunal) issued several decisions relating to sodomy and on 11 April 1492 they warned bathhouse managers to detain "male suspects" on fines. In a brief period from April 1492 to February 1494 they convicted 44 men for homosexual relationships involving no violence or incriminating circumstances.
- 1876 Paris
- In France the first police attack recorded in the Paris baths was in 1876 at the Bains de Gymnase on Rue du Faubourg-PoissonniÃÆ'¨re . Six men aged 14 to 22 are charged for violations of public decency and managers and two employees to facilitate pederasti .
- 1903 New York
- In the United States on February 21, 1903, New York police carried out the first attack recorded in a gay bath, the Ariston Hotel Baths . 26 men were arrested and 12 taken to court on allegations of sodomy; 7 men received sentences ranging from 4 to 20 years in prison.
Pemandian gay awal
In New York City Everard was converted from church to bathhouse in 1888 and protected by gay men before the 1920s and by the 1930s had a reputation as "the most elegant, safest, and best known bathroom". It was damaged by fire on May 25, 1977, when nine people were killed and several others seriously injured. The Everard closed in 1986. Also popular in the 1910s was the Produce Swap and Baths Lafayette (403-405 Lafayette Street, which from 1916 was run by Ira & George Gershwin). The American precision painter Charles Demuth uses the Lafayette Bath as his favorite place. The 1918 homoerotic self-portrait made in Turkish baths seemed to be inspired by it. The Penn Post Baths in the hotel basement (Penn Post Hotel, 304 West 31st Street) was a popular gay location in the 1920s despite the slums and lack of private rooms.
American composer Charles Griffes (1884-1920) wrote in his diary of visits to the New York City baths and the YMCA. His biography states: "So great is his need to be with boys, that even though his house contains two pianos, he chooses to practice on an instrument in Y, and his favorite time is when the players come and go from their game."
When a friend with "little experience but great desire" told of his homosexual yearning to Charles Griffes in 1916, Griffes took him to Lafayette so he could meet other gay men and explore his sexual interests in a supportive environment: the friend was "shocked and fascinated by what which he saw there, and the baths also encouraged a more advanced form of sexual experimentation.Garffes himself had his first encounter with a man interested in sadomasochism in Lafayette two years earlier (he found the man "interesting" but his experience unattractive), and some the man who was interviewed in the mid-1930s was called experimenting in the baths and learning new pleasures.
In London, the Savoy Turkish Bath at 92 Jermyn Street became a favorite spot (opened in 1910 and remained open until September 1975). Journalist A.J. Langguth writes: "... [Baths in Jermyn Street] represents the twilight arena for elderly men who come to the poison sweat of the system and their youths who come to attack the sickening poses on Turkish towels... even though they are closely watched by maids, they provide a secret place to check a young man before offering a cup of tea in Lyons. "Regulars include Rock Hudson.
In the 1950s the Bermondsey Turkish Baths were rated by Kenneth Williams as "quite unusual" in his diary.
Steambaths in the 1930s: Steambaths that I have known belonged to East Ham, Greenwich and Bermondsey. In the first two it is often possible to enjoy what the Spartacus Coyly Guide describes as 'action', but the behavior at all times should be careful enough. However, at the Grange Road in Bermondsey, all the restraints can be thrown away with a small towel provided to cover your nakedness.
Modern gay baths
In the 1950s a special gay bath was opened in the United States. Despite being targeted by raids, these baths are "an oasis of homosexual friendship" and, as they remain today, "a place where it is safe to be gay," whether or not the patron itself is identified as homosexual. Gay baths offer a much safer alternative to sex in other public places.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, gay baths - now primarily owned and operated by gays - became a fully licensed gay company that soon became a major gay institution. The bathhouse serves as an informal gay meeting place, a place where friends can meet and relax. Gay gays often hold parties for Pride Day and are usually open, and busy, on public holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, when some gay men, especially those who are rejected by their families because of their sexual orientation, have nowhere else to go. American writer Truman Capote was a public bathhouse in New York City in the 1970s, in particular a sauna on West 58th Street.
Another service offered by baths is voter registration. In the lead up to the 1980 elections, New St Mark's Baths in New York City, with the help of the Women's Voters League, registered voters on their premises.
In Australia, the first gay steam bath opened in Sydney in 1967. It is the Bondi Junction Steam Bath at 109 Oxford Street. From 1972 to 1977, the following gay steam baths were opened: Ken's Karate Club (nicknamed "KKK"), now called Ken in Kensington; No. 253; King Steam; Silhouette American Health Center; Colt 107 Recreation Center; Barefoot Boy; and Roman Bath (nicknamed "Roman Ruins"). In Melbourne, the first gay bath is Steamworks at La Trobe Street, which opened in 1979 and closed October 13, 2008.
Gay Sauna, as it is better known in Australia and New Zealand, was present in most major cities in those countries in the late 1980s. Since homosexuality was decriminalized in New Zealand and most of Australia's states during the 1970s and 1980s, no criminal acts occurred in places such as "sex on site sites".
In Britain, gay saunas were routinely invaded by police until the late 1980s (eg raids in May 1988 at the Brownies in Streatham, the owners were given a six-month jail sentence and a £ 5,000 fine, and the Brooklyn House Hotel sauna in Manchester). In the 1990s, with increased oversight of these operating costs (allegations of gross indecency in the sauna typically require undercover officer fees), the possibility of a successful drop in prosecution, concerns are considered homophobia, and little public interest in no crime victims, gay sauna being free operate without risk of being attacked by police. Also, the attitude of the police means that they are more eager to turn a blind eye because they prefer such activity to occur in a controlled environment rather than outdoors even though the user still commits a homosexual sexual crime of dirty indecency, until a dirty indecency is wiped from the books of the law following the Sexual Offenses Act 2003.
Maps Gay bathhouse
The bath of the day
Today's gay baths continue to fill the same functions as they do historically. The public aspect has been reduced in some areas, especially where gay men are increasingly likely to quit.
Some men still use the baths as a comfortable and safe place to meet other men for sex. In areas where homosexuality is more acceptable, security is no longer the main attraction.
Many baths are open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There is usually one entrance and exit customers. After paying at the main entrance, the customer whistles through the main door. This system allows companies to filter potential troublemakers; many baths refuse entry to those who look drunk, as well as famous prostitutes. In some areas, especially where homosexuality is illegal, considered immoral, or seen with hostility, this is a necessary precaution.
Sexual encounters in the baths are often, but not always, anonymous. Some people feel that anonymity adds an erotic excitement: that is what, for these customers, someone goes to the baths for . Bath encounters sometimes cause a relationship, but usually do not. Bathhouses are still used by men who have sex with men and do not identify as gay or bisexual, including being cooped up or in heterosexual relationships.
In many baths, customers have the choice between renting a room or locker, often for a fixed period of up to 12 hours. A room usually consists of lockers and single beds (although doubles are sometimes available) with thin vinyl backing supported on simple wooden boxes or frames, arrangements that facilitate easy cleaning between customers. In many bath houses (especially outside the United States), some or all of the rooms are available free of charge to all customers.
Some baths have areas designed to facilitate impersonal sex. This area - room or hallway - is only illuminated by a red exit (dim). It is possible to have sex, but not see with whom. Other baths, such as the Continental Baths in New York or Club Baths in Washington, D.C., have two bunkbeds or closer, in a public area. It provides a place to have sex for those who can only afford to pay lockers, and facilitate exhibitionism and voyeurism for those who are inclined. Baths often have a TV room (porn) or a snack bar where customers can recuperate between orgasms.
Some men use baths as a cheaper alternative to hotels, despite the limitations of potentially crowded public spaces with only imperfect and limited rooms or none that pass from privileges.
These guys will actually call me at home or send me an e-mail and we'll make a date and we'll meet in a pristine bath because the sling is there and it's easier and we go for a beer afterward. I used the bathhouse more as an ancient Greek, Roman and social center as well as a damn center and a fisting center as well, and there was a room where I could sit and relax with a coffee and a cigarette.
The baths can not always be identified as such from the outside. Some baths are clearly marked and illuminated, others have no sign other than a street address on the door. Bathhouses sometimes feature rainbow flags, which are usually flown by companies to identify themselves as gay-run or gay-friendly. Bathrooms generally advertise widely in gay media and sometimes advertise in major newspapers and other media. In 2003, Australia began displaying the possibility of the world's first television commercial for gay baths when commercial television commercials in Melbourne promoted Wet Wellington, a sauna on Wellington Street, Collingwood.
In many countries, being identified in such saunas is still viewed by the press as an embarrassment. In Ireland in November 1994, the Incognito sauna made the main press as a gay sauna in which a priest died of a heart attack and two other priests in hand to help. Scott Capurro is known for his deliberately provocative comedy material and often refers to gay sexual culture including gay baths.
Layout and public facilities
Because buzzed, the customer receives a towel (for wear, around the waist) and the key to the room or locker. Customers undress, store their clothes at the provided lockers, and then freely roam the entire public bath area, which usually includes traditional bath or steambath facilities (Images from the movie Hamam ).
Many bath houses also provide free condoms and lubricants. Some companies require a piece of identification or valuables to be left at the front desk upon entry. Homosexuality emphasizes the importance of towels:
Visiting a gay bath downtown is in many ways like visiting a high school gym - everyone is wearing the same towel, of the same color, on the same body part. There is no awareness of status in the social-stratification sense; towels or loincloths create a kind of social group of equal status.
Bathhouses are often designed with imagery and/or music to create an environment that generates visitors.
Bathrooms are usually dim and play music, although outdoors, covered roof or pool area is not uncommon. They are often laid out in a way that enables or encourages customers to roam throughout the establishment; spaces arranged in this way are often referred to as "labyrinths". Some baths have spaces where random, anonymous sex is all that can happen. These rooms, rooms, hallways, or labyrinths, sometimes with glorious holes - have their only illumination of "Exit" red (red), so one can have sex but one can not see with whom. Other clubs, such as the Continental Baths or Club Baths in Washington, DC, will have two or more bunk beds placed near each other, in public areas, thus providing a place to have sex for those who can only afford to rent lockers, and also maximize the odds of being watched, because the showrooms are very interested. Rooms are usually grouped together, such as lockers. Bath houses are often decorated with posters of naked or semi-nude posters, and sometimes explicit sex portrayals. Not infrequently see porn movies played on television mounted on the wall throughout the bathhouse.
Most men usually only wear towels provided. According to the bathhouse ethics, it is acceptable, even hospitable, to lay one's hands under another's towels to feel his penis, which, if well received, is the first step in sexual intimacy. Some baths allow and others not only allow but encourage total nudity. In some baths, nudity is prohibited in public areas of the company. Some men may wear underwear or wear amulets, but it is not uncommon for customers to remain partially or even partially clothed in street clothes. Naked feet are a habit, although some men prefer to wear flip flops or sandals, sometimes provided by the establishment, for foot protection. The lock of the room or locker is usually hung from a rubber band that can be worn around the wrist or ankle.
Some baths require customers to purchase an annual membership and many offer special entry rates for members, students, military, or other groups. In some countries, baths may restrict entry to men of a certain age range (regardless of the general requirements of being an adult) or physical type, although elsewhere this is considered illegal discrimination. Some baths sometimes hold "leather", "underwear", or other themed nights.
In the 1970s the baths began to install a "fantasy environment" that re-created an illegal or dangerous erotic situation:
Orgy room... encourage group sex, while the glory holes are recreated (common) toilets, and the labyrinth takes the place of shrubs and shrubs (in public parks). The steam room and gym room remind us of the YMCAs cruisy, while the video spaces recreate balconies and cinema rows. The famous Chicago bath named Man's Country provides a full-size Everlast truck model where visitors can have sex in the cabin or back, which serves as an orgy room... Man's Country also offers a... a fake prison cell made out of rubber rods.
Many baths sell food and beverages, cigarettes, pornography, sex toys, lubricants, and toiletries. Some baths also provide non-sexual services such as massage and reflexology.
Etiquette
Customers usually divide their time between the bath/sauna/jacuzzi and the main area of ​​establishment. Customers who rent a room have free access to their rooms.
Customers who have rooms can leave their room doors open to indicate that they are available for sex. The open door can also be an invitation for others to watch or join in the sexual activity that has already occurred.
When a room is occupied by only one person, some men will position themselves to suggest what they might like about someone who joins them indoors: those who want to be penetrated anal ("butt") will sometimes face down on sleeping with the door open, while those who prefer to penetrate others ("peak") or receive fellatio may face up.
In the past, baths functioned as a community space for gay men. Even now, some men choose to go to the baths with their friends (although they may not have to have sex with each other). While many men talk to each other in baths, even forming friendships or long-term relationships, many others do not, preferring, for various reasons, anonymity.
But I've been to a sauna recently in New Zealand, where everyone is just chatting, which I find very strange. Um, but you know, it's because I think it's a smaller city and people generally know each other.
In this highly sexual environment, the look or nod is often enough to express an interest. In dark areas of the building include labyrinths, video spaces, group sex areas, and saunas or hot tubs (but not generally in bathrooms, toilets, aisles, gyms, cafà ©, and lounges), men are usually free to touch other customers; expected, and often welcomed. Shaking your head, or pushing someone else's hand, means that attention is not welcomed.
I usually find people by fumbling do not go. You really should because they feel your crotch area grab their hands and push it away and there comes a time when I have to do it three, two or three or four times before they actually get the message. There are also times when I really have to tell them to leave.
Some companies allow or encourage sex in certain group sex areas. In some areas the jurisdiction of such activity is prohibited, and sex should be limited in private rooms. Some forbid sex in the pool for hygiene reasons. In the United Kingdom, the terms are often set by the local Department of Environmental Health authorities.
High-risk behavior
Sexually transmitted
From the mid-1980s onwards there was a lobby against gay baths blaming them because the focus of infection encouraged the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially HIV, and this forced their closure in some jurisdictions (see Legal issues, below).
In some countries, concerns about the spread of STDs have led to the closure of baths - with their private rooms - supporting sex clubs, where all sexual activity takes place in the open, and can be observed by supervisors whose job it is to enforce safer sex practices. However, bath supporters point out that the closure of this facility does not prevent people from engaging in unsafe sex.
There is no claim that bathing places are responsible for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, or claims that they are not, has been proven with certainty, but it is known that STDs are spread through unprotected sex, and as part of their membership agreement, or as a condition of admission, some baths now ask customers to affirm in writing that they will only have safe sex in place, and the place often provides free condoms, latex gloves, and lubrication (and/or have it available for purchase). In New Zealand and Australia, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation and members of the Australian Federation of AIDS Federation constituents provide safe sex information on site users.
Some anti-bath activists argue that these measures are not sufficient, especially given that it is virtually impossible to monitor sexual activity in the baths; However, while they recognize that closing gay baths may force some men into unsafe or illegal situations in public parks and toilets, they indicate that they may be less likely to engage in anal or multipartner sex - both putting participants at risk for STDs - in such a situation.
Others argue against this claim by showing that the bathhouse is the main source of safer sex information - they provide pamphlets and post more visually secure sex posters (often on the walls of each room as well as in public areas), providing free condoms and lubricants , and often ask customers to assert that they will only have safer sex in place. In cities with larger gay populations, STD and HIV testing and counseling can be offered on-site at no cost.
Drugs and alcohol
In some countries baths are prohibited from selling alcohol. (In Canada, where some baths serve alcohol, liquor-licensed bathhouses may be required to submit to liquor inspections, which activists claim to often be the pretext for regulating gay sexual activity.) Many baths refuse entry to those who look drunk but neither - nor can - regulate the consumption of drugs (usually marijuana, poppers, ecstasy, cocaine, and methamphetamine) by their patrons. The use of drugs and alcohol can make people more likely to have unsafe sex. Sex clubs without private areas are potentially easier to regulate the consumption of medicines in their premises.
The use of meth is also known to lead to risky sexual behavior, but since crystal shabu users tend to look for other users to engage in sexual activity, they often prefer to make arrangements via the internet.
Prostitution
In some countries, straight and gay baths are used by rented children to find customers by offering massage services, "full service" is often used as a euphemism for sex.
All the people interviewed were asked if they used condoms, and all except Fabian, said they used it when having sex with clients. For fellatio, sometimes they use condoms and sometimes not... For him (Fabian), it's all the same whether he uses condoms or not. He also talked about the drugs he drank, pure alcohol, cocaine, and 'sometimes I injected, maybe 15 times I once injected, crystals, cocaine and sometimes heroin'.
Legal issues
Canada
- Toronto wash attack 1981
- On February 5, 1981, 150 police raided four gay baths in Toronto, Ontario: Club Baths, Roman Health and Recreation Spa II , Richmond Street Health Emporium , and Barracks . The Richmond Health Emporium is severely damaged in attacks that never reopen. Dubbed Soap Operation , the attack resulted in the arrest of 268 people. There were direct and angry responses from both gay and lesbian communities and over 3,000 people gathered in protest. The second demonstration took place on February 20, including more than 4,000 people gathered at Queen's Park and marched to the Toronto Metro Police 52 Division. Raid at Toronto Women's Bathhouse
- In 2000, Toronto police invaded the women's night in a bath named Club Toronto. The police, almost all men, entered the stance and walked around, picking up the names and addresses of about 10 women and volunteers who "aggressively questioned". A Pussy Palace organizer stated "[m] every woman on the show is very angry and traumatized". A judge in the Ontario Court stated that police had violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom by using male police officers in the attack, describing police actions as analogous to strip searches.
- Raid on Goliath's
- In December 2002, Calgary police invaded Goliath's resulting in allegations against 19 people. Fifteen people were arrested in the attack. Thirteen customers were charged as "found people" (found in a nasty house for no legal reason) and two staff members were accused of a more serious offense in maintaining a mediocre home. Customers are faced with two years in prison. In addition, the owner of the bathhouse and the third staff member is then charged with keeping the house mediocre.
- On May 27, 2004, a judge ruled that the police had reasonable grounds for attacking Goliath. Defense lawyers argue that no anonymous information is being followed up by the police - for example that live performances are staged and drugs sold on the spot - displayed in the indictment made against seventeen people. They also pointed out that the police failed to call a gay public relations officer. Goliath reopened a little over a month after the raid.
- In November 2004, the Crown Prince retained responsibility for the remaining patrons, saying that there was no public interest in pursuing the case. The case against owner and manager Goliath, however, was expected to come to trial in February 2005. Terry Haldane, the only "found" patron who actively fought the charges against him, accused the Crown of indicting Haldane and his lawyers had given notice of the plan to challenge the dirty house laws to the Supreme Court.
- In February 2005, all remaining charges in the case were dropped. The court cited the lack of community support and evidence (from polls) that the public supported the existence of gay baths with small margins. Raid at Hamilton's Warehouse Spa
- On 3 August 2004, Hamilton's Warehouse Spa and Bath was examined by the police duties officer, public health, city building and licensing department, fire department, and alcohol and gambling commissions. Two people were arrested and accused of indecent acts.
United States
In California the "Consenting Adult Sex Bill", passed in January 1976, made the home of the gay baths and sex that occurred inside them legal for the first time. During the 1970s, the two most popular gay baths in San Francisco, both located within the SOMA neighborhood, were the Ritch Street Health Club at 330 Ritch St., the interior designed like a Minoan palace. , and The Barracks , BDSM baths at 72 Hallam near Folsom where each room is designed to accommodate different BDSM sexual fantasies. In 1978 a group of police officers stormed the Liberty Baths in the neighborhood of Polk Gulch in San Francisco and arrested three visitors for "lewd behavior in public places," but the prosecutor's office immediately revoked the charges against them. However, in 1984, the fear of AIDS caused the San Francisco Department of Health, with the support of some gay activists like Randy Shilts, and opposed opposition of other gay activists, to ask the court to close gay baths in the city. The court, under Justice Roy Wonder, instead issued a court order restricting sexual practices and prohibited the rent of private rooms in the baths, so sexual activity could be monitored, as a public health measure. Some baths try to live within the strict rules of this court order, but many of them feel they can not easily do business under new and closed rules. Finally, some of the remaining baths succumbed to economic pressure or continuing legal pressure from the city and eventually closed down. Some sex clubs, which are not officially bathing houses, continue to operate indefinitely and operate to this day, despite following strict rules under court orders and city regulations. The Bathhouse itself, however, operates out of town, so outside of their laws, such as at Berkeley and San Jose.
In 1985, the New York City Department of Health ordered that the city's gay baths be closed. As a result, heterosexual sex clubs like the Plato Retreat must be closed as well because the city has just passed gay rights rules, and allowing heterosexual clubs to remain open while shutting down gay companies would be a violation of that rule.
Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Louisville, Seattle, Berkeley, San Jose, Cleveland, Portland, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Tampa, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are some American cities that have places baths in operation.
On October 8, 2010, ten customers and one employee were arrested during a police strike at the Dallas Club in Texas. Visitors are charged with public mischief or indecent exposure while the employee is accused of harassing the police. Dallas Police Department officials told the gay community that their actions were in response to complaints.
China
In March 2008 a series of police attacks on gay baths and at gay meeting places in Beijing have resulted in the arrest and closing of baths. These include raids in the two branches of the Oasis bath, known as the most popular in Beijing. In 2000, police arrested 37 men in Guangzhou's gay spa on charges of prostitution. Homosexuality was decriminalized in China in 1997.
German, Austria, and Switzerland
German-speaking countries have many gay baths ("Schwule Sauna") because homosexuality was legalized in 1969 (and later). The oldest is Vulcan-Sauna in Hanover, other baths in Cologne, Berlin and Kaiserbrøndl in Vienna.
Japanese
See also Gay Bathhouse in Japan. Site In Japan, there is "Sunagawaya (???)" "Takenoya (???)" "Seibuen (???)" in the 1950s. "Oban (??)" "24 Kaikan (24 ??)" "Jin-ya (??)" was built in the 1970s.
Famous customers
- Truman Capote
- The gay writer Truman Capote (1924-1984) wrote of his visit to Everard Baths.
- Andrew Cunanan
- Andrew Cunanan's membership card to West Side Club NYC was found in Miami Beach near where he killed designer Gianni Versace. It is not known whether Cunanan visited the baths during the killing or at any other time. Another receipt shows that he had visited New York in early May 1997 between the murder of Chicago developer Lee Miglin and the National Point National Cemetery cemetery William Reese.
- Justin Fashanu
- The first openly gay British footballer Justin Fashanu (1961-1998) spent his last night at Chariots Roman Spa. Suicide is due to press reports that US authorities plan to extradite him and accuse him of sexual violence (in fact no warrant). The suicide note claims that the sexual encounter was done likewise and that the youth contacted the police only after Fashanu refused to blackmail him.
- Michel Foucault
- The influential 20th-century French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) visited the bathhouse in California in the 1970s and early 1980s, and Mineshaft in New York. He died of AIDS-related causes in 1984.
- Jack Fritscher
- The gay erotic writer and editor Jack Fritscher (1939-) made hundreds of visits to Mineshaft (bathhouse without bath).
- Charles Griffes
- The gay composer Charles Griffes (1884-1920) wrote of his visit to the bathhouse; two quotes are given above.
- Mikhail Kuzmin
- The Russian poet, novelist and composer Mikhail Kuzmin (1872-1936) is known to have the house of a respected bathhouse. Some Baths in St. Petersburg at the time was known as friendly gay people and provided "helpers", who may provide sexual services for a fee. In his diary, Kuzmin writes about a visit to the bath: that night I had the desire to go to the baths just for style, for fun, for cleanliness.
- Harvey Milk
- The openly gay American politician Harvey Milk (1930-1978) vowed to stop visiting a gay bath house when he ran for supervisor in 1975.
- Rudolf Nureyev
- Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) is known to bathe frequently in New York. He did not make it past the Mineshaft door.
- Ned Rorem
- Composer Ned Rorem (1923-) wrote of his visit to Everard Baths.
- Gore Vidal
- Gourmet bisexual writer Gore Vidal (1925-2012) is a documented protector at Everard Baths.
Celebrities and Continental Baths
Singer Bette Midler is best known for starting her career at the famous New York City Continental Baths in the early 1970s, where she got the nickname Bathhouse Betty. It was there, accompanied by pianist Barry Manilow (who, like the bathhouse visitors, sometimes wearing only a white towel), that he created his stage persona "Miss Divine M."
On starting at the bath, Midler had commented:
Regardless of what happened [with the AIDS crisis], I am still proud of those days [when I started singing in gay baths]. I felt like I was at the forefront of the gay liberation movement, and I hope I did my part to help him move forward. So I kind of used the 'Bathhouse Betty' label with pride.
Other notable performers appearing on Continental include Eleanor Steber, Melba Moore, Labelle, Peter Allen, Cab Calloway, Manhattan Transfer, John Davidson, and Wayland Flowers.
See also
- Public bath
- Public sex
- Hall-Carpenter Archive
- Homosocialization
- List of movies featuring gay baths
- Adult arcade videos
- Sex club
- Caldron (sex club)
- Catacombs (sex club)
- Mineshaft (gay club)
Footnote
References
External links
- GayBathhouse.org
- "VictorianTurkishBath.org" . Retrieved December 27 2006 . historical directory of the British Baths
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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