While Los Angeles bureaucrats and bathhouses drag their feet, the pro-gay AIDS Healthcare Foundation is demanding that city bathhouses either clean up or shut down.
Despite my libertarian sympathies, I applaud the AHF for its vocal stand, and I wish it success.
I’ve never been to a bathhouse but I have friends who choose to visit them and are more than happy to discuss them with me.
From what I understand the Hollywood Spa has in-house testing available but the general impression of LA spas is a poor sense of hygene compared to those in the SF metro area.
Also, a common practice not mentioned in your linked story is people renting a private room within the bathhouse, taking meth and engaging in presumably risky sex all day long.
Finally, the appearance of anti-biotic resistant staph has driven my friends to stop visiting the baths since one can contract this new strain of staph simply by sitting on an unclean bench or a poorly maintained hot tub without even engaging in “safe sex.”
Somewhat of topic, but I would be mildly interested in knowing how many of the people who populate the bath houses are bi married men or otherwise project a straight image in public. More than a few of the people who populate the various gay chat rooms on the Internet certainly are. And it has been reported that more than a few of the men who congregate around public rest rooms, rest stops and the like for sex are also such.
As far as I’m concerned, they give us gay people a bad name.
Good lord i thought those had all been closed in the 80’s! What on earth are people thinking?? Is there some sort of sexual deathwish in the gay community?
Hi, Marty.
What do bathhouses have to do with the gay “community”? This situation is little different than the high-risk brothels that heterosexual men go to acquire herpes, syphilis, and gonorrhea, and spread that disease to their wives and girlfriends. Would you say there is a deathwish in the heterosexual community? 😀
Honestly, I think people need to catch up with the times, and move beyond this myth of a nonexistent gay “community” that acts with one mind.
While gay health advocates are fighting to clean up or shut down bathhouses, heterosexual politicians and bathhouse owners are fighting to keep them open. Either heterosexuality is a part of this problem, Marty — or sexual orientation is irrelevant. Take your pick.
From personal experience (i.e young gay curious and not knowing a thing about the gay community) the vast majority are married, closeted, or curious. Openly gay guys either have a boyfriend or prefer going to the bars or have many other ways of meeting guys. The guys that go there are the ones that would never want to be seen walking out a gay bar.